For professional athletes who are able to remain relevant through the end of their careers and their late thirties, there are many funny ways you could mark the passage of time through their careers. At the age of 39, Chase Utley has been in the MLB for 16 seasons now and counting. Think of all the things that have happened since he joined the Philadelphia Phillies in 2003!
This one seemed highly unlikely, however: In 2006, Utley signed an autograph for a 9-year old fan who was battling cancer at the time. Today, that fan is cancer-free, and in fact happens to be Utley’s teammate in the Dodgers organization, a minor league pitcher named Devin Smeltzer.
You can see Smeltzer reunite with Utley in the Dodgers locker room here:
Smeltzer, a fifth-round Dodgers draftee in 2016, still has a ways to go before making it to the majors. The pitcher made 26 appearances last season across the Dodgers’ Class A and Advanced-Class A affiliates, and many prospects at that level fail to make the organizational climb to the big leagues.
Evidently, Smeltzer has fought off worse odds before. He underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatments while continuing to play baseball, and now, in a heartwarming moment, he gets to reunite with one of the figures who helped him in his fight against cancer.
As Dodgers manager Dave Roberts puts it, that was just Chase being Chase. Pretty awesome thing to do, Chase.
