Chase Utley, “The Silver Fox,” played his 15th season in the Majors last year, at the ripe old age of 38. But despite being one of the game’s elder statesmen (or maybe because of it), Utley has a bit of a rough edge to him.
Indeed, in some respects, Utley reminds us of another era of hard-nosed ball players, who couldn’t wait for the next opportunity to stand up, face-to-face against the other team and test their mettle.
The following video from all the way back in 2009 is the perfect example. Watch what happens to Giants pitcher Jonathan Sanchez after he throws at/behind Utley’s head.
Now *that’s* how you pay someone back.
First, Utley, being the type of guy he is, takes the single latest timeout I’ve ever seen someone take before a pitch (it was so bad, Sanchez’s teammates had to come in to calm him down before the next pitch), and then Utley absolutely obliterates one out to right – I’m guessing he might’ve been picturing Sanchez’s face on that ball when he took a cut.
Chase Utley might’ve hit just .236/.324/.405 last season, but back in 2009 he was the gold standard. That year, he slashed .282/.397/.508 with 23 homers and 8.2 WAR (third most in baseball).