Cody Snavely
Not many players can have such a massive impact on a team in just their few short years playing for a franchise such as the Los Angeles Dodgers; however, Chase Utley was one of those players.
The longtime Philadelphia Phillies second baseman, who spent his first thirteen seasons with the franchise helping beat the Dodgers not once but twice in the NLCS and winning the 2008 World Series championship, was shipped to Los Angeles at the 2015 MLB waiver deadline.
Utley’s arrival in Los Angeles brought about a heartwarming reunion with his longtime teammate, Jimmy Rollins. Rollins, who had been the starting shortstop in 2015, would eventually make way for Corey Seager. This reunion was a testament to the strong bond and camaraderie that Utley and Rollins shared.
While the 2015 Dodgers would not reach their ultimate goal of a World Series championship, Utley immediately impacted the club, becoming close teammates and a role model to young teammates Seager and Kiké Hernández.
However, it was a slide in the NLDS that would define his short stint in Los Angeles. In game two, with the Dodgers down 2-1 in the seventh inning, Utley broke up a double play, allowing Hernández to score the tying run.
However, Utley on the slide would unfortunately injure Mets starting shortstop Rubén Tejada, who would never be quite the same after. Despite the slide by Utley winning game two for the Dodgers, it did not matter in the grand scheme of things as the Mets would advance to the NLCS, winning in five games.
The slide would force the MLB to create a rule that prevented slides, which many fans proclaimed the “Utley Rule.”
However, even after months of baseball the following season, the New York Mets still strongly opposed Utley. In his first appearance during the 2016 regular season at Citi Field, Mets ace Noah Syndergaard made sure their feelings were made aware by throwing a 99 mph fastball behind Utley’s back.
In the now infamous clip between umpire Tom Hallion and former Mets manager Terry Collins, which saw Syndergaard ejected from the game, Collins and Hallion explode in a heated exchange of words. However, Utley had his own plan to sit down an electric Mets crowd.
After this debacle, the game remained tied at zero runs apiece, that was until Mets killer Chase Utley stepped up to the plate, hitting a go-ahead solo home run.
But Utley was not done yet. In his next appearance, he would blow the door wide open, hitting a grand slam, propelling the Dodgers to a six-run lead, cementing a defeat for the Mets and the fans so eager to see Utley fail.
Throughout his career, Utley had a .281 batting average, 197 hits, 39 home runs, 116 RBIs, and 116 runs scored in 194 games versus the Mets, and he placed himself in Dodgers history within just a few short seasons.
Chase Utley batted .236 with 262 hits, 26 homers, 109 RBIs, and 154 runs scored in 386 games for the Dodgers in his career and was a fan favorite in that short time.
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