MLB “analyst” falsely accuses Phillies legend of cheating

MLB “analyst” Ryan Spaeder took to Twitter to air out false accusations against many former players and teams on Tuesday.

The baseball world found these tweets and they all blew up. Many people doubted the accusations, especially because they were presented without proof.

One tweet was aimed at former Philadelphia Phillies star Chase Utley.

Spaeder: “This one hurts to say… my favorite player ever… “Chase Utley was the biggest cheater of all-time.””

The thread was taken down Thursday.

Utley was (whether you love him or hate him for it) a hard nosed player. But a cheater? Most fans, even New York Mets fans, doubt that.

I am a Met fan and I thought Chase Utley got bad rap. He did what he did within the competitive bounds and was not trying to hurt anybody that was just a bad outcome. Met fans reacted emotionally but if he was a Met wed have said he was a gamer and injury unfortunate
— J.M. Casper (@metrbocker) June 16, 2021

Utley was used by the Dodgers to decode signs from opposing teams, which is NOT cheating. Utley never used a camera and MLB players have done this for almost a century now.

However, Utley was never a cheater, and this was confirmed this morning when Spaeder came out with this tweet:

I deeply regret everything that I said — it has turned my life upside down. It was a mistake, and I should not have reported on unfounded allegations. I sincerely apologize to all of those impacted — it should not have happened, and it will not happen again. Stick to stats.
— Ryan M. Spaeder (@theaceofspaeder) June 17, 2021

It’s weird for a reporter to go after players and teams with no evidence at all. It seemed fishy from the get go and now it’s confirmed they were baseless. Who knows what Spaeder’s intentions were, but it should be a lesson to journalist to get the facts before breaking a story.