The Official Site of Chase Utley

Chase's Story

Chase Utley was born on December 17th 1978, in Pasadena, Ca. He was a tremendous baseball player growing up, spending countless hours playing wiffleball to perfect his swing. Chase played his high school baseball at Long Beach Poly High School, and was able to stay close to home when he was offered a scholarship to play for UCLA. In 2000 Utley burst onto the national scene when he was named Outstanding Player of the NCAA Regionals.

After that season Chase was selected in the first round (15th overall) by the Philadelphia Phillies and began his journey through the minors. Chase worked his way all the way up through the Phillies farm system, with stints with the Batavia Muckdogs (A-Short Season) in 2000, the Clearwater Phillies (A) in 2001, and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons (AAA) in 2002-03. In 2003 Chase split time between AAA and the majors, but performed well when he got his shot in the big show. He recorded his first hit, a grand-slam, in his first big league start, and by the end of the season Utley was a regular in the Phillies line up.

2006 was a break-out year for Chase Utley. He began the season playing in the inaugural World Baseball Classic, as the starting second baseman for Team USA. While the team didn’t capture the gold, Utley got the year off to a good start by hitting .385 during the tournament. Chase carried that momentum into the 2006 season where he had a career year. During 2006 he hit .309, drove in over 100 runs, stole 15 bases, and hit 32 home runs, numbers that were good enough to make him the starting second baseman during the all-star game. Utley also grabbed national headlines during his 35-game hitting streak, the second longest in Phillies’ history. His stellar play during the middle of the season was enough to make him the National League’s Player of the Month for July.

The Phillies weren’t able to make the playoffs in 2006, but that didn’t end the year for Utley. He was selected for an all-star squad that traveled to Japan to play in a series against an all-star team made up of Japanese players. The American squad led by Utley and his Philadelphia teammate Ryan Howard swept the Japanese squad, capping a fantastic 2006 for Chase. During the off season Chase worked out diligently and is looking set to have another solid year with the Philadelphia Phillies.