Chase Utley, You are the Man: a Peak Hall of Famer

What makes a Hall of Famer?

In days past, this question seemed fairly simple to answer: 3,000 hits, 500 home runs, 300 victories, or any other arbitrary – though aesthetically pleasing – benchmark was all but necessary for enshrinement.

Today, though, baseball is viewed through a different lens. Superior? Perhaps. Broader? Definitely.

Modern metrics can often tell an unfavorable story about legends past, and revisionist history can be unkind to the likes of some – Lou Brock tallied just 45.3 wins above replacement (WAR) during his career, a blemish of sorts despite retiring as a career .293 hitter with 3,053 hits and, a then an all-time record, 938 stolen bases. Brock, though, did exactly what was expected of a leadoff hitter during his time – hitting for a high average and stealing a ton of bags, and he did so better than anyone.

I contend that we should not be utilizing sabermetrics or advanced analytics to downplay the greatness of those who have already been granted immortality, instead, use them to continue to usher in a new class of Hall of Famer, those who earn their way in with “their playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which they played” rather than simply aesthetically pleasing numbers.

Chase Utley is a ballplayer who fell short of many of those heralded, rounded career totals, tallying 1,103 runs score, 1,885 hits with 411 doubles, 58 triples, 259 home runs, 1,025 RBI, and 154 stolen bases, toting a .275/.358/.465 triple slash-line along the way… but Utley did so playing a different game.

Utley’s career began in grand fashion as his first big league hit was a grand slam, appropriately called by the late, great Harry Kalas. Kalas would later coin Utley’s nickname, “The Man,” when Utley flashed his baserunning IQ by scoring from second on an infield chopper.

Following his first major league hit in 2003, Utley amassed a career that compares favorably – using several modern metrics – with many of the second basemen who are already enshrined in Cooperstown. And while I do not believe those numbers should be used to depose current Hall of Famers, I do think that it is reasonable to use them to highlight a generational talent.

Utley tallied five seasons at second base with at least 7.0 WAR, matched only by Hall of Famers Charlie Gehringer (5), Joe Morgan (5), Nap Lajoie (6), Eddie Collins (8), and Rogers Hornsby (8) and besting Hall of Famers Jackie Robinson (4) and Ryne Sandberg (4). His five seasons with at least 5.0 wins above average (WAA) are topped only by Lajoie (6), Collins (7), and Hornsby (8), paralleling Morgan, who had five of his own.

Utley’s 64.5 WAR is just 3.4 less than Sandberg had during his career, despite 227 fewer games played, while he tops him in WAA, 40.9 to 38.4. He averaged 5.394 WAR/162, topping the likes of Albert Pujols (5.349), but perhaps more aptly compared across the diamond to Barry Larkin (5.239). Overall, he ranks 56th all-time in WAA at 40.9.

Should Utley receive the Hall of Fame nod, he will be carried largely by his five-year peak from 2005 to 2009, during which he batted .301/.388/.535, something only six other second basemen have done in a single season since Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947… all of whom did so just once.

“World Phucking Champions!”

Utley’s peak also yielded a great deal of World Series success – including a march down Broad Street in 2008. He had seven career World Series home runs. Duke Snider is the only National Leaguer with more (11). In 2009, he tied Mr. October, Reggie Jackson, for most home runs in a single World Series, with five.

“He also contributes with his glovework all the time.”

One of the most over-looked parts of Utley’s game was his defense. During his 16-year career, he was awarded exactly zero Gold Gloves. A great injustice! Defensive runs saved – a metric that was largely in its infancy, and certainly not utilized during award season, during Utley’s career – tells us that Utley was one of the game’s top defenders during his time; in fact, he led not only all second basemen with 131 defensive runs saved (DRS) during an eight-year stretch from 2005 to 2012, but all positions players… period!

Utley’s prowess on the diamond extended to the basepaths. He successfully swiped 154 bases, and he was caught stealing just 22 times – good for a record 87.5 percent success rate. He was a perfect 23-for-23 in 2009, most in a season without being caught until Trea Turner went a perfect 30-for-30 in 2023.

Integrity, Sportsmanship, Character, and the Unwritten Rules

Peter Gammons once recalled, “coaches tell the story of a game in which the Dodgers had a big lead in the top of the eighth inning when one younger, enthusiastic teammate stole second base, which ticked off the opposition. When Utley got to the plate in the ninth, he told the opposing catcher to have the pitcher drill him. Then his teammate would understand there are consequences for showing up the opposition.”

Gammons continued, “there was a game in which Kershaw wasn’t getting strikes he thought he’d thrown. When the Dodgers got back to the dugout, A.J. Ellis was hollering at the home plate umpire. Utley warned Ellis not to get ejected. Chase grabbed a batboy’s skull cap, a jacket, got a towel, and rounded up a bunch of fresh baseballs and went out to give the umpires the balls, which is the batboy’s job. When the umpire asked him what he was doing, Utley told him he was not going to embarrass the ump, that no one would notice he was out there, but Kershaw had to have some of those pitches. Having spoken his peace, Utley ran back to the dugout like just another clubbie batboy.”

Rule 6.01(j) Sliding to Bases on Double Play Attempts – “The Utley Rule”

This rule would have prevented Chase Utley from breaking Ruben Tejada’s leg in Game 2 of the 2015 National League Division Series. However, it did not exist at the time of the game, nor did it exist for any of the 1,632 major league games Utley had played prior to it. Chase played hard; he grew up playing the game hard and takeout slides were long part of the game… until they were not. It is unreasonable to hold Utley accountable for a rule that did not exist at the time of the unfortunately result from a good, smart, hard baseball play.

Hall of Fame Comparison

It is easy for the Philadelphia homer in me to call Chase Utley a Hall of Famer, and it would be difficult for any analyst – new-school or old-school – to convince me that, by the numbers, he is not.

As BBWAA become inundated with more forward thinking baseball minds – despite the fact that they continue to fail at their own admission process… more on this to come – I do believe that Chase Utley will one day be granted baseball immortality, perhaps going the way of Scott Rolen with support growing annually.

But for now, all I have left to say – and perhaps the only reason that I have to write this piece is “phucking John Lannan.”