The Official Site of Chase Utley

Wed, Jul 16th 2008, 11:05

Utley and NL squad go 15 innings versus the AL

The parade up Sixth Avenue. The YouTube moment. The Home Run Derby. The 40 dozen autographs.
Chase Utley’s third trip to the All-Star Game didn’t end in victory last night, but he certainly left with some interesting parting gifts.

The much-hyped Yankee Stadium All-Star Game ended the way so many others have in recent years, with an American League win in a famous AL ballpark.

The AL pulled out a 4-3 victory in the bottom of the 15th and once again will enjoy home-field advantage in the World Series.

That might come back to bite Utley in October.

If he and the Phillies are lucky.

Utley left Yankee Stadium with a satchel full of memories. He set up a run with a sixth-inning single as the National League built a 2-0 lead.

The rest of Utley’s Yankee Stadium all-star experience won’t show up on YouTube, but it will certainly remain indelibly etched on his memory.

Well, maybe not the 40 dozen autographs.

“I’ve signed bats, hats, shirts, balls,” said Utley, lucky to have not come down with carpal tunnel syndrome.

This is the memorabilia age and players are as much caught up in it as fans. Much of the memorabilia is taken home by all-star teammates.

It used to be that making the all-star team meant flying into a city, taking a few bows, then playing a game.

Now, it’s two-day event and it goes virtually round-the-clock.

On Monday, there were news conferences, workouts and, for some, such as Utley, the Home Run Derby.

Yesterday, there was a red-carpet parade up Sixth Avenue. Every all-star player was there. So were several dozen Hall of Famers, part of a group of 49 who were later honored in pregame ceremonies.

Utley rode with Mike Schmidt in the parade, and he was looking forward to meeting some of the Hall of Famers before the game.

Some were looking forward to meeting him, as well.

“Utley? I love that guy,” George Brett said. “I love the way he plays. He plays hard and he plays right. When you do that, the numbers take care of themselves.”

Funny game, baseball. When Utley was a youngster, he was a big fan of Brett.

Now, it’s the other way around.

Before Monday night’s derby, Utley met Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson.

Did the 563-homer man pass along any advice?

“He said, ‘If it’s high, let it fly. If it’s low, let it go,’ “ Utley said with a laugh. “It seemed pretty simple. I think Josh took the advice better.”

That would be Josh Hamilton, the Texas Rangers slugger who thrilled the Yankee Stadium crowd with 28 first-round homers.

Hamilton hit 35 homers in the event, but lost because he didn’t save enough for the final round, when he was outhomered, 5-3, by Minnesota’s Justin Morneau. For the night, Morneau had 22.

Utley had five.

“At least I didn’t get skunked,” he said.

On Friday, Utley gets back to work with the Phillies, whose lead in the NL East is down to a half-game over the surging Mets.

“We need to win games,” Utley said. “We need to continue to improve.”

Front-office officials are trying to improve the club. They’re looking for starting pitching, relief pitching and maybe a bat to bring some consistency to an offense that sputters a lot.

Utley was asked if the Phils could use a pitcher.

“The better pitching you have, the more opportunity you’ll have to win games,” he said.

That sounded like a yes.

“I know the organization wants to win,” he said. “If they can find someone to help, they will.”

The Phils hope Brett Myers, who likely will rejoin the team over the weekend in Miami and pitch next week, can provide a boost. Myers has been in the minors, trying to iron out the problems that caused him to go 3-9 with a 5.84 ERA in 17 starts.

Can Myers turn it around?

“I think so,” Utley said. “He wants to get better. He’s willing to take advice and learn. That’s important.”

Utley will be searching for more consistency in the second half. He was a little too streaky for his liking in the first half but still good enough to hit 25 homers, drive in 69 runs, and garner more all-star votes than any other National Leaguer.

Utley was the guy the fans wanted to see at second base for the NL last night. And after all the sideshows, there was a game to play.

That was the favorite part of Utley’s all-star experience.

He just wished it had ended with a win.