In fact, there was no way to expect what Utley did, unless you have paid close attention to his career. This is what he does.
Utley's first at-bat in the 2008 World Series against Tampa Bay was a two-run home run that quieted the crowd and put the Phillies on the right path for the entire series.
Utley didn't homer in his first at-bat of this World Series against the Yankees. He waited until the second at-bat before sticking another pin stuck into the balloon of a home crowd that sat sodden and cold for the rest of the inning. Utley worked lefthander CC Sabathia by fouling off three two-strike pitches before lofting a drive just into the stands of right field.
Just to prove it wasn't a fluke, Utley homered again in the sixth inning, also with two strikes against him, giving Cliff Lee as many runs as the pitcher would need to get past New York. Those two solo runs stood up as long as they had to, and would have stood up all night. They didn't have to, as the Phils got into a shaky New York bullpen for two additional runs in the eighth and two more in the ninth to make the opener an emphatic 6-1 win.
"It was nice for us to get off to a good start," Utley said. "The goal isn't to hit home runs. The goal is just to put good at-bats together."
Through seven innings, Sabathia was just about as good as Lee - with one supposedly-hurt, supposedly-tired exception.
If you want to really know why the Phillies came into this World Series with a good chance to repeat as champions - despite the pinstripe hype machine that always follows the Yankees - it is because they do play hurt, and they do play tired, and they don't let those excuses get in the way.
Utley and the Phillies had a week off to regenerate somewhat, but no player and no team really gets fresh this time of year. Not that it mattered to them.
