Chase Utley is in a great Series groove, thanks to the Yanks.
NEW YORK -- Pitching to Chase Utley is, as it turns out, no different than buying real estate.
"Location, location, location," said New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada.
Another old saying that tends to hold true is this one: there is a hole in every hitter’s swing. Yet somehow in this World Series, the Yankees pitchers keep missing the hole and hitting the donut when pitching to the Philly second baseman.
Utley stands tied with Reggie Jackson for most home runs in a World Series (five) and matched Babe Ruth’s 1928 feat when he went deep off a lefty (CC Sabathia) twice in the same game in Game 1.
Any time you make the World Series game notes in the same paragraph as those two sluggers, you’ve got to be doing something special, no? Well, according to the Yankees, all he is doing is taking advantage of some shoddy pitching.
"(The pitches are) right down the middle," Posada said. "There is no hole there."
C’mon, Jorge. You’re saying that all five home runs came on pitches that were grooved?
"Pretty much, yeah."
"I did," said reliever Phil Coke, who served one up to Utley for his second home run of Game 5. "Yeah, it was right down the middle of the plate. Look at the film. I couldn’t have put it in a better spot.
"If you throw a ball right down the middle, you expect it to go 10 miles," said Coke, who knows of what he speaks. He’s got a 13.50 ERA in two World Series appearances.
"You’re saying, there’s a hole in everybody’s swing. But there is not a hole right down the middle of the plate. We keep missing the hole," Coke said. "We’ve been more white than we have black with him. Too much white part of the plate. Not enough black."
So who, exactly, is Chase Cameron Utley?
Well, there isn’t much point in asking him. The former UCLA Bruin isn’t one to talk himself up much.
There he was on Monday night, sitting up on the World Series podium being compared to Jackson, and all Utley could muster was, "Obviously it's great company.
"At some point -- not right now -- maybe I’ll look back on it and see what kind of special moment it is."
Yawn ...
They won’t name a chocolate bar after this guy, the way the Reggie Bar came into being in the ‘70s. And you can bet your next paycheque that Utley will never be quoted, as Jackson once was, saying, "I’m still the straw that stirs the drink. Not (Yankees catcher Thurman) Munson, not nobody else on this club."
Even if, in this Fall Classic, there could be no truer statement.
While Jimmy Rollins has struggled in the lead-off spot, and Ryan Howard has struck out a dozen times in 19 at bats, Utley has put this Phillies team on his shoulders and hauled them back to New York for Wednesday’s Game 6. Five home runs in five games -- that is post-season production for the ages.
Chase Cameron Utley, born in Pasadena, Calif. On Dec. 17, 1978. The Phillies’ first-round pick (15th overall) in 2000, he had been drafted by his hometown club -- the L.A. Dodgers -- in the second round in ’97, but did not sign.
Don’t feel bad if you don’t know much about him. His own high school coaches never saw a professional ball player in Utley -- and he was right under their noses.
"He was a skinny little kid," Long Beach Poly coach Joe Perruccio told the L.A. Times. "He didn't have a lot of natural ability.
"I've seen a lot of players," said Perruccio, who has sent 26 players to the pros including one, Tony Gwynn, to the Hall of Fame. "And yes (Utley) is a surprise. But the work ethic isn't. So in a way you're not surprised."
Utley played high school ball with Milton Bradley, the head case who plays for the Chicago Cubs -- when he’s not suspended.
"I could see that Milton was a sure major league ballplayer," Long Beach Poly assistant coach Ken Munger told the Times. "I didn't really see the same in Chase."
The Phillies led the National League with 224 home runs this season, scoring 44.5 percent of their runs via the long ball. Utley hit 31 of those.
"Right now, it seems like every time he gets a hit it’s a home run," said Yankees reliever David Robertson, who managed to get Utley out in Game 5. "He’s gone out a few times in between there."
True, but seldom in clutch situations.
We’re betting there are a few more of those situations left in this Series. Wonder if there are any more home runs left in the most lethal World Series bat since Mr. October himself, Reggie Jackson?
