You know the kid in middle school who always did his homework on time, never spoke out of turn in class, always asked the teacher about her weekend and stuck up his chin at anyone who didn’t follow the rules to the tee?
Chase Utley is basically the Major League Baseball version of that kid.
On Monday, Peter Gammons published a piece on Gammons Daily about how great Utley is and how he’s such a great clubhouse presence and how managers love him and how he’s the person Charlie Manuel respects the most and yadeh yadeh yadeh. The piece included this remarkable anecdote.
Coaches tell the story of a game in which the Dodgers had a big lead in the top of the eighth inning when one younger, enthusiastic teammate stole second base, which ticked off the opposition. When Utley got to the plate in the ninth, he told the opposing catcher to have the pitcher drill him. Then his teammate would understand there are consequences for showing up the opposition.
Some veteran leaders would just quietly pull aside a teammate and tell him not to steal second base in a blowout, but not Chase Utley. Chase Utley is out here conspiring with the other team to teach his own guys a lesson. That’s what a true baseball player does: side with the opposing team over his teammates. Utley’s allegiances apparently lie not with the guys in his clubhouse but with the sacrosanct Unwritten Rules. Because being willing to take a 90-mile per hour pitch to the ribs is a real above-and-beyond commitment to playing The Right Way.
For what it’s worth, Dodgers scribe Jon Weisman has been unable to locate this specific game, but it’s certainly possible that the catcher looked at Utley like he was crazy and denied his request to be hit with a fastball.
I can't find a great match for this game that @pgammo describes, at least one with Utley actually getting hit. https://t.co/e3owVYmZDq pic.twitter.com/cnjkK9HLeB
— Jon Weisman (@jonweisman) February 13, 2017
Utley is back with the Dodgers, so he’ll surely continue being a great teammate and a respected veteran and all that other good stuff. And maybe sometimes he’ll even sell out his teammates to the other team.
Oh and also, maybe he’ll once again slide dangerously into second base and injure and opposing infielder. Can’t forget about that.
