Happy New Year Everyone! Once again spring training is right around the corner and I’m very excited to embark on another championship season. As many of you know, my team and I won our first World Championship! The playoffs were a complete blur, so much excitement and so much energy was streaming through the city of Philadelphia. Night in and night out we found a way to win. We were hitting, we were pitching and our defense was sound, yet it was our team determination that carried us through to the end. I am so proud of my teammates for all of their hard work. The Friday after the game, we had an unbelievable parade down Broad street in Philadelphia to celebrate and share our victory with our fans. That was one of the intense and thrilling days of my life. The fans were amazing, they were so thankful for the championship and so excited to have the victory parade and I think the city of Philadelphia will remember that day for a long time. I had a lot of fun, but it was time for a break.
My wife and I had been planning a trip to Africa for months to go on safari. We left two days after the parade for South Africa. While we were there we visited two different safari camps in South Africa and then flew to Botswana for our last safari camp. We saw tons of animals and actually were lucky enough to witness a pride of lions hunting a herd of cape buffalo! It was intense but so awesome. Africa is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been and we will definitely be back there. We had an incredible time on a much needed break. I really used the time I had on vacation to give my body a complete rest. After 8 months of nonstop baseball, I needed to heal.
While I was on my trip I had to make the decision of whether or not to have surgery on the hip that had been bothering me for most of the year. I came to the conclusion, with the help of many doctors and physical therapists, that the surgery needed to be done because it will enable me to prolong my baseball career.
It has been 11 weeks since my surgery. I have spent the winter in Philadelphia which is definitely not my normal routine. I am used to sunny 70 degree Los Angeles, not 20 degree east coast. My rehabilitation required me to stay in Philadelphia and I know now that I made the right decision. The Phillies training staff has done an outstanding job in helping me recover from surgery. I have been at the field everyday since my surgery and my rehab is moving along as expected. I continue to be optimistic that I will be ready to play Opening Day 2009!
The 2009 season will be here before we know it and I can’t wait for it to start. We have a world championship to defend and I believe we have the team to do it again. Thanks for tuning in to hear about my offseason. See you at the ballpark!!
Chase Utley
