Athlete of the Decade #6 Chase Utley

by Joseph Birmingham

Saturday December 26, 2009 

Athlete of the Decade #6 Chase Utley thumbnail

Chase was one of the few athletes that made it on to all the Phillysportsblogs writers ballots at about the same spot, and he arrives at number 6 after playing 7 seasons in the past ten years with the Philadelphia Phillies, only 5 of those years as a starter.  He was signed as a first rounder in 2000 as the 15th overall pick, and made an impact in his first game in 2003 by getting his first hit, which happened to be a grand slam !

At first, his path to success seemed blocked by the recently re acquired Placido Polanco but by 2005, the Phillies had traded Polanco and Utley became the second baseman of the future.  Since that time, he has been a four time All Star, four time Silver Slugger, and was a large piece of the puzzle that got the Phillies their first world championship since 1980, and second in team history.

An obvious fan favorite, Chase holds the second longest hitting streak in team history at 35 games,  behind only Jimmy Rollins (who will be profiled as well on the “Philadelphia Athlete of the Decade” series) who holds the team record with a 38 game hitting streak.  This hitting streak of 35 games ties for tenth best in Major League Baseball history and is the longest recorded streak by a full time second baseman. The fans loved him for this moment after the World Series, as well (note: language may not be safe for work).

Utley is probably most noted for the fact that very little is published about him except his on field performance.    He was a star first at Long Beach Polytech, and then UCLA before being drafted by the Phillies in 2000, and he has always been a stand up guy and leader among leaders on this team, even at a relatively young age.

This year, even though the Phillies lost in the World Series while attempting to defend their championship, Utley still shone out as a star.  He broke a record that had stood since 1971 by reaching base on a walk against CC Sabathia to break Boog Powells record of 25 straight postseason games with a base appearance.  Then he matched “The Babe” by hitting two homeruns off the lefthander, the first Sabathia had allowed at new Yankees Stadium, and the first time since Ruth in 1928 that a lefthanded batter hit more than one homerun off a left handed pitcher in a single game of World Series play.  (Ruth had three total in that game, two off Bill Sherdel, the last off legendary right hander Grover Alexander.)

Even more impressive, Utley tied the record set for career homers in World Series game one history with 3, matching Elston Howard and Joe Collins who both achieved their mark with the dominant Yankees teams of the 1950’s.   The Phillies won this game 6-1 before eventually losing to the perennial champion Yankees, but it is obvious that Utley can more than hold his own, no matter who he is playing against.

The Phillies obviously can also see his potential.  They signed Chase to a 7 year $85 million extension after Utley became the 15th player in major league history — and second on the Phillies — to hit .300, record 200 hits, 30 home runs, 100 RBIs, 40 doubles and 130 runs in one season in 2006.   He and Hall of Famer Chuck Klein (1930 and 1932) are the only Phillies to accomplish the feat.

Chase has stated he was signed as a Phillie and wants to retire as one.  I think most the fans would agree they want this too !  For now, I think it speaks volumes that Utley, who has appeared on some of the top 100 baseball players lists of all time after only 5 years as a starter, comes in on our list at #6.  What this means is that we are living in a historically rich time in Philadelphia sports history with plenty of other athletes contending for spots on our list.

Utley may well show up on the next top ten athletes of the decade list for his efforts from 2010 to 2020.  And my guess is that he will eventually end up on a top ten list of Philadelphia athletes of all time.  He is after all only 31, and  I expect a breakout season even better than what he has showed us so far; probably when he is 33 or 34, and then 5-6 more years of productivity before he retires.   My prediction is he will beat his own record hitting streak for 2nd basemen as he matures, and even make a run at, in this writer’s opinion,  the most unobtainable record in all of sports; the great Joe D’s 56 consecutive game hitting streak. Utley won’t break that mark, but he will come close enough that all sports fans countrywide will remember his name long after he retires, I hope sometime around 2016 or so !

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