For eight years in Philadelphia, Chase Utley's value has been everything he's not.
Uncertainty. Unreliable. Unproductive. In other words, a question mark.
Those personas never cracked the picture with Utley.
How?
And how much longer?
That Chase Utley has lasted so long into 2011 is something of a surprise, if not a miracle of orthopedics.
That he's near maintained his Utleyian caliber, another entirely. It's shocking like a surprise inside of an electrical outlet.
His .270 is comfortably close to his career average, .292. Same goes for a .830 on-base percentage, what you hope from your three-hole, and his OPS (.800), almost otherworldly for his position.
As for the rest of Utley's numbers, we can't say. Tough to compare this season to any other, given the uncharacteristic amount of time he missed—50 games in April and May—nursing his patellar tendinitis.
But maybe that's the legacy of Utley's 2011. You can't notice the drop-off.
And if you asked, he wouldn't excuse it.
That intangible sends the scale haywire. His gamesmanship, his will, his likability—all are as clear as the brisk spring air he electrified in his debut.
The 10 runs scored May 23 against the Reds were the most since April 27, and only the fifth time all year Phillies plated 10-plus. They were very much a function of Utley's doing.
All that, despite an 0-for-5 night.
All that, and unsettling Bronson Arroyo when he shouldn't have, paving a smoother stroll for others.
Others, like the two bookending him in the lineup Jimmy Rollins and Placido Polanco, combined for 4-for-9 and five RBI thanks to more honest pitching.
Others like Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez, 2-for-4 apiece for as many plated runs, compliments to the table that Utley's presence set.
In and of himself, Utley was irrelevant—an afterthought, if the consideration even came.
But it didn't matter. Even in doing nothing, he was (and is) everything.
Like he was that night, Utley could've been stuffed in a loom. He's the fiber this team is woven with.
And has been, since traipsed into an organization in repair in 2000. After being taken No. 15 overall in the amateur draft, months since trading Bruin powder blues in for Phillie red, Utley saw the losses pile
Ninety-seven of them.
Since debuting in 2003, the nucleus crammed with Utley's DNA has improved every year but one (85 wins in 2006).
Sure, Cole Hamels, Howard, Rollins and Carlos Ruiz, newcomers Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee and passers-on Scott Rolen and Jayson Werth and others deserve cred for the upswing and back-to-back World Series' appearances.
But nobody's played with the consistency and class and candor as Utley. Here or arguably anywhere.
That's what makes this part so hard. It's over.
Maybe not tonight, when the Phils will lean on his aura in the first of three against the defending World Champion Giants.
But it's coming. Fast.
Ailments like Utley's just don't get better. Not just for second basemen, torquing their knees and exposing everything else on double plays. Not just for Utley, 32 years (and getting exponentially) old.
For everybody, even the philanthropists you'd think karma would protect and the warriors you know will muscle through it.
According to ESPN injury expert Stephanie Bell, Utley's problem wasn't even as simple as chronic pain. It was three factors, including bone inflammation and cartilage degeneration, made a trifecta of hurt with his tendinitis.
Bell wrote, "Unfortunately, cartilage damage is not reversible."
"Perhaps the best analogy for Utley's knee condition is that of a worn tire. You know that if you continue to drive on it, you may be able to get another 20,000 miles out of it, but if the tire blows, it won't come as a great surprise.
"And if you put the car in the garage and 'rest' it, it doesn't improve the tire tread."
That was her professional prognosis. From March.
That's not going to give. Utley's knee will.
It hasn't yet, despite a seeming down week out of the the All-Star Break gate. Batting .190 was on par with a team that snoozed through a series with the Cubs.
It hasn't yet, even on that awkward slide into third earlier in the game.
It certainly didn't against the Padres, when he went 4-for-9 with 4 runs and as many RBIs.
And it definitely won't pile at once, more likely gradually. The first chip might be a diminished role in Philly. The next designated hitting in the American League.
The last. Walking away figuratively, literally only if he can.
Still, it could go in an instant.The same glimmers that made Utley could be all the time needed to take him.
Either way, the clock is ticking. Upcoming is the crippling question, now what?
Forget the obvious losses. Even the clutchest of two-RBI doubles are replaceable, even ones that shake the Phillies from lulls and reroute the course of regular season series.
And look past the chores. Finding thumbs to plug holes in the order is as tenured in baseball as chewing tobacco during the seventh-inning stretch.
Was he the greatest Phillie ever? You can name three in the infield (Howard, Mike Schmidt and Scott Rolen) who were more prolific or surer-gloved.
Did he elevate in October? Not really, with a whittled batting average in all but two postseason series (2008 NLCS vs. LAD, 2009 NLDS vs. COL).
But Utley is more than that.
Potentially losing him transcends superficial. It's grounded in the principle.
It's parting ways with his savvy, that duped Jason Bartlett to charge for home in the 2008 World Series, faked to first but threw home for a go-ahead run out.
It's unhappy trails to his inspiration, conjuring five home runs against the Yankees and damn-near rallying toward a repeat in the 2009 Fall Classic.
That's what you know you'll miss and what losing will hollow out some fandom.
What you dread? The sight of Utley lifting his hand and batting his eyes.
The thought a 6-4-3 with an unfamiliar middle and your detachment from it.
It's what happens when he walks away, likely after 2012, but always possible.
That reliability wasn't supposed to be Utley.
But, now, it's reality.
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