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NEW YORK - Chase Utley is not much of a fan of the limelight.
In fact, if there were TV cameras at one end of a tunnel and a fire, killer bees and Kimbo Slice at the other end, Utley might try to run through the fire and killer bees and fight Slice to escape.
But Utley inadvertently put himself into the type of situation he loathes when he uttered an obscenity as he was introduced before the Home Run Derby tonight at Yankee Stadium. As Utley ran onto the field to stand next to Florida Marlins second baseman Dan Uggla, New York Mets fans lustily booed Utley.
To which Utley responded, "Boo? [Expletive]."
Utley isn't the first person to utter those words to Mets fans, but he clearly said it in jest.
He obviously did not realize that the ESPN wireless microphone he wore would put his words live on TV for millions to hear. It did, and it took about, oh, five minutes for the video to be posted on YouTube, where his words clearly are audible.
"I do want to apologize because it was definitely a poor choice of words," Utley said after he hit five home runs, failing to advance to the second round. "I really didn't mean anything by it. I was kind of just joking around with my buddy over there [Uggla], so again, I do want to apologize."
A Major League Baseball spokesman said networks are supposed to adhere to a delay on players, coaches and managers who wear wireless microphones. After all, this is baseball and players, coaches and managers have been known to swear from time to time. But something seemed to go wrong, although ESPN officials did not immediately comment because they wanted to review the coverage to determine what happened.
Once the network finds out, ESPN's manager of communications, Nate Smeltz, said it would issue a statement.
It is believed that every player in the derby was "miked" for the game.
Ironically, Utley had talked yesterday afternoon about how he is not a fan of being the center of attention.
"It would be tough being Alex Rodriguez, I'm not going to lie," Utley said during a session with the media at the Grand Hyatt. "Playing in New York, being the unbelievable player that he is, he gets a lot of attention, not only on the field, but off the field. It would be tough for me. I imagine it would be tough for a lot of people, but for me it definitely would be tough."
Minnesota's Justin Morneau beat Texas' Josh Hamilton in the final round for the derby championship, five homers to three, although Hamilton clearly stole the show when he hit a record 28 homers in the first round. That broke the single-round record that Bobby Abreu set in 2005, when he hit 24 on his way to the derby title in Detroit.
Read his blog at http://go.philly.com/phillieszone.
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