2008 Philadelphia Phillies Season/Playoff Thread (Die Mets Die)

[Rome]

Nice article on Chasey here...

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=411771

Chase Utley just keeps busting his tail off

Posted: May 14, 2008

Chase Utley dug his left foot into the inside back corner of the lefthanded batter's box at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, scattering the chalk closest to the plate, which had been untouched because, well, no one else stands that close to the plate.

This was last August, and it was Utley's first at-bat since Washington's John Lannan had broken Utley's right hand with an inside pitch 32 days earlier. He had been nonchalant about the injury -- after getting hit, he was asked what the worst-case scenario might be and replied, "I don't know. The hand might fall off?" And now, he was nonchalant in his return, crowding the plate, surgically repaired hand and all, as if daring pitchers to come back inside. Didn't matter. Utley went 3-for-5 with a homer and a double, helping the Phillies rout the Mets in the heat of a division race that Philadelphia eventually won.

This was nothing new. Gary Adams, Utley's coach at UCLA, recalls that Utley was consistently among the collegiate leaders in getting hit by pitches, much to Adams' chagrin: "I'd shake my head and just say, 'Please, please, please don't get hurt.' " Utley shrugs. Even with the month off, he led the majors in HBPs last year with 25 and, after the hand injury, allowed himself to be plunked eight times in his final 32 games. "It's just where I stand," he says. "It's where I'm comfortable. If I get hit, fine, I am on base. It's just part of baseball."

It's part of baseball the way Utley plays it, at least, with intensity and seriousness, an approach in which withstanding the sting of a major league fastball is an acceptable price for a trip to first base. This is a trait to be expected among those of middling talent, the scrappy, dirty-uniform ballplayers hustling for their big league lives. But Utley is an elite. He's the best second baseman in baseball, a two-time All-Star who hit .310 with 82 home runs and 310 RBIs in his first three full seasons in the majors. He has a swing so smooth and consistent you could set your watch by it. Still, he plays with the abandon of a guy who could be sent to Class AAA Lehigh Valley by next week.

Because of that, Adams compares Utley to another former Bruin, Diamondbacks outfielder Eric Byrnes. Told of this, Byrnes chuckles. "Maybe we're similar, but the difference is Chase has talent," Byrnes says. "Chase is one of the best baseball players I have ever seen, and he plays hard on top of that. I bust my butt out there, but I have to because I am not going to go down as one of the better players who ever played. Chase has that potential. He is in a different category than anyone playing the game right now. He has talent, but he still busts his butt out there."

The numbers Utley is posting could put him in yet a different category -- National League MVP. Utley is tied for the league lead in home runs and ranks among the N.L.'s top 15 in batting average, runs and RBIs, and he has helped keep the Phillies at or near the top of the N.L. East despite the fact the club lost Jimmy Rollins for nearly a month (twisted ankle) and has endured a severe slump from Ryan Howard. That pair -- Howard in 2006 and Rollins in '07 -- won the last two N.L. MVP awards, and an Utley win in '08 would be historic. Howard, Rollins and Utley would make the Phillies the first team since the 1961-63 Yankees (Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle and Elston Howard) to feature three consecutive different MVPs. "I could see it," says Phillies outfielder Geoff Jenkins. "I don't know who's playing better than him right now."

Just don't expect Utley to say much about it. As aggressive as he is on the field, Utley, 29, is quiet and contemplative off it, least comfortable musing on his own exploits. When he had a 35-game hitting streak in '06, Utley decided he would not discuss the streak, and he stuck to that policy until it ended. Ask him about this year's MVP prospects and he says much the same thing: "It's a bit early to be talking about that, isn't it?"

His father, Dave Utley, takes credit for that reticence. He recalls when his son was 11 or 12, in little league, complaining about a boastful teammate. "The kid was doing a lot of bragging," Dave recalls, "and that bothered Chase. So, I told him, 'Listen, if you're really good, you don't ever have to go around telling people how good you are. They'll tell you.' I think that sank in."

That, perhaps, could be the only thing that gets in the way of an MVP for Utley -- where Howard and Rollins are big personalities, Utley prefers to keep his personality personal. "He doesn't see the upside in talking about himself," his father says.

But there aren't many other holes in the case for an eventual Utley MVP. In college, he was weak defensively, a skinny shortstop who struggled to get zip on his throws. He was moved to second base and became an All-American in 2000. The Phillies switched Utley to third at Class AAA in 2002, but that was a disaster and he has been a second baseman ever since. He has settled into the position nicely, building himself from a decent second baseman into an outstanding one.

"That probably does not get talked about enough," says an N.L. scout. "This guy worked his tail off to make himself a great second baseman. His footwork is tremendous, he gets to everything, his ability to turn the double play is so much better than it used to be, and he does little things -- gets tags down quick, positions himself correctly -- that no one notices."

Which is not the case with Utley's swing. Everyone notices that. In 1997, when Utley was coming out of Poly High School in Long Beach, Calif., the Dodgers noticed and made Utley a second-round pick. He opted to go to college, though, and even as a 160-pound teenager, Utley employed the same balanced, fluid swing he uses now. He has put on a few pounds in the meantime -- the Phils list him at 6-1, 200 -- but he is still, by major league standards, string bean-like.

"If you took every player in the major leagues, stripped them and put them in order of how many home runs you think they'd hit based on body type, you would probably have Chase in the bottom 10 percent," Adams says. "But the thing for him is leverage. He's always been able to get great leverage on the ball, and that is going to make him a great hitter for a long, long time."

He's a great hitter now. But watch Utley when he digs into the batter's box -- he still gets that left foot into the inside corner of the chalk, still is willing to take the thwack of a fastball if it gets him on base. And, of course, he's tied for third in the N.L. in being hit by pitches. He's a great hitter, all right, but he's still busting his butt.

[Seabiscuit36]

George Bush was asked if he was back in Baseball, and he could get any player to start a team, who would he go with if money was no object.  He said "Chase Utley"  The first thing he said in office that made any sense. 

[Rome]

God throws a 4 hit shutout to beat the Cox's 5-0.

Check out Rollins' double play in the ninth.  Just an insane example of his incredible athleticism.  He was flat on his ass yet still had enough gas to get the ball over to Utley who then made a perfect pivot to Howard who also made a nice catch to seal the deal.

[PhillyPhreak54]

Myers will be fine.

In all seriousness...what could you possibly base this statement on?

Because he has good stuff. He's been a good pitcher in the past and he's having location issues now. His fastball was too straight the other night and the location was a tad off. He has to make adjustments, and I believe he will.

[rjs246]

In other words he sucks, but he can fix it? Hope springs eternal I suppose...

[PhillyPhreak54]

My optimistic attitude is refreshing

[MDS]

choke dog hit another bomb tonight. i believe off a lefty. can we say he is not crappy anymore?

[Don Ho]

Victorino's home run also qualifies as free pass off the crappy list.  Until he goes 0-5 tonight than right back he goes.

[BigEd76]

It's the second half of May.  He'll be on fire now until October 1st, then he'll suck again.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Just drove past CBP.  Am I missing anything?

[MDS]

Just drove past CBP.  Am I missing anything?

i think you might be retarded.

[Geowhizzer]

Jayson Werth is DESTROYING the Blue Jays.  3-run HR, Grand Slam, 7 RBI.  It's the bottom of the third.

[ice grillin you]

Just drove past CBP.  Am I missing anything?

baseball sucks

[SunMo]

Just drove past CBP.  Am I missing anything?

the guardrail

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

You're just upset I didn't call you to hang out.