Phillies’ Chase Utley got away from the Dodgers
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If the Dodgers beat the Phillies in the National League championship series, Dodger Stadium will host its first World Series game since Orel Hershiser threw a shutout against the Oakland Athletics on Oct. 16, 1988. Check the box score: Hershiser gave up three hits and got three hits.
In the crowd that night: A nine-year-old named Chase Utley. He could be playing second base for the Dodgers now, instead of playing for the Phillies and hitting a home run against them in Game 1 of the NLCS, but as we reported in this August profile:
The Dodgers took Utley in the second round in 1997. He said no to the Dodgers, yes to UCLA.Terry Reynolds, then the Dodgers’ scouting director, said Utley had agreed to sign, then took a trip to Mexico. When he returned, Reynolds said, Utley had changed his mind.Utley said he could not remember the details of his decision to turn down the Dodgers.’It came down to the opportunity to go to college during college age,’ he said. ‘They said I could always go back. I wanted a normal college experience. I figured, if baseball was meant to be, there would still be that opportunity after college.’
Also covered in the story: In-N-Out, Milton Bradley and former UCLA and Philadelphia Eagles receiver Freddie Mitchell, guest starring as Cupid.
-- Bill Shaikin