Hard to see Chase Utley leave the Phillies after all this time

A COUPLE of weeks ago, I was in New York and I went to see the show "Beautiful," a musical about the life of singer/songwriter Carole King. During the show, almost every one of her hits was performed, including one of my favorites, "So Far Away." One of the lines in the song is "Doesn't anybody stay in one place anymore?"

When I heard Wednesday night that Phillies second baseman Chase Utley was traded, it made me think of those lyrics. The trouble with being a sports fan these days is that very few players remain with one team for their entire career. For us die-hard fans, losing a player we have come to love is extraordinarily painful. But Phillies fans have been experiencing pain for quite some time now, as one of the most memorable teams in our lifetime -the 2008 Phillies - fades away one by one.

Think back! Our lineup was C-Carlos Ruiz, 1B-Ryan Howard, 2B-Chase Utley, SS-Jimmy Rollins, 3B-Pedro Feliz, LF-Pat Burrell, CF-Shane Victorino, RF-Jayson Werth. Our pitching rotation was Cole Hamels, Brett Myers, Jamie Moyer, Kyle Kendrick and Joe Blanton. Our bullpen included Brad Lidge, Ryan Madsen, J.C. Romero and Tom Gordon. One by one, they have drifted away, and only Chooch and Ryan remain. And, sadly, both of them might be gone by next year.

But losing Utley was the hardest to swallow, because he was the leader. He was a ballplayer whose hard-nosed, blue-collar style was reflective of our city. He was flat-out a great player, but perhaps what we loved most was that he and his wonderful wife Jen appeared to fall in love with Philadelphia. They were Southern Californians, but when Chase first came here in 2001, he told everyone he wanted to stay here for his entire career.

As a player with at least 10 seasons in the big league and five with his current team, he had a full no-trade clause, and he agonized before waiving it. He said that the hardest part about accepting a trade was leaving the city, even though he was going back to the area he grew up in, to play for the team he rooted for as a child. Like many of us, I hoped he wouldn't agree to go and would stay here for his entire career. I know that doesn't make sense from a baseball standpoint, because the Phillies need an infusion of young talent that might help them in the future.

Perhaps Darnell Sweeney and John Richy, acquired from the Dodgers in the deal, will become productive members of future Phillies teams and will be playing long after Utley retires. That is what my head told me, but my heart didn't want Utley to leave. It wanted him to "stay in one place" for his entire career.

Utley accomplished many amazing things in his career, including: leading the Phillies to five straight NL East titles, two NL pennants and one World Series championship; a record-tying five home runs in the 2009 World Series against the Yankees; 33 homers and 114 RBI in 2008's championship season; 233 career home runs (a record for a Phillies second baseman); and his incredible .332 batting average for the 2007 season.

Two other career statistics that exemplify his role as the ultimate team player are his franchise record of being hit by a pitch 173 times (almost 100 more than the next Phillie on the list), and his 67 sacrifice flies, second in Phillies history behind only the great Mike Schmidt.

Without a doubt, Chase is a special player who will be missed for his achievements on the field. But we also will miss him because he and Jen became great citizens of our city. They helped us in many ways. Most notably, through the Utley Foundation, which was established to bring awareness to the epidemic of animal cruelty. The "Utley All-Stars" event that Chase and Jen hosted for many years raised crucial dollars for the Pennsylvania SPCA.

As a dog lover - every dog I've had for the last 15 years was adopted - I personally appreciated their love for their pit bull Jack. Chase and Jen adopted Jack after a PSPCA photo shoot with Jack and his brothers and sisters, from the litter of a pit bull that was rescued from a dogfighting ring. Over the years, the Utleys raised over $1 million for the PSPCA, much of which has funded the Humane Law Enforcement unit (a/k/a the "animal cops") that rescued Jack's mother.

As I watched the Phillies game on TV Wednesday night, I, like many fans, was waiting for some farewell tribute to Utley. My favorite American League player, Mark Buehrle, happened to be pitching for the Blue Jays. He pitched for 12 years for the Chicago White Sox. As the 2011 season drew to a close, the White Sox were unable to negotiate a new contract with him because he wanted to test free agency, and the White Sox had indicated they could not compete in the market. So, during his last start, after seven innings of great pitching, as usual, Buehrle went out to the mound in the top of the eighth, leading, 2-1. Strangely, no other White Sox player took the field, and Buehrle stood there alone for at least half a minute before manager Ozzie Guillen came out of the dugout, waved to the bullpen and took the ball out of Buehrle's hand. As he walked to the dugout, the crowd went wild, with a show of appreciation that included a two-minute standing ovation. There was no official announcement, but the White Sox players and managers arranged for this incredible tribute, and the fans knew that this was their chance to say goodbye.

The Phillies never got to do the same for Chase, because the deal wasn't done until after the game ended.

Well, Chase, we are sorry we didn't get the chance to give you a proper goodbye, but we'll see you when you return home in Dodger Blue next season. And after that day, I'm quite sure it will be clear just how much you meant to us.

On Twitter: @GovEdRendell