Rain delays stink.<\/p>\n
Except when they\u2019re perfect.<\/p>\n
And, somehow, it seemed perfect that Chase Utley\u2019s Phillies Wall of Fame induction ceremony was delayed 90 minutes by rain Friday night.<\/p>\n
After all, the high point of Utley\u2019s extraordinary career with the Phillies was the 2008 World Series championship. The Phillies\u2019 clinching victory was delayed two days by rain.<\/p>\n
\u201cPerfect,\u201d Utley conceded shortly after the ceremony. \u201cThe symbolism between the World Series and tonight \u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t get much better. Tonight was incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Utley has never been the most talkative guy. Even his most famous quote ever \u2013 \u201cWorld Champions \u2026 World (bleeping) Champions!\u201d \u2013 was just five words long.<\/p>\n
His acceptance speech Friday night, delivered in front of a packed house, lasted 15 minutes. Former teammate Ryan Howard capped the ceremony by unveiling Utley\u2019s Wall of Fame plaque beyond the centerfield wall.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s so much I wanted to say,\u201d Utley said afterward. \u201cI wanted to touch on the people who made an impact on my career.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before Utley took the field, former teammate Pat Burrell addressed the crowd.<\/p>\n
\u201cChase Utley is the best baseball player I ever played with,\u201d Burrell said. \u201cHe\u2019s the most accountable teammate I ever had. He\u2019s a winner.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe made us all better. We pushed ourselves harder because he set the tone. He did everything the way it was supposed to be done. It was always about the team, never about him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Utley took the field to a live rendition of \u201cKashmir\u201d \u2013 his old walkup song \u2013 played by The Albert M. Greenfield All City Orchestra Summer Academy.<\/p>\n
During his speech, he thanked his mom and dad, Terrell and Dave, both of whom were in attendance.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mom gave me confidence and my dad made sure it never turned into arrogance,\u201d he said in his speech.<\/p>\n
He thanked his wife, Jen, for being with him on his journey through baseball and life. He addressed his young sons, Ben and Max.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope someday you understand what this organization and this city has meant to our family,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Utley hit on many members of the Phillies family, from former teammate and mentor Burrell, to Jimmy Rollins, Ed Wade, Mike Arbuckle, John Vukovich, Larry Bowa, Pat Gillick and Charlie Manuel.<\/p>\n
Gillick was the general manager of the 2008 World Series champs, Manuel the manager.<\/p>\n
\u201cPat sprinkled his magic on our team, which eventually led us to a World Series,\u201d Utley told the fans. \u201cCharlie\u2019s ultimate super power was his ability to make us feel invincible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Utley thanked David Montgomery, the late Phillies club president, for building a special culture around the organization. He recognized John Middleton as \u201cthe most passionate owner in sports.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before finishing his remarks, Utley thanked the fans and recognized them for their passion.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe one constant was the Phillies fans,\u201d he said. \u201cPhilly, you gave me so much. Memories that will stay with me forever. To have my name forever connected to this organization and this city is something I will carry forever.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will always be proud to be a Philadelphia Phillie.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rain delays stink. Except when they\u2019re perfect. And, somehow, it seemed perfect that Chase Utley\u2019s Phillies Wall of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261443,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[69,71,70,17086],"class_list":["post-261442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-phillies-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}