Party like it's 2009: Chase Utley, Ryan Howard turned back the clock at Citizens Bank Park
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Remember the late-2000s at Citizens Bank Park? The Phillies made the postseason every year from 2007-11. They won a World Series in 2008 and lost to the Yankees in the Fall Classic the next year. How did they do it? With the help of lots of dingers from the Chase Utely-Ryan Howard connection. Dingers such as these:
Well, on Tuesday night, the Dodgers (Utley's new team) were visiting the Phillies. Although there wasn't a Turn Back the Clock Night scheduled on the team's promotional calendar, there absolutely was some late-aughts magic in the air. Before the game, MLB.com's Evan Webeck spoke to Utley about the homecoming:
"We had a lot of great times here at this stadium," Utley said before the game. "But in that five-year run, it was pretty special. When you look back on it, I just feel fortunate to have been on the team at that time. Because we had a pretty good squad."
And a couple at-bats after getting a standing ovation, Utley hit a solo homer to left field:
And then, because c'mon guys it's Chase Utley we're talking about, the Dodgers second baseman crushed a grand slam in the seventh inning. Two homers and two curtain calls ... for a visiting player.
Howard decided to give the Phillies faithful some more nostalgia with this over-the-shoulder snag in the sixth:
And then, one inning later, the first baseman hit a two-run shot:
Howard talked to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki postgame:
"I think it just goes to show you can change the uniform, but he's always going to be a Phillie at heart," Howard said. "He's always going to be a Phillie to everybody here. Again, I thought it was great. I thought it was awesome. For the fans to give him a curtain call again, it shows what he was able to do here and the impact that he had here on the fans."
The Dodgers ended up winning the game, 15-5, but, most importantly, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard were mashing home runs together (kind of) at Citizens Bank Park again. TBT, guys. Let's listen to Coldplay and stare at this picture for the rest of eternity.