Chase Utley - The Keystone Difference

Well, as I had predicted, it was the Phillies, but easier than I had thought, the Phils prevailing in five, not seven, games. But it couldn't have been more exciting. And today, as callers to the FAN's Mike Francesa discussed who the MVP of the Series should have been, nobody mentioned Chase Utley. And that's just plain wrong.

Just to recap, Cole Hamels was voted the MVP. He won Game 1 and was the starting pitcher in Game 5, that the Phils went on to win. But, as Francesa pointed out, he was really just 1-0 for the Series. And, as he reviewed the batting stats for Phillies in the Series, he basically said, "well, there really was nobody else".

Spoken like a Yankee fan. Yankee fans are all about home runs. That's all they know, except perhaps for batting average. Those were the categories Francesa reviewed. And I had to wonder whether he even watched the Series. He mentioned Carlos Ruiz, the Phils catcher, and he mentioned Howard's production in Game 4. He pointed out a few others and totally ignored Chase Utley, except to point out that he did make an excellent play in Game 5 when he faked a throw to first and threw a runner out at home.

What he neglected to point out was that that play kept the score tied. Utley had made the game-changing play and Francesa missed it totally. Fielding doesn't count to Yankees fans. Nor does running for that matter. And they love the designated hitter. Idiots.

I probably shouldn't let this bother me so much. After all, Utley was only 3 for 18 in the Series. But let's review. Utley scored five runs, walked five times, stole 3 bases and made the game-deciding fielding play in the final.
His 4 rbi's won two games, Game 1 and Game 3, which were both won by just one run. Of the four Phillies victories, I figure Utley was the key player in three of them. In the 10-2 laugher in Game 4, Utley really didn't do that much. But then, he didn't really have to.

In Game 1, the opener in Tampa Bay, when a tone needed to be set, if ever there was to be a tone, Utley stepped up to the plate in the first inning against the Rays top pitcher, Scott Kazmir and promptly smacked a two-run homer. Those two runs held up for the entire game until Ruiz plated the winning run on a ground ball late in the game.

In the pivotal Game 3, back in Philadelphia, Utley set the tone once again. He drove in Jimmy Rollins in the first inning and then he and Ryan Howard hit back to back solo homers in the bottom of the 6th to extend a 2-1 lead to 4-1. Those runs prevented the Rays from ever taking the lead when they came back in the 7th and 8th to tie the game.

Game 4 was the laugher, of course, the Phils winning it 10-2. But, before it was a laugher, Utley scored the run that extended a 1-0 lead to 2-0 in the third. And he was on base for Howard's drive in the Phillies 8th that ensured the Phillies win.

In the all-important Game 5, a game that had to be won lest the Series go back to Tampa, Utley followed Werth's walk in the first inning by getting hit with a pitch. He was therefore on base when Victorino singled both him and Werth home to take the critical 2-0 lead, once again in the first inning, once again helping to break the Rays back before things really even got started. The Rays would finally tie the game in the top of the sixth to make it 2-2, which, of course, allowed the game to be suspended, setting up its dramatic resumption.

Of course, in the resumed game, Jenkins and Werth put the Phils immediately ahead in the bottom of the sixth, and Utley struck out in that inning against the tough Rays lefty J.P. Howell. Things looked bad in the 7th after Baldelli's homer tied the game, only to be followed by still another Rays hit and a sacrifice that put the winning run on 2nd base in the person of the pesky Rays shortstop James Bartlett.

If Utley had been looking for an opportunity to change the momentum, he found it almost immediately. His counterpart at second base for the Rays, Akinori Iwamura, whose misplay of Werth's Texas Leaguer had put the Phils ahead an inning earlier, hit a hard ground ball to Utley's right. Utley, sensing that he had no play on the speedy Iwamura at first, nevertheless faked the throw to first, inducing Bartlett to break hard for home. Utley then made a very nice throw to Ruiz to nail the runner and end the inning still tied at 3-3.

Pat Burrell's double and then Pedro Feliz's single later put the Phillies ahead again, of course, and the Phillies wouldn't relinquish that lead. J.C. Romero and Brad Lidge made sure of that with some fine pitching.

But Utley tried his utmost to extend that Phillies lead once again in the eighth, drawing a walk off the tough Rays lefty reliever Price with two outs. Utley then stole second base to put himself in scoring position for Howard once again. That Howard struck out isn’t really the point. Utley put himself in position to make sure the Phillies would prevail.

There's no doubt in my mind that Utley played a key role in this Series. As did Ruiz and Werth and Howard and Feliz, and all those tough Phillies pitchers. But all those momentum swingers by Utley were hard to miss. Not to mention all those double plays that more often than not cut down the Rays tough B.J. Upton.
Second base is called the keystone for good reason. Chase Utley drove home that point. It was the keystone difference in this 2008 World Series.

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