- Phillies and Dodgers All-Star has been serving as an MLB ambassador in Europe for the last two years
- Utley excited about MLB’s growth in the UK and new deal with the BBC
- World Series winner makes predictions for upcoming MLB post-season
America’s pastime is hoping to become part of the furniture in British living rooms. After a 15 year major league career that saw three visits to the World Series, Chase Utley is doing his best to make it happen.
Now two years into his British adventure as an ambassador for Major League Baseball in Europe, the former Philadelphia Phillies and LA Dodgers second baseman is not only loving life as a London resident, but he’s loving seeing how his sport is growing on this side of the Atlantic, following another successful London Series this past summer.
The two games between Utley’s Phillies and the New York Mets at West Ham’s London Stadium attracted a combined crowd of over 100,000 fans across the June weekend and proved once again how eager spectators in the UK are to embrace the sports favoured primarily by their neighbours from across the Atlantic, following the monumental success of the NFL’s expansion onto British shores over the last 17 years and the NBA’s continuing rise in popularity.
“I’ve seen baseball grow immensely from the first year I was here to this year,” begins the 2008 World Series champion during an exclusive chat with Pubity earlier this week , “obviously I’m a little biased as I played for the Phillies, but when they were in town playing the Mets it was a phenomenal weekend. Sold out crowds, great atmosphere, really good baseball games to watch and I think that momentum and that success has led to these games being on BBC, which is wonderful.
“To that point, I think that’s the next step to engage the audience here in the UK. They need to be able to see it on TV. Baseball’s a great product live, like all sports, it’s hard to beat a live product but to get familiar with it you need to be able to understand it and that’s by watching it on television. So now I’m extremely ecstatic that not only do I get to watch baseball here but everyone else in the UK can as well.”
The Beeb’s broadcasting deal with MLB means they are airing key matchups in the current playoff race and early Postseason action with Wildcard and Division Series games on the BBC Sport website, Red Button, and iPlayer.
And with so much unpredictability abound across the American and National Leagues as we approach the final games of the regular season, Utley shared his thoughts on who will be the teams to watch as we enter the business end of this year’s campaign.
“When it comes to Major League Baseball playoffs, anything can happen,” the six-time All-Star tells me, “I was able to play in a number of different playoffs over the course of my career and looking back on that experience I think there were a number of years where I didn’t think we necessarily had the best or most talented team, especially the year we actually won the World Series, I didn’t think we had the best team but we had the best group of guys that were able to hone in on the moment. But then there was a year where we lost in the first round of the playoffs with the Phillies, against the St.Louis Cardinals and I honestly thought we had the best team in all of baseball by far and we ended up losing.
“So to that point, you really never know but looking at the Dodgers and what they’ve done this year and the depth of talent on their roster, what they’ve been able to maintain even with some of their key players becoming injured over the course of the year. I like their chances, they’ve got a great front office. So they will be ready to go. The Yankees also have a very talented team with a strong pitching staff. So those two teams off the top of my head are probably the most favoured on paper, but momentum is a big thing, especially in baseball and the Phillies have been playing some great baseball. The Astros have too, as of late. Both of those teams have recent postseason experience so you know their players will be ready for that environment.
“Then you’ve got the Kansas City Royals fighting for a playoff spot who are a good, talented, young team. The Detroit Tigers will be a wildcard team and they’re playing fantastic baseball at the moment, so playing on that momentum I like their chances early in the playoffs but when it comes down to it, it’s hard to bet against the Dodgers and the Yankees.”
But, for all the great baseball that is being played by these teams at the moment, for a sport to flourish and grow in a foreign market, there often needs to be a superstar or two, a larger-than-life crossover name who has the ability to entrance audiences with their abilities and showmanship. With Shohei Ohtani currently enjoying a historic season with the Dodgers and drawing comparisons with Babe Ruth, baseball may just have that star, but who else does Utley think could become a household name across the UK?
“Aaron Judge for the Yankees, who is not the typical body size for a baseball player. He’s 6’8, 280 pounds, you’d think he should be on a basketball court, but he’s pretty phenomenal and a great player to watch. Juan Soto is a young, very, very talented outfielder with the Yankees who is a free agent at the end of this season, so I imagine there will be plenty of teams backing up the big money trucks to persuade him to their side.
“On the east coast you’ve got Bryce Harper at the Phillies, a multiple time MVP, Kyle Schwarber who, I’ve said this before, but when he’s hot and feeling good in the batter’s box, there’s probably not a better hitter on the planet. There’s so many guys, you go to the Houston Astros you’ve got Jose Altuve, the second baseman, he’s had a phenomenal career, played in several World Series.
“The San Diego Padres have a really talented team, Manny Machado for instance, is one of the best players in baseball but he also has some great young talent around him. Bobby Witt jr at the Royals, the short stop, this is his second or third year in the major leagues and he’s already established himself as a top 10 player in all of baseball. He’s electric, he can run, he can play defence and he can really swing the bat. Oh, and I don’t want to forget about the Orioles, their short stop Gunnar Henderson, a fairly young player, has had a lot of success over the last few years, he’s really led that team to a place where they’re gonna be knocking on the door every year for the playoffs.”
But for all the drama that will be unfolding on television sets during the playoffs over the next few weeks, there is never going to be a substitute for enjoying a game in the stands, surrounded by thousands of your fellow fans at a ballpark. Sunshine, hotdogs and home runs is a pretty unbeatable triple threat, but where are the best ballparks to take in a game should fans in the UK yearn for more than their trips to the London Series?
“Going to New York is always a great time. Yankee Stadium is a great place to watch a game. For me, personally, playing in all the ballparks over the course of my career, I really enjoyed going to Fenway Park in Boston. It’s a great atmosphere because it really brings you back to the good old days, knowing that some of the greatest players of all time, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, have played in that park and the visuals from a fan’s perspective are great. Another stadium with similar characteristics would be Wrigley Park in Chicago, another very old stadium, kinda plopped in the middle of a neighbourhood. Kinda similar to some football stadiums here in the UK and an overall intimate atmosphere and the fans are into it. Those stadiums come top of my list, personally. And if you make your way to Los Angeles, I think watching a Dodgers game at Dodgers Stadium, it’s hard to beat that as well.”
Of course, with the Phillies having secured their postseason berth already, they will be looking to repeat the heroics Utley and co. displayed in 2008, when they went the whole way and brought the championship back to Citizens Bank Park, beating the Tampa Bay Rays four games to one. Only if the Phillies are to become three time champions, there will be no repeat from Utley of his all-timer “World f**king Champions!” victory speech from ’08.
“No!” comes Utley’s rapid, laughter filled response, when asked if he would repeat the speech should the Phillies go all the way for a third time, “I may be asked to give a speech, but it’s not my place, I’m no longer playing but if any of the guys want to follow in my footsteps, go for it!”
The MLB Regular Season Finale is available to watch on BBC Sport and BBC iPlayer this Sunday 29th September, with coverage starting from 8pm GMT
