Jessica Belmosto

Last Friday, Chase Utley announced his retirement. He’ll be hanging up his cleats at the end of the 2018 season. Utley spent sixteen years in the league playing for the Phillies and Dodgers. Utley never played in Boston but that doesn’t mean his time in the league meant any less to me.

Let’s take a trip down memory lane, shall we? One of my favorite memories is the road trip my dad, brother, and I took to Philadelphia. We packed up the Mustang and drove to the city of brotherly love.

I remember clear as day, taking a tour of Citizens Bank Park. Our tour guide’s name was Tony. He was an older man with grayish hair . He wore a navy blue polo with thick rimmed glasses. Tony showed us all the nooks and crannies of the park . I remember looking back at my dad and smiling whenever he mentioned the players that I knew. I remember Tony telling us how Jimmy Rollins would sign Rawlings baseballs that were clearly installed in the wall for decoration. Someone would have to go through the hallway and cover it with white-out.

Just like most attractions, you get dumped at a gift shop. My dad always spoiled us. Summer trips to different ballparks were our thing. For whatever reason, I gravitated towards a pink Chase Utley shirsey. I’ve never been into pink. I still hate wearing that color. For whatever reason, I wanted a shirt that was my least favorite color and about four sizes too big. My dad bought it and let me wear it soon after.

Chase Utley was four games into his hit streak at the time. I wore my shirt and I wore it proud. Even when we were back home, I would ask my dad to check up on the hit streak. My dad called me Chase’s good luck charm.

I went away to sleep away camps sometimes. There wasn’t much I wanted to bring besides the shirt. There was one night I spilled spaghetti sauce on it. It was heartbroken. David, a beloved counselor of mine, made sure we got the stains out. I called my dad crying, apologizing for ruining something he’d bought me. It wasn’t a big deal to him. He understood why I was so upset but reminded me that everything is replaceable. Fun fact: That shirt lasted me another three years.

I admired Utley as a player and grew attached to him because of a shirt. Baseball is more than a game. I’ll always remember Utley for the hit streak he had that season. Thank you, Mr. Utley for all you’ve done.