Philadelphia Phillies: Chase Utley comes up short retiring as a winner

Philadelphia Phillies fans would have loved to see Chase Utley go out as a winner with the Los Angeles Dodgers winning the World Series, which unfortunately didn’t happen.

Even though he wasn’t officially on the World Series roster, Philadelphia Phillies fans were focused on Chase Utley Sunday night to see if it would be the final day of his professional career, which unfortunately it was.

Back in July, Utley made the announcement that 2018 would be the final season of his career, and luckily the Phillies as an organization were able to send him with a proper sendoff when the Dodgers came to town.

Then again, since Philadelphia was actually in the conversation of being a playoff contender at the time, there was speculation over the possibility of Utley facing his former team in October, but unfortunately the Phillies fell apart when it mattered the most.

Still, just because Philadelphia wasn’t participating in the playoffs this year didn’t mean there weren’t individual players on different teams to root for since the fans would have loved to see Utley or Cole Hamels add another championship ring to their collection.

For Utley, that dream almost came true with Los Angeles earning a trip to the World Series for a second year in a row, but unfortunately with the same results as 2017. Losing to the Boston Red Sox the way they did was a tough pill to swallow for the Dodgers since the series seemed to be on the verge of becoming even over the weekend before Steve Pearce and company fought their way back before taking Game 4.

Utley’s play may not have been as effective as 10 years ago when he played a key role in helping the Phillies bring home a World Series title, but his veteran leadership and ability to be a mentor was just one of many reasons why the Dodgers loved him on the team.

In fact, one can only imagine how different things would have been from 2007-11 in Philadelphia if it wasn’t for Utley’s role in helping the team be a serious contender in the National League year after year.

Seeing Utley fall just shy of earning another World Series title before retirement was difficult to see, but at least the second baseman will always cherish being part of the Philadelphia team that coincidentally won it all 10 years ago Monday.

No matter what, Utley will always be considered one of the greatest athletes to ever play in the City of Brotherly Love, and for that, Phillies fans will miss seeing him on the field each season, even if he’s been with the Dodgers since 2015.