There are few things that deserve or warrant over 1200 words from Sports Illustrated's Joe Posnanski, arguably the country's best sportswriter. An example of what qualifies: Chase Utley hitting five home runs in five games, tying Reggie Jackson -- Mr. October himself -- with the most hit in one World Series. But it's not the player on which Posnanski focuses, but rather, his swing. A short, compact swing that won Game 5, and has Phillies fans thinking they can win two more in New York.
Chase Utley’s Swing Keeping Phillies Alive
That swing is so quick. It's rattlesnake quick. Jai Alai quick. Shell game quick. That swing is so quick, it should make a cracking sound, like the tip of a whip. That Chase Utley swing.
He doesn't like to talk about it. He doesn't really like to talk about anything much, at least not to people not wearing Philadelphia Phillies uniforms. Really, what's there to say? That swing speaks for him. That swing is his life's work. That swing is more eloquent than any words he could come up with on the spot. You have a question? Ask the swing.
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You can see all of it in his swing, which over 30 years has been polished and shortened and sped up and shortened some more and polished again. There's no wasted energy in that swing. There are no extras, no gadgets, no embellishments. It is a baseball swing reduced to its core. Eric Clapton famously said that music can be reduced to one note, if that note is played with the right kind of sincerity. That's Chase Utley's swing.
It is his masterpiece, his Great American Novel, his Sistine Chapel, his Schindler's List.
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