Chase and Me

Saturday was Chase Utley's 33rd birthday. This makes me sad in two ways.

The logical left side of my brain recognizes that the Phillies second baseman is clearly on the down-side of his career. 33 is a prime, productive age for accountants, auto mechanics, or astronauts (and those are only the "a" careers), but, for major league ballplayers, fast balls are faster and that 90 foot distance between the bases is longer when one is well into one's fourth decade of life. Chase missed the first month of last season with a leg injury. The 30+ year old body doesn't heal as quickly.

Let's face it. The day is coming when #26 will not be batting third for the Phillies. The logical left side of my brain doesn't like this, but remembers that the Phillies survived when age eroded the skills of Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton. It took 28 years for the Utley-led Phillies to win another World Series after the Schmidt / Carlton triumph in 1980, but somewhere in California or the Dominican Republic, the nucleus of the 2036 World Champion Phillies is being born right now. Of course, the next wives of Donald Trump and Newt Gingrich are being born in 2011 as well.

The emotional right side of my brain takes little solace in this. For one thing, I will be 88 in 2036 and it might be difficult to get a good spot along the Victory Parade route for my wheelchair. More to the point, I am now less than twice the age of Chase Utley. We never think that we are getting older. That wrinkled visage that greets us in the bathroom mirror each morning isn't really us. But when we see a graying, hobbling Chase Utley we recognize our own mortality.

Musicians can age ungracefully, but not ballplayers. Mick Jagger, Keith Richard, and Billy Joel are roughly my age. They can look like a train wreck and that's OK. The sex, drugs, and rock & roll got them, but I'm still good. It's different with ballplayers. As long as Chase Utley can sprint around the bases after a home run (and, by the way, that sort of hustle and lack of grandstanding is what makes him my all-time favorite player), I feel young myself.

Use that Grecian Formula and pile on the wrinkle cream, Chase. You're doing it not only for yourself, but for a certain fan who feels good as long as you look good.