Chase Utley of the Los Angeles Dodgers announced earlier today that he will retire at the end of this season. Utley spent the majority of his 16 season big league career with the Philadelphia Phillies before being traded to the Dodgers midway through the 2015 season.
The question is whether Utley is worthy of induction into Cooperstown. There's little doubt he's had a very good career. He entered play today with a .276 lifetime batting average, 1880 hits, 259 HR and 1025 RBI. Utley was selected to the NL All-Star Team six times and has a World Series ring with the Phillies back in 2008.
Nevertheless, he is far from a slam dunk. He's not in class of Rogers Hornsby, Nap Lajoie, Joe Morgan or Roberto Alomar. But he does have a chance. Jackie Robinson, Joe Gordon, Tony Lazzeri and Johnny Evers got into Cooperstown as second basemen with fewer than 2,000 hits.
There aren't an abundance of second basemen in the Hall of Fame. So Utley has a chance. But if he gets in he should not get in before Jeff Kent whose offensive numbers are vastly superior to Utley's. Kent played one more year than Utley, but has 100 plus more home runs, 600 plus more hits and and nearly 500 more RBI. Currently, Kent is the only second baseman present on the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot. But after five years on the ballot, Kent has never reached the 20% threshold. Kent's last year on the ballot is 2023 while Utley will reach the ballot in 2024. If Utley gets in and Kent doesn't then it would demonstrate that popularity with the media is a more important credential than player statistics. While a lot of New York Mets fans don't have fond memories of Utley, he remains a largely popular figure whereas Kent kept his own counsel. It would be a shame to see Utley in Cooperstown while Kent is on the outside looking in because of politics.
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