Philadelphia Phillies: “The Man” has Returned
It has been 366 days since Chase Utley was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and during this past 3 game series with the Dodgers we were reminded of what kind of player he was for the Philadelphia Phillies.
“The Man” returned to Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday for the first time as an opposing player. 12 of his 13 years as a ballplayer was spent calling Citizens Bank Park his home. He exemplified what is took to win over the fans of Philadelphia. His heads up play, his hustle, and his ability to be clutch is exactly what the fans of the Philadelphia Phillies want. We were reminded of his primetime ability on Tuesday night.
The night began with Utley being cheered for about everything he did. When he came out to do his warmups, he was greeted with thunderous applause. Chase even went over to the third base line to sign his autograph on about anything Phillies fans would give him. When stadium announcer, Dan Baker, announced who was leading off there was more applause.
Then the pinnacle of the night, Chase Utley stepped into the batter’s box for the first time at Citizens Bank Park not wearing the pinstripe red.
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When the first chords of Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” started to ring out, the 30,000 Phillies fans stood to pay homage to the kid from California who brought them home a title in 2008. If you’re a Philadelphia Phillies fan, when you think Chase Utley, you think “Kashmir” by Led Zeppelin.
He could do no wrong on Tuesday night. Chase Utley, after he struck out his first at-bat, he proceeded to go deep twice and one of the home runs was even a grand slam. Each home run was followed by a standing ovation from the Philly faithful. See fans from Philadelphia aren’t all that bad.
This was the goodbye that he deserved. Chase Utley has done so much for this city and for the Philadelphia Phillies. Without Chase, there would be no ’08. Number 26 will go down in history as one of the most loved players to ever put on a jersey for a Philadelphia sports team. Utley had this to say to the fans for which he gave so much for,
“I truly believe that without the fans’ support and without them pushing us to be better, we would not have had the team that we had. Obviously, we had some great players and great coaches, but the fans kind of took us to the next level.”
Chase was the player who understood what it means to play for such a passionate fanbase. Every time he pulled on a Philadelphia Phillies uniform he new he had to perform. With his tone setting home run against the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2008 Fall Classic, the fake throw in the same World Series, and hitting 5 home runs against the New York Yankees in the 2009 World Series, he single handedly wrote his name down as one of Philadelphia’s heroes. Who could forget about “World bleeping champions!” He was and still is Philadelphia down to the bone. Chase is the only player who can hit multiple home runs against the Phillies in Philadelphia and still get curtain calls for each one.
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He was an idol to so many kids in Philadelphia. For me he was the reason I wanted to play 2nd base. I used to try to master that batting stance and short but certainly sweet stroke of the bat. Chase gave everything he had for this city, and on Tuesday this city gave everything it had to say goodbye to the legend known as Chase “The Man” Utley.