Phillies To Induct Chase Utley Onto Wall OF Fame, Hall of Fame Could Be Next
This season, Chase Utley will take his rightful place on the Phillies Wall of Fame. The Phillies will induct Chase Utley onto their Wall of Fame on August 7th, before…
This season, Chase Utley will take his rightful place on the Phillies Wall of Fame. The Phillies will induct Chase Utley onto their Wall of Fame on August 7th, before their game vs the Blue Jays that day.
The Phillies are clearly now starting a trend of putting players from that 2008 team on the Wall. The inducted Jimmy Rollins last year. You can imagine the next two will be Cole Hamels and Ryan Howard.
Utley made 6 All-Star teams, won 4 Silver Sluggers, and hit 259 Hrs with the Phillies. In his 13 seasons with the Phillies, he hit.282/.366/.481 with an .847 OPS, and 1,025 RBIs.
He quickly became a fan favorite for his high-effort style of play, labeled by many as a "garbage-pail guy." Getting hit by pitches 173 times likely helped build that reputation. He earned the nickname "The Man" thanks to an iconic call by fellow Phillies Wall of Fame member Harry Kalas.
Hall of Fame Next For Chase Utley?
It may not be the only honor Utley receives over the next 375 days. Utley finished with 59.1% of the vote in this past year's Hall of Fame election. The most for any player not inducted. It is easy to see him getting in next year. The crop of newly eligible players is not great, which may help Utley get over that 75% hurdle.
They will honor Utley this year with the Wall of Fame. If Utley is elected to the Hall of Fame, it might be a Jersey Number retirement ceremony next year.
Utley will become the 3rd player from the 2008 World Series-winning team to go onto the Wall. They inducted Pat Burrell in 2015. J Roll went up last year. Charlie Manuel went onto the wall in 2014. You can imagine there will be a lot more names from that team going up over the next decade plus.
