Mets reliever Erik Goeddel told the Kristie Ackert of the Daily News that he played golf with Dodgers second baseman Chase Utley during the offseason while the two were in Mexico.
It wasn’t something that he planned and in fact it was Erik’s brother Tyler who had arranged it. Tyler Goeddel, an outfielder in the Philadelphia system, became friends with the former Phillies All Star.
The two of them had something else in common as they were both drafted out of UCLA.
As awkward as it was, the subject of Utley’s slide into Ruben Tejada in Game 2 of the NLDS was unavoidable.
“I didn’t really want to talk about it, I don’t think he really did either, but, you know, it just came up,” Goeddel told Ackert. “We didn’t talk about it in much detail really, it was quick. Kind of awkward.”
“I knew him a little before because he had gone to UCLA, too, and would come back,” Goeddel said. “I always thought he was a pretty good guy, he was always nice to me and then that happened and I really didn’t know. I was a little surprised when my brother said we were golfing with him.”
Small world.
(Photo: Steve Mitchell, USA Today)
