Matt Breen Joins Us To Discuss Chase Utley Moving to England
You may have heard something about Chase Utley moving to England. If you are curious why, Matt Breen of the Philadelphia wrote a story about Utley’s new venture overseas, and he joined us today to explain why. Utley is heading to the U.K. to help promote the game of baseball there. Matt Breen talked about what Utley’s role will be in all this, how the Phillies are involved, and about a Phillies superfan already living in England. Here is some of what he had to say.
On What Utley is Doing Over There
“He moved there last week. It sounds like he’s going to live there for at least a year and work for the MLB as an ambassador to the U.K. because they have these games coming up, in the next 4 or 5 years they play there 3 times. So they want to drum up interest and make baseball popular in the U.K. the way the NFL and the NBA have tapped into these markets, and the MLB really hasn’t. So Utley is going to be an ambassador at different events, and try to spread the word.”
On How the Phillies Will Be Involved With MLB Pushing Into London
I think players understand the ability for their own personal brands. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Phillies are over there in the next few years. They were in the conversation to play the Mets this season or next season there, but that obviously has not happened yet because everything got pushed back. I think the Phillies and the Mets will definitely be one of those games. The Mets are New York, and the Phillies have Bryce Harper. He’s an international Star if there is one in Baseball. They want to get him over there. He embraces being that Superstar, and that’s what you can be if you go over to London.”
On the MLB’s Choice to Send Chase Utley of all People There
“It is strange when you think about it, He wasn’t the biggest talker as Phillies, but he’s kind of been putting himself out there in retirement. He obviously has been broadcasting sporadically. So maybe he not as an active player has agreed to put himself out there a little more. But he’s not going to be grinding it out 9 to 5 every day working for the MLB. It will be sporadic appearances over the next year. Whenever they need him, he is going to be their guy.
On The Phillies Superfan, Dave Shaw, Already in England
“I always wanted to write about this guy Dave Shaw, who is a British die-hard Phillies fan. Then the Chase Utley news happened and that was an even better connection. And the fact he is a Phillies fan because of Utley is even more perfect. It was just interesting because we know what it means to live and die by these teams. But here’s this guy in England, not In Philly, not even in America. Never lived here, just visited once. And he has that same passion that Philadelphians have, and that was pretty cool to hear… He embraced the Phillies so much that he embraced the city and sees himself as maybe not a Philadelphian, but at least an extension of the city… obviously if you are from here, you are invested, but you can also be living across the world and just as invested as all of us are.”
You can listen to Matt Breen’s Full Interview Here…
