The off-season is a funny time for baseball fans, especially when your pro football team is not setting the world on fire.
Following last year's World Series win by the Philadelphia Phillies, one player stood out in my mind in the off-season: Chase Utley.
In their six-game loss to the New York Yankees last season, Utley again stood tall.
Crowd cheering, chest-pounding, fire-eating, kill your best starter, hide your momma, where's Obama, we ain't lying performance.
(Sorry, I recently interviewed Darryl Dawkins, the former 76ers nickname machine for a B/R story).
The rest of the Phillies team simply did not respond as well in the clutch.
Utley hit five home runs against New York to tie Yankee great Reggie Jackson for the most in a single World Series
He hit two home runs off Yankee ace CC Sabathia in Game One of the Phillies 6-1 win.
Utley stands so close to the plate that he not only gets hit a lot, but he opens up on inside pitches and hits the ball a long way.
His 3/4 swing is text book.
Looking at stories, I saw David Murphy's Daily News blog titled: "Leftovers: Props for Utley's base-running; Looking at starters."
Let me say that great stories often are not written from scratch, but rewritten. The key is to give proper credit.
Murphy pointed out that Utley was ranked the second-best baserunner in baseball over the past five years.
It is a belief that I've had for a while, but one finally made in print.
According to John Dewan's report, Utley finished behind only Grady Sizemore among best baserunners.
Sizemore finished with a +104 Baserunning gain, while Utley was tops among infielders with a +96. To see the whole report, check out the link on Murphy's story or google John Dewan's baseball stat of the week.
Murphy, who covers the Phillies, pointed to this example of Utley basepath prowess in his "High Cheese" column:
"The moment that sticks in my mind occurred in early September, in a pivotal game against eventual Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum and the San Francisco Giants at Citizens Bank Park. With two out in the sixth inning of a tie game, Utley stood on first base, having reached on a hit by pitch. The batter, Ryan Howard, sent a line drive screaming toward the gap in right-center field. There were two out, but Utley didn't just start running on contact, he hit full speed on contact. He didn't just score from first base. He scored easily."
The baserunning play I remember was in 2008, I believe when Utley, standing on second, scored on a groundout to second base.
I saw a replay of the moment and the hit ball was a high chopper just in front of the plate, but again, Utley, realizing the situation, never stopped running and scored.
Utley was not that hot in the NLCS or NLDS last season. But, perhaps with a few days rest, was a monster in the 2009 World Series.
He hit .286 in the series with a monster 1.048 slugging average.
He hit .282 last season and is a .295 lifetime hitter.
If there is one kryptonite in Utley's game, it is his health. He had hip surgery following the 2008 season.
The lingering pain from the injury, I believe, causes him prolonged slumps during the season.
If healthy for a full season, he could easily hit .300.
As Phillies' fans, we know we are in the last two years of a five-year baseball glory years for this town.
We have owned the Dodgers for the past two seasons. (That's another story for another day).
The core of Utley, Rollins, Howard, and Victorino, along with Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez will help the Phillies compete until at least 2011, when some of the big contracts come due.
Until then: Thank you, Chase Utley.
**Photo courtesy of New York Post
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