Chase Utley may one day receive a plaque in the National Baseball Hall of Fame that shows him wearing a Philadelphia Phillies cap. The second baseman was a key cog on the 2008 World Series-winning team, but perhaps his greatest individual performance came at the following year’s Fall Classic. On this day 17 years ago, Utley hit his historic fifth home run of that World Series.
The 2009 core of Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, and Cole Hamels was bolstered by All-Star left fielder Raúl Ibañez and Cy Young Award-winning hurler Cliff Lee. That year’s club won 93 games, and once again finished first in their division. They cruised past the Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Dodgers in the Division Series and Championship Series, respectively, and matched up with the juggernaut New York Yankees for the World Series.
The Yanks were a similarly loaded squad, with stars Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, and Robinson Canó augmented by free agent acquisitions CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, and A.J. Burnett. The 103-win Yankees were looking to take home their 27th championship in franchise history.
Game one in the Bronx of the Fall Classic was all Phillies. Lee pitched a complete-game gem, while Utley crushed two homers off of the future Hall of Famer Sabathia. Game two was a step backward, as the Phils lost 3-1. Back in Philly, the third contest didn't go any better for Philadelphia, with the Yankees prevailing 8-5 on Halloween night.
The fourth game was a heartbreaker: the Phils clawed back from an early 2-0 hole to tie it up, but surrendered two more runs in the fifth inning. Another Utley long ball got them to within one in the seventh, before a dinger from Pedro Feliz (of all people) knotted things up at four runs apiece headed into the eighth.
Then, disaster struck in the top of the ninth when a lapse in concentration by the Phils allowed Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon to take an extra base, and the floodgates opened for three more runs. That score would hold, and the Yankees took a 3-1 series lead, putting the Phils on the brink.
Chase Utley's 2009 World Series performance was one for the ages
Utley set the tone in game five with a solo shot off of Burnett in the first inning. Then in the seventh inning, he came to the plate again with his team up 6-2. Facing southpaw Phil Coke, Utley worked a full count before getting a 93 mph fastball right down the heart of the plate. His World Series heater continued as he drove it deep into the right-field seats for his fifth home run of the Fall Classic.
Unfortunately, that game five magic wore off the following night, as the Phillies dropped the decisive sixth game 7-3, handing the Yankees the Commissioner’s Trophy. That Phillies core would never make it back to the pinnacle of the sport, bowing out in the Championship Series the following season, and then the Division Series in 2011, before entering a decade-long playoff drought in 2012.
Utley’s postseason heroics that year earned him a place in the record books. His five homers tied “Mr. October” Reggie Jackson’s record for most in a single World Series, a feat matched only by George Springer and still unsurpassed. Overall, Utley posted a 1.448 OPS in his six World Series games, best among Phillies position players.
Whether he makes it into the Hall one day or not, Chase Utley will always be a legend in Philadelphia, and his status as the heart and soul of a championship-winning squad. Harry Kalas didn’t dub him “The Man” for nothing.
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