Phillies to induct Chase Utley into Wall of Fame this summer

CLEARWATER, Fla. — “The Man” is headed to The Wall.

Chase Utley is set to be enshrined into the Phillies’ Wall of Fame this year, owner John Middleton announced on Thursday. He will officially be inducted on Aug. 7 during Alumni Weekend.

“As players, we don’t play the game to get recognized, to get awards,” said Utley, who was in Clearwater for the announcement. “But now that we have the ability to kind of sit back and reflect on your career, it’s special. It will be an honor to be part of this special club with the Phillies. The Phillies are my family.”

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Since Utley, 47, retired in 2018, it had seemed like an inevitability that the former second baseman would have a plaque in the left field plaza at Citizens Bank Park someday, with the only question being when.

Over his 12 years as a Phillie, Utley was a six-time All-Star and four-time Silver Slugger, and helped anchor one of the most successful eras of franchise history. The team won the National League East five straight times from 2007 to 2011, and won the World Series in 2008.

“His records are a testament not just to his innate talent, but to his character,” Middleton said. “It’s his hard work, his discipline, his resilience, and perseverance that allowed him to achieve so much for so long.”

Ryan Howard and Cole Hamels, Utley’s former teammates who will likely follow him to the Wall in the future, were present for Middleton’s announcement. They are serving as guest instructors at Phillies camp in Clearwater.

Utley said he and Hamels spent Tuesday night trading memories about spring training.

“At times, you can forget about them and then you can get in a room and those memories come back, and they’re pretty special,” he said. “We had, obviously, some amazing players, amazing personalities and people. I think that’s a true reason why we were so successful.”

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Utley’s deke in the decisive Game 5 of the 2008 World Series, where he faked a throw to first and then combined with Carlos Ruiz to throw Jason Bartlett out at home and preserve a tie, is one of the most iconic defensive plays in Phillies history. And Utley’s speech at the championship parade — and its memorable expletive — endures 17 years later. He will deliver another speech at the ceremony on Aug. 7.

Utley is joining former double-play partner Jimmy Rollins on the wall. Rollins was inducted last season, alongside former general manager Ed Wade. Utley was present during the 2025 ceremony, and helped pull back the curtain to reveal Rollins’ plaque.

“I enjoyed watching Jimmy last year and his speech and everything that he did throughout the course of the weekend,” Utley said. “We’re all now officially grown up, and we feel really honored and extremely lucky to be a part of this organization.”

Middleton described the Phillies’ Wall of Fame as one of the two highest honors the organization can bestow on its players, the other being a retired number. With one exception for Dick Allen, whose No. 15 was retired in 2020, five years before he reached Cooperstown, the typical guideline for a Phillies retired number is induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

That could soon happen for Utley, too. In his third year on the ballot, he continued to pick up the votes needed to reach the 75% threshold for induction. He leaped from 28.8% in 2024 to 39.8% in 2025 to 59.1% this year. He could be positioned to rise above 75% in 2027 or 2028.

“One step a time,” Utley said of his Hall of Fame candidacy. “But yeah, obviously you can’t help but pay attention to it. I’m humbled and honored to even be a part of the conversations. We’ll see how that unfolds, but I’m excited to kind of see how it tracks.”