100% Effort vs. Self Preservation

No, this isn't some stupid "Field of 64" style March Madness competition that you will find on just about every website the internet has to offer (seriously, I'll bet there's a porno field of 64. Go check.). This may come as a total surprise to you, but short white guys from the suburbs like myself don't typically care about college basketball. March is a glorious time for other reasons; I can finally put the snow shovel back into the rafters of my shed, I can pull the summer clothes down from the attic, and baseball is right around the corner. But this year, it seems as though the Phillies are what's driving people "mad."

Maybe my ears were clogged, but I could have sworn I heard radio callers suggesting that since the Phillies enter the 2011 season as the oldest team in baseball, they really need to start thinking about self preservation rather than the "all out" approach we're used to seeing. Somewhere in Las Vegas, Pete Rose is rolling over in his grave. What's that? Pete Rose is still alive? Maybe physically, but that man has been dead on the inside since 1989.

Alive Pete would be downright angry at the idea of self preservation! The guy played 24 years of baseball until the age of 45 and not once did he jog out a ground ball, reach lazily at a grounder in the hole, or jump out of the way of a pitch that could be taken in the hip and get him on base. And Pete spent 5 of his balls to the wall years in Philadelphia playing on the concrete surface of Veterans Stadium. What does he have to show for it? A lot of sore bones now that he's retired, but a hero's welcome every time he comes back to town.

The obvious focus of this battle of 100% Effort vs. Self Preservation is Chase Utley. He's adored by the working class Philadelphia area because he's shown nothing but hard work and selflessness while wearing the red pinstripes. He'll take a 95 MPH fastball in the ribs if it means moving Jimmy Rollins into scoring position. He'll slide at full speed if there's even a remote chance of breaking up another Raul Ibanez double play ball. And he'll sell out his body on each and every defensive play even if his increased range makes him error prone and therefore less likely to draw interest from the morons who vote on Gold Glove awards.

I mentioned in a piece last week that Chase Utley's injuries over the last 3-4 years are in no way related to one another. Are they the product of "balls to the wall" baseball? Absolutely. But I for one wouldn't want it any other way. That's the way professional athletes are supposed to play. If a 10 year old is told run out every infield grounder he hits, why should we expect something different from a guy who makes millions of dollars to play the same game? Chase is getting old, you say. He's 32. With modern medical Science, that's the equivalent to Pete Rose when he was 25. I feel bad for Chase, but Derek Jeter's knees aren't falling off and he's been known to dive head first into the stands. You'll never be able to tell guys like Utley, Jeter, or Rose to "take it easy" or "preserve yourself." Like Charlie Sheen, they only have one speed, one gear: Go! At the end of his current contract, Chase Utley will have made close to $90M dollars in his career. If his legs fall off, I'm pretty sure his savings and his MLB Pension will be enough to build him a bionic robocop style suit he can walk around in for the rest of his life while saving dogs. But until the day comes when he completely falls apart, keep doing your thing, Chase!