Episode 9 - Chase Utley

The Case For: A Baseball Hall of Fame Podcast

Over a 6 year peak 2005-2010 Chase Utley's season average was .298 BA, 27 HR, and 95 RBI. During that period he won 4 Silver Sluggers and received MVP votes in 5 seasons including 3 top-10 finishes. Utley was also in the top 3 NL leaders in WAR for 4 seasons. Utley excelled in the post-season, helping his Phillies win the 2008 World Series and in the 2009 World Series tied Reggie Jackson's World Series record with 5 home runs including 2 games with 2 home runs. He also set the postseason record for consecutive games reaching base. Utley and Babe Ruth are the only left-handed batters to hit 2 home runs in a World Series game against a left-handed pitcher. A sharp decline after 2010 resulted in Utley's career counting stats falling short of traditional HOF benchmarks, however his respectable career WAR of 64.5 places him higher than several HOF'ers. Will his post-season accolades and advanced statistics compensate for his counting stats? Listen to find out Russell's opinion!