Philadelphia Phillies legend Chase Utley and the Hall of Fame

Former Philadelphia Phillies legend Chase Utley is set to retire at the end of the season. Will his next stop afterwards be in Cooperstown?

Philadelphia Phillies legend Chase Utley decided to announce his retirement on the weekend my home has been taken over by four of my daughter’s college girlfriends. The timing could be a little better. Just try to figure out where to go when five young ladies all decide to put on makeup at the same time.

But that’s another story. The question is whether or not Utley is a Hall of Fame player. Since I’m under siege, don’t expect a source-heavy evaluation here. I’m going to largely be going with my own observations of Utley’s play for 13 years in Philly. Counting games on TV, I figure I saw 75-80 percent of all the games this second baseman played for the Phillies.

Simply put, Utley was the second best player in baseball for about seven or eight years – roughly, 2004 through ’11.  This very day (July 13), SI.com writer Mitch Goldich pointed out that his WAR rating for 2005-10 was second only to Albert Pujols’ figure, “finishing closer to Pujols in first place than Alex Rodriguez in third.”

More from Call to the Pen

• Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
• Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
• Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
• Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
• 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals

What caught my eye about Goldich’s piece, however, was one particular word in his piece’s title, which is “Chase Utley’s 1,000 career RBIs further substantiate his polished, underrated career.” The word that sticks out there is “polished” because it recalls my first communication with my brother about Utley when he was young.

I told my brother in 2004 the player Utley most reminded me of was Roberto Clemente, a player we both watched as children and teens. However, I told him, it wasn’t Utley’s polish or grace or athleticism that reminded me of the The Great Roberto, and Clemente had all of those qualities in great abundance, except for his base-running, which tended to be all over the place (but very, very fast). No, Utley’s only polished quality was his compact but powerful swing as a batter. Otherwise, he was, frankly, a bit awkward, particularly as a younger player.

What Chase Utley did like Clemente, however, was never give less than 150%. He might boot a ball, but likely as not, he would then pounce on it and complete the play. Like Clemente, who looked like a desperate underdog in the Olympic 100-meter finals when running to first, Utley never dogged it on an infield ground ball he had just nubbed to the second baseman.

He never didn’t dive for a ball he had only a ghost of a chance of stopping. And he captured more than he probably had a right to. He never failed to take out a middle infielder going into second – until they changed the rule for sliding runners because of him. (If you didn’t click on that link, the title of the piece connected is “Examining an MLB memo that explained the new Chase Utley Rule.”)

He was – probably still is – the most intelligent baserunner anyone has seen in the past 60 years. Moreover, he became incredibly intelligent about others running bases. No one who saw it will ever forget his deke of a Tampa Bay runner in the 2008 World Series. Yes, if you look closely at the video, you can see the Rays runner, Jason Bartlett, is well on his way home when Utley makes the fake, but the intention was to fake him out, and Utley threw him out anyway.

He had his big moments as well. His first hit was a grand slam. He tied Reggie Jackson for the most home runs (five) in a World Series, but at some level the numbers don’t matter. Grit matters. He was an All-Star six times, and won four Silver Slugger awards, but never finished higher than seventh for MVP.

Undoubtedly, a case can be made for Utley being rejected by HOF voters. That case will be made in the coming days, surely. However, the fact that he trails Hall of Famer Joe Morgan in home runs by only nine (268-259 at this point) and in RBI by only 108 (1133-1025) is only slightly relevant. Doubters need only take in any current game in Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park. There they can see ten times more Utley jerseys than any other player’s.

Next: Aaron Nola's historic start to his career

Dozens of those jerseys are being worn by children too young to have actually seen Utley play for the Philadelphia Phillies. The legend is being passed on. Chase Utley is a Hall of Famer.