10 Career-Defining Chase Utley Baseball Cards – Instant PC
Chase Utley was the best second baseman of his generation, and for a five-year stretch starting in 2005 he rattled off five straight 7-WAR seasons as one of the faces of the franchise for a contending Philadelphia Phillies team.
All told, there are more than 4,500 Chase Utley cards, according to the Beckett database. So where does one begin putting together a Chase Utley PC?
These 10 cards serve as an excellent representation of his playing career and footprint on the hobby, making them a great place to start.
2001 Bowman Draft #BDP69 Chase Utley RC
The Phillies selected Utley with the No. 15 overall pick in the 2000 draft out of UCLA after he hit .382/.448/.689 with 22 home runs and 69 RBI in 64 games during his junior year. He began the 2001 season as the No. 5 prospect in the Philadelphia system, with future double player partner Jimmy Rollins in the No. 1 spot.
His only Rookie Cards are in the 2001 Bowman Draft and 2001 Bowman Heritage sets, and that year’s Bowman Draft set was released only in factory set form.
2002 Bowman Autographs #BACU Chase Utley A
Utley made the jump to the upper levels of the minors in 2002, hitting .263/.352/.461 with 39 doubles, 17 home runs and 70 RBI in 125 games at Triple-A to establish himself as a top prospect and put him on the doorstep of reaching the majors.
His first certified autographs were part of the 2002 Bowman Autographs insert set, which were found in 1:67 hobby packs and 1:89 retail packs.
2003 Topps #682 Chase Utley/Gavin Floyd
Following that stellar season at Triple-A, Utley made his MLB debut on April 4, 2003, and he hit .239/.322/.373 with 10 doubles, two home runs and 21 RBI in 43 games, though he again spent the bulk of the season in the minors where he continued to rake.
His first Topps card appeared in 2003 Series 2 on a shared prospect card with pitcher Gavin Floyd, who would also become a solid contributor at the MLB level.
2005 Donruss #43 Chase Utley RR
After playing 43 games in 2003 and 94 games in 2004, Utley finally took over as an everyday player in 2005 when he replaced veteran Placido Polanco at second base. He hit .291/.376/.540 with 39 doubles, 28 home runs and 105 RBI to finish 11th in NL MVP voting and quickly establish himself as one of the game’s most promising young stars.
He was part of the “Rated Rookie” subset in the 2005 Donruss release, alongside Adrian Gonzalez, Zack Greinke, Joe Mauer, Yadier Molina and David Wright.
2006 Topps Update All Star Stitches #CU Chase Utley Jsy
Following his stellar 2005 campaign, Utley was an All-Star for the first time the following year, hitting .309/.379/.527 with 40 doubles, 32 home runs and 102 RBI to finish seventh in NL MVP voting and take home Silver Slugger honors.
In honor of his All-Star Game debut, his Topps Update All-Star Stitches insert earns a spot in this collection. The 63-card set was found in 1:43 hobby packs and 1:53 retail packs, and the large checklist makes individual players an even tougher pull.
2007 Upper Deck MVP Potential #MVP40 Chase Utley
Utley had the best offensive season of his career in 2007, hitting .332/.410/.566 with 48 doubles, 22 home runs and 103 RBI for a 146 OPS+ that ranked seventh in the National League behind Andruw Jones, Prince Fielder, Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday, Miguel Cabrera and David Wright.
The MVP Potential inserts were found two-per-pack in 2007 Upper Deck Series 2 fat packs, with a 50-card checklist of the game’s biggest stars.
2008 Topps Heritage #408 Chase Utley/Jimmy Rollins
Utley and Jimmy Rollins were teammates on the Phillies from 2003 through the 2014 season, and there is an easy case to be made that they are among the 10 greatest double-play combinations in MLB history. They ranked first and second on the team in WAR during the 2008 season when the Phillies won the World Series, with Utley posting a career-high 9.0 WAR that year.
The 2008 Topps Heritage set was designed like 1959 Topps and included the multi-player subset cards that vintage set is known for, including this great-looking card of Utley and Rollins.
2009 Upper Deck Goudey 4-In-1 #47 Jimmy Rollins/Chase Utley/Ryan Howard/Cole Hamels
The core of the Phillies teams that won five straight NL East titles from 2007-11 was Utley, Rollins, slugging first baseman Ryan Howard and left-hander Cole Hamels, and while the roster was filled in with other veteran talent, that homegrown foursome is a big reason why the long-struggling franchise was able to make a move up the standings.
Those four players share one of the 4-in-1 inserts in the 2009 Upper Deck Goudey set. The base red version of the inserts were found in 1:2 packs, but there are also Blue, Green and Black parallels that were tougher pulls.
2014 Donruss #19 Chase Utley DK
Utley was an All-Star for the sixth and final time in 2014, which was also his last full season in a Phillies uniform. He hit .270/.339/.407 with 36 doubles, 11 home runs and 78 RBI in 155 games in his age-35 season, and he was voted to start in the Midsummer Classic.
The Donruss brand was released for the first time in nine years in 2014, and Utley was chosen as the Philadelphia’s Series 1 “Diamond King” representative. The popular subset made up the first 30 cards of the checklist, and they were short-printed as a 1:4 pack pull.
2018 Topps Chrome Sapphire Edition #263 Chase Utley
After 13 seasons in Philadelphia, Utley was traded to the Dodgers at the 2015 deadline. He proved to still have plenty left in the tank, serving as the team’s starting second baseman in 2016 and 2017. He moved into a part-time role in 2018 at the age of 39 in what would be his final season.
His 64.5 career WAR ranks 14th all-time among second basemen, just behind Craig Biggio (65.4) and just ahead of Jackie Robinson (63.8). He will appear on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time in 2024, alongside fellow first-time eligible players Adrian Beltre and Joe Mauer, and it will be interesting to see what level of support he receives.
