:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/60369073/925917342.jpg.0.jpg)
It was inevitable. At some point, the ageless-yet-silver-haired Chase Utley would have to retire. And on Friday, he told the world that the 2018 season would be his last as a player, and that he’s retiring to finally become a full-time dad.
Utley has played for just two teams in his career. He’s been on the Dodgers for the last three years, and so the players and staff have the next two and a half months to say goodbye to him. But the Phillies are a whole different story. Utley’s original team has seen a complete turnover since he was traded in 2015. There’s a new team president, a new GM, a new manager, and a whole new crop of players. So for the Phillies, saying goodbye is really about the fans. They’re the ones who remember Utley and all his incredible accomplishments, like his MVP-worthy 2009 World Series performance, and how he never gave up when it seemed like bad knees would end his career.
Phillies fans will get a chance to say goodbye to Utley when the Dodgers come to Citizens Bank Park at the end of July. In the past, he’s gotten standing ovations before each at-bat, and even the home runs he hit against the Phillies got wild, ecstatic cheers. (What other player in baseball gets that kind of reception when he plays his former team?)
But there’s a twist that no one really expected: what if the Dodgers and Phillies face each other in the playoffs? The Dodgers have made the playoffs every year Utley’s played with them, but Phillies fans never had to worry because the Phillies were, well, putrid. There was no chance of them making the playoffs, not unless the Nationals, Braves, Mets, and Marlins all quit baseball in the same year to become accountants. But now the Phillies are a legitimate contender, and have a very real chance of making the playoffs either as a wild card team or as the outright winner of the NL East.
And that presents a very new situation for fans. How will Utley be received if he comes to Citizens Bank Park as not just a harmless regular season opponent, but as a back-up player on a playoff team that could end the Phillies season? It’s honestly hard to imagine Utley ever being received at Citizens Bank Park with anything but cheers, but until recently it was hard to imagine the Phillies being in the playoff picture at all.
The good news is that Utley is primarily a back-up player, and if the two teams end up playing each other in the postseason (both teams would have to win their divisions, but without the best record in the National League), Utley might not even make it into a game at CBP. That would spare fans from having to figure out whether to cheer or boo or do nothing when Utley comes to bat.
But that’s not up to them. The gods of baseball will decide whether Utley will step onto the field at Citizens Bank Park during the playoffs wearing Dodger blue. And if he does, Phillies fans will have to reckion with it. Will he be cheered? Booed? Greeted with confused murmuring? We’ll just have to wait and see.
- Your weekday Say Hey proprietor, Marc Normandin, wrote an excellent article that gives minor league players a blueprint for future unionization, which is something they desperately need to do. If you haven’t seen this yet, do yourself a favor and give it a read.
- Holy crap Billy Hamilton. Just, holy crap. He climbed the wall in center field to rob a home run and how has he never won a Gold Glove? How? That catch! Holy crap!
- It took the 2018 Royals just over half the season to lose the same number of games the 2015 Royals lost in an entire year. Yeah, it’s been a tough year for the Royals.
- It might just be time for the Cardinals to trade Matt Carpenter, even though they still have an outside shot at making the playoffs.
- The Giants have a choice to make: either go all-in at the trade deadline, or stay out of it completely.
- The union for the Washington, D.C. Metro transit workers will vote on a strike on Sunday, which could spell trouble for the All-Star Game. Go get ‘em, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689!
- And speaking of the All-Star Game, Fox is going to use their SkyCam for the Midsummer Classic.
- There are probably a few new Manny Machado rumors since you last checked our Manny Machado Rumor Tracker, so why don’t you take a look? Maybe he’s coming to your team!