In results announced today, for the 3rd consecutive season Chase Utley has been voted by the fans as the “Face of the Franchise” for the Philadelphia Phillies.
Utley will now face-off against ex-teammate Jayson Werth of the Washington Nationals in the first round of the MLB Network’s “Face of MLB” bracket contest.
Each of the last few seasons, the folks at MLB Network have instituted a social media vote to find the most popular player with each franchise. Those players are then placed in a “March Madness” style playoff bracket, and advance based on fan voting.
Fans vote on Twitter and other social media outlets by using hashtags. For instance, in his victorious effort, Utley supporters voted by using the hashtags #FaceOfPhillies and #ChaseUtley in the same post.
TBOH was squarely in Utley’s corner as soon as the Phillies turn in voting came around. We conducted a poll here at the site a couple of weeks back, and Utley defeated Cole Hamels by a 3-1 margin among our readers.
When the Phillies voting opened, TBOH noted on both it’s Twitter and Facebook sites that Utley should be the nominee, and our readers responded with overwhelming support for the longtime 2nd baseman.
As soon as we become aware that the Utley-Werth first-round showdown is getting underway, we’ll again begin soliciting support for Chase by utilizing the hashtag #TheMan in our official TBOH posts. Keep following us on social media for the announcement, coming soon.