Ruben Tejada on Mets-Dodgers: ‘It’s history now’

9:51 PM ET

SAN DIEGO — Ruben Tejada is gone, but is the controversial moment of his final game with the New York Mets now forgotten … or, at least, forgiven?

The Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers are poised to meet Monday for the first time since last October’s National League Division Series, during which Tejada suffered a fractured right leg on an aggressive slide from Chase Utley.

Tejada was released by the Mets during spring training and is now with the St. Louis Cardinals, who happen to visit Dodger Stadium in the following series.

Utley’s slide motivated MLB to change the rule on slides into second base. He originally was handed a two-game suspension, but it was vacated during spring training and he was not required to serve any punishment.

“I don’t really care. It’s long ago,” Tejada said Sunday in St. Louis. “I know that there is a long history with the Mets and Dodgers, but I think it’s … another game, it’s another series for them. I have a lot of teammates there and they care, but I don’t think they really think about that — the past. I think they’ll try to go there and play well and do everything you need to do to win the series.”

Now with the Cardinals, former Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada says the controversial Chase Utley slide that ended his 2015 season is in the past. AP Photo/Michael Thomas

Said Mets captain David Wright: “You feel terrible for Ruben. You never want to see anybody hurt, especially to that degree. But, in a way, I think it brought all of us as a team closer to say, ‘Hey, you know what, let’s get our retribution by going out and beating these guys …

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