Playing second base, hitting lefty, throwing righty — it’s just what people who are named Chase Utley do.
It is not uncommon for parents to name their kids or pets after an athlete, but it is extremely uncommon to have the exact same first and last name as a professional athlete.
Chase Utley was born in Alabama 10 months after Philadelphia Phillies legend Chase Utley, helped lead the team to a World Series title in 2008.
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The older Chase Utley played 16 seasons in the big leagues, hitting lefty, throwing right-handed, and playing second base, and was just named to the Phillies Wall of Fame. The younger Chase Utley hopes his baseball career ends with similar recognition.
The younger Chase Utley’s parents, Brian and Amanda, came around to naming their son Chase in different ways.
For Brian, he is a big baseball fan and knew who Chase Utley was before naming his son Chase.
“I grew up a big baseball fan. Followed the game very closely, and I absolutely knew who Chase Utley was, of course, and have been following his career,” Brian told Fox News Digital in a recent interview. “To date it, our Chase was born in August of 2009, so that would have been (during) the second World Series run for the Phillies, so it was very top of mind. The name just kind of rolls off the tongue when your name’s already Utley. It was something that I wanted. I had to be sensitive to my wife’s desires for sure.”
Amanda Utley thought of the name Chase independently of the Phillies great. When she suggested the name to her husband, she was informed of the coincidence and was turned off by the name.
“I didn’t know there was a Chase Utley, and I just thought of the name Chase and thought it sounded great. I’ve always liked that name. And so, when I suggested it, (Brian) said, ‘Well, as a matter of fact,’ and he tells me all about Chase Utley. And so, I was like, ‘Oh, never mind then.’ You know, that’s weird. I don’t think we’re going to want to name him after somebody,” Amanda told Fox News Digital in a recent interview.
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However, as she went throughout the pregnancy, she vetted Brian about the person Chase Utley is.
“The more we kind of went through the pregnancy, I didn’t find another name I liked better. And, so then I kind of was like, ‘Well, is Chase Utley a good guy? Is he a good leader? Is he a jerk in the locker room?’ You know, all the things. He was like, ‘No, he’s an awesome guy and he would he’s a great role model. He’s probably going to be in the Hall of Fame one year.’ I said, ‘Well, then are we going to get made fun of if we do this?’ And he said, ‘No, I don’t think so.’ So, that’s where that’s where that came from for me. I just really liked the name,” Amanda said.
So, the couple settled on Chase.
The older Chase Utley said he has met a handful of kids named after him, but never someone with his exact same name.
“But honestly, the last name at least, I’ve never met another person named the last name Utley other than my family members. So, they put them both together is extremely unique. And the fact that a young baseball player plays the same position as we mentioned, I think it’s very cool and very unique,” the older Chase Utley told Fox News Digital in a recent interview.
The elder Chase Utley is no stranger to people naming their kids after him. He has been told families have named their pets after him.
“I actually met several kids or parents that mentioned that they named their son or their dog, or their cats, or their bird. There’s I think there was a fish was named after me,” Utley said.
The younger Chase Utley thinks it is “super cool” to be named after the World Series champion.
“Well, obviously I was born kind of at the peak of his career. I was born in 2009 back whenever they were they went on that two World Series run. So it took me a minute to really just kind of understand that,” the younger Chase Utley told Fox News Digital.
“But when I kind of realized it and I got to really know and learn about the player that he is and the great leader and great competitor that he was, I mean, it’s super cool to be named after a player like that, especially a player that’s like fun to look up to and model a game, model my game after. It’s awesome to be named after him.”
The younger Chase Utley did not choose to bat lefty, throw right-handed and play second base solely because of his name. He also plays shortstop and is listed as a right-handed pitcher on Perfect Game’sbsite. Perfect Game is the largest and most comprehensive scouting organization in youth baseball.
The younger Utley said it all fell into place that way and credited his dad for molding him into the player he is.
“Well, from a young age, my dad’s been my coach and my dad’s been a great teacher and coach for me and he kind of molded me into the player that I am. He kind of stuck me on the tee on the left side whenever I started to hit and obvious like I got a lot of athleticism from him and always have worked on being a great athlete with him,” the younger Chase Utley said.
“That sets me up good to be a good middle infielder. So yeah, it just kind of all fell into place to where I was a lefty bat and righty thrower playing both shortstop and second base and yeah, so yeah, it just kind of all fell into place and it’s great to even play the same position that he did.”
Perfect Game’s vice president of scouting, Jered Goodwin, told Fox News Digital that the younger Utley is on the trajectory of being a Division I college baseball player. Goodwin praised his ability to hit and is looking forward to his maturation process.
Goodwin said the younger Utley’s athleticism caught his eye.
“One thing that caught my eye and through the conversations I’ve had and what I got to see last summer, he is athletic enough to be versatile, go out and have a role at a four-year school just because he can play multiple spots. He swings from the correct side of the plate, and he does hit,” Goodwin told Fox News Digital in a recent interview.
The younger Chase Utley is not just opening eyes with his play at baseball tournaments, but has also caused chaos at baseball tournaments for his name alone.
Umpires have approached Brian Utley at baseball tournaments, confusing him for the older Chase Utley.
“There was this one instance where I was playing and my dad was coaching and we had two games earlier in the day and then we left on a game break for lunch. We come back, and it might have been started by an umpire or a parent, but there was a buzz like a rumor going around the ballpark that Chase Utley was there and he was coaching his son while his son was playing as me and my dad is Chase Utley,” the younger Chase Utley said.
“And there’s been other instances where umpires have gone up to my dad thinking that he was Chase Utley and he was coaching his son and talking to him about his career and everything.”
The younger Chase Utley said he frequently gets asked throughout the baseball season by opponents if he is named after or related to the older Chase Utley.
Brian Utley said whenever his son is announced to hit, it causes a stir among the crowd.
“We had a game last night and uh as he comes up to bat, you hear it. Hey, now batting number four, Chase Utley. And I always recognize a little bit of a discussion or I always can see it in the stands every time he comes up for the first time, usually because the name is called out,” Brian said.
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Brian Utley said he gets asked frequently if he intentionally named Chase after the older Chase Utley, which he affirms. Amanda Utley said she had a friend who had known their Chase for years and one day saw a baseball player on television named Chase Utley, and wondered if Brian and Amanda were aware of the other Chase Utley.
“Most of the time when people ask, ‘Do you know?’ the follow-up is, ‘Did you do that on purpose?’ And so it’s kind of, sort of,” Amanda said.
While Brian knew who Chase Utley was, he is not a Phillies fan. He grew up a Kansas City Royals fan in the 1980s, and the family’s favorite team is the Royals.
The family named their dog Slugger after the Royals mascot.
While the Royals are the Utleys’ favorite team, they do root for the Phillies. The younger Chase Utley called them their second-favorite team.
The older Chase Utley said he was at spring training in Clearwater, Florida, when a family came up to him and told him that they named their son after him.
The Utley family had not reached out to the older Chase to let him know they named their son after him.
“We haven’t had that kind of nerve,” Brian said with a laugh.
While they haven’t yet met, there are plans to meet in the future. The elder Chase Utley said they will meet in person over the next several months, maybe after a Zoom for their initial introduction.
The ex-ballplayer said he is looking forward to meeting the younger Chase Utley.
“I’d love to shake his hand and have a good conversation. I, hopefully we can talk a little baseball and second base, and hopefully have some great questions that I can, hopefully I can provide some good answers for him. But yeah, just to meet someone, with your same exact name, that doesn’t happen very often, at least for me. So it’ll be a great experience,” the older Chase Utley said.
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