Utley's absence starts to sink in for Phils

MIAMI - The most apparent reminder that Chase Utley no longer plays for the Phillies was found Thursday inside the visiting team's video room at Marlins Park.

This room lined with computer monitors - and the other stations like it across major-league baseball - was typically where one would find Utley, poring over immeasurable amounts of film of that night's starting pitcher or of his at-bats from the previous games. The iconic Phillies second baseman's absence was almost eerie.

"It is weird," admitted Kevin Camiscioli, the team's longtime manager of video coaching services. "It's the end of an era."

By virtue of his position of 19 years, Camiscioli spent perhaps more time with Utley than anyone at ballparks across the country. He was there Wednesday at Citizens Bank Park when the then-soon-to-be Los Angeles Dodger was already studying film of Houston Astros pitchers ahead of this weekend's series at Minute Maid Park.

"Chase was the type of guy, he didn't play cards. He didn't watch TV. He watched video," Camiscioli said. "He could spend an hour. He could spend two. Or more."

A short walk down the hallway from the video room in Miami, Carlos Ruiz on Thursday settled into the first locker on the right, the stall earlier in the season occupied by Utley. Ruiz spent part of Thursday thinking about Utley and Jimmy Rollins' impending reunion, and the double-play partners' pregame handshake ritual the catcher witnessed so many times.

"Definitely we're going to miss him," Ruiz said. "[Wednesday] and today it was real sad. I just said, 'Good luck and I wish you the best.' We played together for a long time, and we had some great moments in this organization. Personally, it was tough [to see him go]."

The Phillies had planned to honor Utley with a send-off during Wednesday night's game in South Philadelphia, but the timing with the finalization of the trade did not make that possible. It was not until more than an hour after Utley tipped his cap to the fans gathered behind the first-base dugout that the Phillies and Dodgers finally announced the deal.

As Utley and general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. addressed the media, the Phillies players and staff sat in two buses outside Citizens Bank Park. Interim manager Pete Mackanin and several others caught the end of the late-night news conference by streaming it on their phones during the half-hour wait for Amaro before riding to the airport.

"Everybody wishes the best luck for him because he was a great teammate, a great player," Ruiz said. "He was unbelievable in everything. He was a person you could look at and you could pick out a lot of great things."