DENVER -- Garrett Atkins gave the best-man speech at Chase Utley's nuptials in January 2007 (sorry ladies, Utley is, in fact, married), and he said the experience was more nerve-wracking than playing in the World Series last October."That was way worse," Atkins told me before tonight's game. "I was probably 20 times more nervous than trying to hit in the playoffs. It was my first [best-man speech]. I think I had a few cocktails to make myself loosen up a little bit."
And Utley?
"You know him. He doesn't show nerves at all," Atkins said.
And Atkins isn't surprised by the his college roommate's recent power surge. Last night, Utley tied a Phillies record by homering in his fifth straight game, and he leads the NL in several offensive categories, including homers (9), extra-base hits (18) and slugging percentage (.823). Is it too soon to start thinking about him as an NL MVP candidate?
"You don't want to handicap the race in April," Atkins said, "but it's got to be between Chase and [Cubs first baseman] Derrek Lee right now. He got off to the hot start last year, and he was probably the leading MVP candidate at the time he got hurt. He's a great hitter, and when things are going well like they are right now, anything's possible. Six home runs in five days, and nine home runs already, that's pretty impressive."
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