Chase Utley won’t stay in London forever, and the Phillies would love to lure him home

They had heard for years from Phillies of the past about what a parade would feel like if they were finally able to win a World Series.

“And we all kind of nodded our heads like, ‘Yeah, sure,’” Pat Burrell said.

Then it happened. Burrell sat atop a Clydesdale, leading his teammates on Halloween 2008 through a sea of red-clad fans on South Broad Street. Revelers hung from street signs and stood on bus shelters. Crowds were so heavy that it took the Phillies more than five hours to move just a few miles. They finally reached a packed Citizens Bank Park, where two days earlier the Phillies had won the city’s first championship in 25 years. The day was everything Mike Schmidt had told them it would be.

“I don’t think anyone believed how impactful that parade would be on all of us,” Burrell said.

A stage was set up on the infield and a group of Phils — Burrell, Shane Victorino, Cole Hamels, Ryan Howard — took turns at the microphone thanking the fans and toasting their teammates to finish the parade. That’s when Chase Utley asked Burrell if he thought the ceremony was airing on live TV.

“I said, ‘I don’t know, but part of me probably thinks that it’s live somehow,’” Burrell said. “I go, ‘What do you have in mind?’ He says, ‘I was wondering if I could cut loose a little bit and say what I want to say.’ I said, ‘Dude, I’m going to tell you right now. Of all people, you can say whatever you want.’”

Utley, 44, now lives in London, a short walk from Hyde Park. He rides the tube, goes on holidays, and calls a “soccer field” a “football pitch.” He moved there in August 2022 from California with his wife and two sons, becoming Major League Baseball’s ambassador to Europe.

Utley’s baseball career ended in 2018 with the Dodgers, the team he grew up rooting for. He had to find his next chapter. Utley skied, traveled, spent time with his family, dabbled in broadcasting, and golfed with the same competitiveness that fueled his baseball career.

The Dodgers hired him in February 2019 as a special assistant to their front office. They didn’t ask for much — “They essentially said, ‘Listen, we’d love for you to be around as much or as little as possible,’” Utley said — and that made it perfect. After 16 seasons in the majors, Utley was looking for a respite from a ride that started every February and often dragged into November.

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“It allowed me to fulfill what I was looking forward to fulfilling,” Utley said. “It allowed me to learn from one of the more accomplished front offices in baseball. That was an easy decision. I dug into that a little bit and slowly started getting the perspective of a front office executive versus a player, which are two different views. Obviously, winning is a common thing, but how you get there is a different story. It was interesting to hear what they have to say, how they evaluate, and how they steer the ship. That was very educational for me.”

Utley said his wife, Jen, had longed to experience what it would be like to live abroad. And it was during the pandemic that they decided to give it a shot. They settled in London and moved their family there last summer. Their sons, Ben, 11, and Max, 8, attend an American school and play baseball. The family often travels on the weekend around Europe.

“Now that they’re embedded in this culture here, they’ve made a bunch of friends, some American kids, some from all over the world,” Utley said of his sons. “It kind of opened their minds a little bit more than if we had stayed in the States.”

Utley is a five-hour time difference from a major league ballpark, but he has been able to stay in the game. MLB has an office in London and created a job for Utley, who still has a title with the Dodgers. The job is not rigorous — Utley mostly makes media appearances on behalf of MLB and helps promote the annual London series — but it has allowed the Utleys to experience Europe while staying linked to baseball.

The Utleys have enjoyed their time abroad, but eventually they’ll return to America, perhaps as soon as next year. And it is no secret that the Phillies would love to lure Utley home. He’s beloved by Phillies managing partner John Middleton, and the team has a history of hiring former players. Team officials know Utley could do almost anything, from assisting the front office to joining the field staff to developing minor leaguers to maybe even managing, and has little interest in a job with a ceremonial title. The Phillies want Utley, one of the franchise’s most beloved players, back in the fold.

“I don’t think we’ll stay in England forever,” said Utley, who is listed by the Dodgers as a special assistant to the president. “Essentially, when we decided to do this, we would take it a year at a time. See how we like it. If we want to keep staying, then we’ll continue to stay. We loved it enough that we signed up for Year 2. At some point in the next six to eight months, we’ll have a discussion if we want to stay or go back to the States.

“As far as what’s next, it’s a little unclear. I’m enjoying what we’re doing now. We’re traveling and we’re enjoying this side of the world. It’s something you can see in one, or two, or three weeks over the course of the summer, but living here and the ease of jumping on a plane and going to Italy or Spain or France is extremely simple. We’re enjoying that aspect of that.”

For Utley, retirement has been enjoyable. He’s traveling the world and watching his sons grow up. But there are parts of the game he misses, like being in the clubhouse with his teammates and the thrills that awaited every night.

“You can’t mimic the 7:10 start with a full crowd and they’re going crazy and the adrenaline you get from that,” Utley said. “There’s no way you can get that other than being in that environment. There are days when I miss that adrenaline rush, typically around playoff time. That’s when I say, ‘Oh, yeah.’ I do miss that adrenaline rush during those times, but I’m definitely happy with where I’m currently at.”

Utley was born in Pasadena, Calif., grew up in Long Beach, and went to college at UCLA. He had never been to Philadelphia before the Phillies drafted him 15th overall in 2000 and knew little about his new home.

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“I knew their team at the time was …” Utley said, pausing to find the right word to describe a 97-loss club. “Lukewarm. I’m looking at it from a selfish perspective. In those circumstances, your path to the major leagues, I don’t want to say easier because easier isn’t the right word, but there’s not as many roadblocks to get to the major-league level compared to a team that’s winning the division on a year-to-year basis. I looked at it as an amazing opportunity to continue to improve and find my way to the big leagues.”

He reached the majors three years later, smashed a grand slam for his first hit, and started a love affair with Philadelphia that has been matched by few other athletes. The city fell hard for the kid from California. The 2008 Phillies were a mostly homegrown cast that fell short a few years before breaking through. Philadelphia’s fans loved them because they watched the team grow together. And no one resonated more with Philly than Utley.

“On a day-to-day basis, I left everything on the field, if you will,” Utley said. “I prepared every day to the best I could. I played as hard as I possibly could. I didn’t make any excuses for myself in bad times and I did that day in and day out. I think the fans started to recognize how passionate I was for the game of baseball. In turn, they kind of gravitated towards me.”

Utley was an All-Star in five of his first six full seasons, helped the Phillies break a 14-year postseason drought. He made a defining play in the clinching game of the World Series and was one of the best players in the sport. But it wasn’t just his talent that helped him connect with Philadelphia.

“He let his play do the talking,” Burrell said. “I think they really appreciated that. He never made excuses. He was never going to let anyone in the stands see him not give 100%. I think that’s one of the big deals. He played with a ton of passion. He’s not a talker, but when he put that uniform on and went on the field, he was a different guy than you would see having coffee in the morning. He’s very mellow traditionally. He doesn’t say a whole lot. But when it came down to baseball and nut-cutting time, there was nobody more intense and mentally tough enough to handle it.

“Charlie Manuel said that to me one time, ‘He’s the most mentally tough player I’ve had.’ You’re thinking back to Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome and some of those guys. It struck me and I couldn’t find it more true. That toughness really resonated with that town, naturally.”

Utley walked to the microphone that afternoon, leaned forward, and simply said, “World champions.” He turned to his teammates with a grin. Utley then did what he told Burrell he would.

“We were dying. It was so perfect. The fans went berserk,” Burrell said. “Of course, he had to apologize, but it was totally forgotten. Well, not forgotten but forgiven.”

The response was euphoric and the three words he uttered — “World [bleeping] champions” — became a synonym for that team. Utley was beloved for gritting his teeth, keeping his head down, and playing the game like a cyborg. That 47-second speech may have been the most Phillies fans ever heard him talk. And he seemed to speak for a city that waited 25 years for a champion.

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“As you can tell, there’s a ton of emotion that we’re all going through during that time,” Utley said. “You’re able to accomplish the ultimate goal of winning the World Series and you’re celebrating it with the city you did it for. It’s truly surreal. I simplified how I was feeling. That was an exciting moment.

“The city is a special city, but until you live in it and experience it, it’s hard to explain that to someone. I imagine if you polled all the guys, they would have a similar perspective. It’s a city that loves their sports whether it’s baseball, football, basketball, or hockey. They truly love their sports and they want to support a winner.”

The Phillies came two wins shy of repeating as champions before one of the greatest eras in franchise history finally fizzled out. Fifteen years later, everyone is retired. The Phillies haven’t won a championship since. Perhaps Utley could one day be at Citizens Bank Park telling the current players what a parade feels like. And they’ll likely nod until they experience it themselves.

“I would hope he would get back in the game, to be honest, and get back to doing something with the Phillies,” Burrell said. “Because I think we would all come back for him if he wanted to.”