October 10, 2015: Chase Utley vs. Rubén Tejada

October 10, 2015: Game 2 of the National League Division Series is played at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The New York Mets lead the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-1 in the bottom of the 7th inning, thanks to solo home runs by Yoenis Céspedes and Michael Conforto, but Dodger starter Zack Greinke has only allowed 3 other hits.

Thus far, Met starter Noah Syndergaard has lived up to his "Thor" nickname. (He is of Danish descent.) But with 1 out in the 7th -- 8 outs from going up 2 games to none, with the next 3 games set for New York -- Enrique Hernández draws a walk. Dodger manager Don Mattingly sends former Philadelphia Phillies hero and longtime Met nemesis Chase Utley up to pinch-hit for Greinke. Hernández steals 2nd, and Utley singles him over to 3rd. Terry Collins sends 42-year-old big fat steroid cheat Bartolo Colón in to relieve Syndergaard.

The batter is Howie Kendrick, who lines a shot over Colón's outstretched arm. Daniel Murphy takes it on a hop, and he attempts to start a double play by throwing to shortstop Rubén Tejada, who covers 2nd. But Utley slides late, and his batting helmet, with his head inside it, crashes into Tejada's leg. Tejada goes down. He is injured, and out for the rest of the postseason. Hernández scores, Kendrick is safe at 1st, and the game is tied, 2-2.

Mattingly challenges the ruling, to make it even better for the Dodgers: He argues that Tejada never touched 2nd, and that Utley should be safe. The umpires give him the call, enraging Met fans, who already don't like Mattingly, given his playing career with the New York Yankees; and are sure that Utley should have been called out (and thrown out of the game) for sliding outside the baseline and attempting to purposely injure Tejada.

Now, it's 1st and 2nd with 1 out, and the roof caves in on the Mets. They get Corey Seager to fly out, but Adrian Gonazalez and Justin Turner hit back-to-back doubles, and the Dodgers win, 5-2. The series is tied. To the Mets' credit, though, they got themselves together, and won the rest of the games in the series.

When the season was over, it had become clear that the way to beat the Mets was to stand up to them. In the regular season, the Yankees did. In the NLDS, Chase Utley did. In the World Series, the Kansas City Royals did. Otherwise, nobody did, certainly not the Washington Nationals, and the Mets won the NL Eastern Division; the rest of the Dodgers didn't, and the Mets won the NLDS; and the Chicago Cubs didn't, and the Mets swept them in the NLCS.

Beating the 2015 Mets required standing up to them. As former soccer manager Arsène Wenger would say, The Mets lacked a little bit the mental strength.

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October 10, 2015 was a Saturday. In the other NLDS, for the 1st time, the Chicago Cubs won a postseason game against their arch-rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals. Jorge Soler hit a home run to spark a 5-run 2nd inning, and the Cubbies won, 6-3 at Busch Stadium, to even the series at 1 game apiece.

Both ALDSes were on travel days. The Houston Astros and the Kansas City Royals were tied, 1-1, and the Royals would win it in 5 games. The Texas Rangers led the Toronto Blue Jays 2-0, but the Jays would take the next 3 to win it.

There were college football games, including these:

* Number 1 Ohio State beat Maryland, 49-28 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. The Buckeyes lost only 1 game all season, but it was to Michigan State, costing them a Division title, never mind the Big Ten. They did beat Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl.

* Number 2 Texas Christian beat Kansas State, 52-45 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kansas. Losses to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State cost them a shot at the Big Twelve title game.

* Number 3 Baylor beat Kansas, 66-7 at David Booth Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas. Baylor rose to Number 2, but a late 1-3 stretch cost them major honors.

* Number 4 Michigan State beat Rutgers, 31-24 at High Point Solutions Stadium (now SHI Stadium) in Piscataway, New Jersey. The Scarlet Knights gave the Spartans a fight, but couldn't get the job done. Michigan State won the Big Ten title.

* Number 5 Utah beat Number 23 California, 30-24 at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. Two weeks later, the Utes began a 2-3 stretch that cost them any shot at a conference title or a major bowl berth.

* Number 6 Clemson beat Georgia Tech, 43-24 at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina. Clemson went undefeated in the regular season, won the Atlantic Coast Conference title, and beat Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl to reach the National Championship Playoff Game.

* Number 7 Louisiana State beat South Carolina, 45-24 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A 3-game losing streak in November cost LSU any chance at titles.

* Number 8 Alabama beat Arkansas, 27-14 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. 'Bama won the Southeastern Conference title, beat Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl, and then beat Clemson to win the National Championship.

* Number 10 Oklahoma were upset by Texas, 24-17 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

* Number 12 Florida State beat rival Miami, 29-24 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  

* Number 13 Northwestern were upset by Number 18 Michigan, 38-0 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. The fact that Northwestern were favored over Michigan at "The Big House" was strange, too strange to pan out that way, as it turned out.

* Number 15 Notre Dame beat Navy, 41-24 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. And Army lost to Duke, 44-3 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York.

The NBA season didn't begin for another 17 days. All but 2 NHL teams (the Los Angeles Kings and the Winnipeg Jets) were in action, though:

* The New York Rangers beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 5-2 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Washington Capitals, 5-3 at the Capital One Arena in Washington.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-1 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Vancouver Canucks, 3-2 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver. Johnny Gaudreau scored the winning goal with 1:57 left in overtime.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins, 4-2 at the TD Garden in Boston.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-3 at the PNC Arena (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 7-1 at the BB&T Center (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.

* The Nashville Predators beat the Edmonton Oilers, 2-0 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

* On CBC's Hockey Night In Canada, the Ottawa Senators beat their arch-rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-4 in a shootout at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Buffalo Sabres, 4-1 at the HSBC Arena (now the KeyBank Center) in Buffalo.

* The Minnesota Wild beat the St. Louis Blues, 3-2 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Dallas Stars, 6-3 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

* The Arizona Coyotes beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 2-1 at the Gila River Arena (now the Desert Diamond Arena) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

* And the San Jose Sharks beat the Anaheim Ducks, 2-0 at the SAP Center in San Jose, California.