The Official Site of Chase Utley

Fri, Mar 5th 2010, 10:43

MLB.com: Utley reminder of days gone by

Jimmy Rollins says Chase Utley rarely smiles, “And when he does, the glove is over his face.”

Watch Utley ply his trade as the Phillies’ All-Star second baseman and you wonder if he truly enjoys his profession. He’s quiet, all-business and fiercely competitive — one of the premier talents in the Major Leagues.

But does he enjoy it?

“I don’t know. That’s a good question,” says Rollins, Utley’s teammate and shortstop, with a chuckle. “Really, though, you have to enjoy this game to play it at the highest level.

“I know Chase loves the game, but does he enjoy it? Sometimes you go, ‘Does he?’ He’s such a tough cookie, and yet, to have his type of success, it doesn’t come without loving the game.”

Utley puts it this way: “I enjoy the competition. People often give me a hard time and tell me I don’t seem like I’m having a good time out on the field. I am. I enjoy being in that battle. I might not be smiling, but inside, that’s what I like to do.”

Utley, 31, is one of the core players who have propelled the Phillies to three consecutive National League East titles and to the World Series the past two years. They won it all in 2008, but lost to the Yankees last November.

Utley got the day off Thursday at sold-out Bright House Field when the Phillies opened their Grapefruit League season, quickly renewing their rivalry with the Yankees after 120 days. With left-hander CC Sabathia starting for the Yanks, it was a perfect time, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel reasoned, to rest Utley, Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez, who all hit from the left side.

The buzz on the field before the Phillies came from behind to win, 3-2, in the ninth inning was about the likelihood of these teams meeting again in the 2010 World Series — and former American League Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay, who pitched two superb innings, making his first start for the Phillies.

“It’s not easy to get to the World Series,” says Utley. “There are a lot of things that can go against you. Obviously, being healthy is probably the most important. If we can stay healthy, we have the type of players, the type of talent to be successful. We need a little luck as well, but you have to stay hungry, have to remain motivated. I don’t see this team backing off that.”

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