So, the following afternoon behind the batting cage, Holliday did what ballplayers do. He made fun of Utley.

First, he demonstrated his own mighty hack, swinging from the heels with all the force he could muster. Then he mimicked a dainty little poke, exaggerating how small it seemed by comparison to make a point. Everybody, including Utley, thought it was hilarious.

Different strokes . . .

Holliday finished second in the National League Most Valuable Player balloting in 2007 by doing it his way. But some believe that Utley's compact, hummingbird-quick lefthanded swing had him on track to win the award before a broken hand sidelined him for a month.

It also has gotten him off to a strong start this year. Going into yesterday's open date, the lanky 29-year-old led the majors in homers (13). He was also third in slugging percentage (.680) and OPS (1.089) while batting .327 with 28 RBI. He maintained those numbers despite going 4-for-28 (.143) in his previous eight games.

Because his swing is so short, the Phillies aren't worried that he will go into a full-blown slump. "His swing is getting a little long," hitting coaches say ominously when a hitter starts to struggle. That happens much less frequently with Utley than with sluggers, whose big swings make them notoriously inconsistent.

Now, there's no such thing as a perfect swing. Or is there? Utley's method is so fundamentally sound that some longtime baseball men wonder.

"At times he can put close to what you'd call a perfect swing on the ball," Phillies manager/hitting guru Charlie Manuel said. "It's good balance, rhythm, load, and at the same time getting a ball that you'd like to hit. And just, very slight, underneath the center of the ball.

"He's a very stylish hitter. He's a good guy to talk about because, if you watch him day in and day out and look at him from a mechanics standpoint, he would be a tremendous guy to use as a demonstration for young kids."

Added Phillies hitting coach Milt Thompson: "I don't know if there's a perfect swing. But his is as close to it as you can be. He's amazing, one of the most amazing hitters I've ever seen."

When the pitcher goes into his delivery, Utley's hands and bat go quiet. As the ball approaches, he goes up onto the toe of his right foot. Then, with a barely perceptible weight transfer, his bat slashes through the hitting zone with surgical precision.

Did Utley learn this by watching a favorite big-leaguer while growing up? Did it come from his dad or a coach? Or was it just serendipity, a natural talent that he was blessed to be born with?

If he knows, he isn't saying. "You're not going to get much good stuff from me," Utley said, politely but firmly, when approached recently.

This much can be determined. He had the swing when the Phillies made him their No. 1 draft pick in June 2000. He had it when he got to UCLA. And he even had it as a youngster at Long Beach Polytechnic High.

"It's never really changed," Phillies assistant general manager, scouting and player development Mike Arbuckle said. "He's always had the same approach. I don't know how it happened, but I think part of it is natural. He's a baseball rat who grew up in Southern California, so he had a chance to play a lot as a kid. He got a lot of swings in."

Gary Adams was the Bruins' coach when Utley was in college. "It looks the same to me," he said. "Chase has that magic formula of quick hands and an accurate eye. He throws the bat at the ball so quickly his hands are a blur."

Adams also coached such future big-league stars as Troy Glaus, Garrett Atkins and Eric Byrnes, but says Utley stood apart.

"I've had a lot of good hitters, but Chase is different from them," he said. "You know, we use aluminum bats in college. Chase was unusual in that he had to make very little adjustment to the wood bat compared to the rest of the guys. He could get the bat around so quickly. Even in high school, it was hard to believe a guy that skinny could hit the ball that far.

"You don't just go up to a guy and say, 'Hit like Chase Utley.' Because he probably won't be able to do it."

Ken Munger was the coach at Long Beach Poly, a school that produced Milton Bradley and current Dodgers prospect James McDonald, when Utley was an underclassman. "The only difference I see now is that he's bigger," Munger said. "He was a skinny, little runt back then. But he had extremely quick hands and the point of contact was always in the right place.

"He still has basically the same swing. He went from the starting position straight to the ball. We never had to coach him much on that."

Munger wasn't the varsity coach when Utley was a senior, but still remembers one at-bat from the Jackrabbits' 1997 season. The high school kids sometimes played at Blair Field, a college stadium used by Long Beach State.

"He hit a home run that cleared the scoreboard in right-centerfield," Munger said. "That's quite a prodigious shot, especially for a high school kid."

Utley is now listed at 6-1, 200 pounds. He's small compared to teammates Pat Burrell and Ryan Howard. He's hardly the prototypical home-run hitter. In fact, he's never hit more than 32 in a season. Yet Manuel isn't at all surprised that Utley has shown so much early power.

"He uses his legs, he uses his hips, he uses his arms, he uses all of his body strength," Manuel said. "And yet, he's comfortable in the fact that he's probably using anywhere from 70 to 80 percent of his strength because if he used 100 percent, he'd swing and miss the ball. That's how good a hitter he is."

Said one big-league scout who regularly watches the Phillies: "I think he is a home-run hitter because he hits the ball so hard and so frequently. And he plays in that [Citizens Bank Park] environment, although he's capable of hitting balls out in any park. Probably in any portion of the park, really. Maybe [at home] he could reach leftfield; maybe at other places not so much because he's become more of a pull hitter.

"The one thing he doesn't do as much as he used to is use the other side of the field. He's more pull-oriented right now and has been the last couple years. But it doesn't seem to matter."

There's more to a great swing than just the split-second when the bat meets the baseball, of course. The swing starts with the stance. The stance is backed up by hours of preparation, both physical and mental. And it all rests on a foundation of traits that can't be taught, eye-hand coordination and reflexes.

The stance. "He's on top of the plate," the scout said. "He's not afraid to be pitched in because he knows he's quick enough to get to the ball that's inside. He covers the outer portion of the plate real well because he is so close.

"He has real good balance. He has a very soft, brief stride. You can't even describe it as a stride. He covers both sides of the plate. He's never caught off balance. Lefthanders can get down and away against him pretty well, but there's very little room for error. It's got to be in the right spot. So, essentially, his balance allows him to get to pitches both in and on the outer portion of the plate.

"He's got a balance and a cleanness to his swing that doesn't change. And it doesn't change because he's never off-balance. Incredible balance. His feet are nice and quiet and his hands are quiet and quick."

The preparation. No Phillies player spends more time studying opposing pitchers; he also keeps himself in great shape.

"A lot of it is conditioning," Manuel said. "But the [study] is the other part about it. The eye-hand coordination and developing his technique. Watching video. He's one of the most prepared guys I've ever been around."

Put it all together and the result is a classic swing. Manuel compares it to those of Barry Bonds, Kirby Puckett, Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez. The scout evoked Paul Molitor. Adams channeled Stan Musial.

Phillies broadcaster Larry Andersen, looking at Utley from the perspective of a former pitcher, mentioned Mike Schmidt.

Asked what sort of problems Utley presents to a pitcher, Andersen just laughed.

"Everything," he said. "When a guy is that quick and still has the plate coverage outside, all you do is hope that you trick him. Hope he's not looking for what you're going to throw.

"He can let the ball get in on him and let it get deep in the zone. And that really cuts down on what you can do. It cuts down on your options. I've seen him hit pretty good pitches out of the park. That's what you can do when you're that quick. It's like he sees the ball coming out of the pitcher's hand right off the bat. And then his swing is so compact. You just hope he's not looking for what you're throwing." *