That was surreal.
Chase Utley returns Tuesday night to a standing ovation.
He then receives two more, resulting in two curtain calls following a pair of homers, one being a grand slam.
All this as a visiting player handing the Phillies a 15-5 loss.
Truly, truly surreal.
Let’s recap all the sights and sounds.
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The grand slam and second curtain call. Who says mean, ole Philly only boos?
Utley's second standing ovation came after his first homer, a solo shot.
Utley was his stoic self after each blast.
The night meant everything to him and fans, though. In a sense, it was a long overdue goodbye for both sides. CSNPhilly.com Phillies Insider Jim Salisbury nailed it with this piece (see story).
“I truly believe that without the fans’ support and without them pushing us to be better, we would not have had the team that we had," Utley said pregame. "Obviously we had some great players and great coaches, but the fans kind of took us to the next level."
The first standing ovation came, of course, at his introduction, a super cool moment (watch it here). Utley led off and said his first at-bat was one of the most nervous ABs of his career, at any level.
Can you blame him? The scene before it was chill-inducing.
Fans loved it all.
Utley had plenty of interaction pregame.
"It's crazy, man. I'm out there, we're trying to beat him but it's also tough too because I played so many years alongside him and always want to see him do well," Ryan Howard said (see story). "I don't think you can script it any better for him."
OK, want to feel better with some Utley Phillies memories? We've got 26 of them right here.
