Mets’ Four-Time All-Star Admits Dislike for Phillies’ Chase Utley: ‘We Never Said Hello’
March 5, 2025
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Some rivalries never die.
The New York Mets’ distaste for the Philadelphia Phillies has made for one of the better rivalries in baseball over the years, particularly now that the two teams are regularly in playoff position in the National League East.
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That was no less true a generation ago, when shortstop Jose Reyes of the Mets and Phillies second basemen Chase Utley were two of the teams’ biggest stars.
Speaking on SNY’s Baseball Night in New York on Tuesday, Reyes explained his beef with Utley, who was booed perhaps more than any visiting player at Citi Field during his career with the Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers.
“The guy that I don’t like, we never (said) hello to each other, was Chase Utley,” Reyes said.
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In 2006, a group of MLB All-Stars traveled to Japan to play an exhibition series. Utley “played second base, I played shortstop,” Reyes recalled. “We never said hello. So after what he did to (Ruben) Tejada…” Reyes trailed off, shaking his head.
In Game 2 of the 2015 National League Divisional Series, Utley slid late into second base. Tejada, playing shortstop, suffered a broken right leg as a result.
Four years later, when he returned to the majors as an injury replacement, Tejada told reporters he had never spoken to Utley in the aftermath of the play.
Ruben Tejada says it took him about a year and a half to fully recover from the Chase Utley slide in the 2015 NLDS. He hasn’t talked to Utley since that day. pic.twitter.com/bcGpCfLlNQ
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) August 14, 2019
Utley was suspended two games by MLB, but the suspension was overturned. A subsequent rules change made slides like Utley’s illegal.
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For his part, Utley said he did try to reach out to Tejada after the incident through Mets captain David Wright, but Tejada didn’t want to talk to him.
Jose Reyes #7 of the New York Mets, David Wright #5 of New York Mets, Chase Utley #26 of the Philadelphia Phillies, Bruce Bochy of San Francisco Giants and Brian Schneider #23 of the Washington… Jose Reyes #7 of the New York Mets, David Wright #5 of New York Mets, Chase Utley #26 of the Philadelphia Phillies, Bruce Bochy of San Francisco Giants and Brian Schneider #23 of the Washington Nationals during the Aeon All Star Series – MLB v Japan All-Stars at the Kyocera Dome on November 7, 2006 in Osaka, Japan.
Junko Kimura/Getty Images
Reyes played 12 of his 16 major league seasons with the Mets, making All-Star teams in 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2011.
Reyes won a Silver Slugger Award in 2006, led the National League in batting average in 2011, and collected MVP votes in five different seasons before retiring after the 2018 campaign.
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Reyes wasn’t the only New Yorker incensed by Utley. After his fateful slide into second base in Los Angeles, his family was reportedly threatened when the series shifted to New York.
Now retired, Utley is now a special assistant in the Dodgers’ front office.
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