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This 10-Year-Old Cancer Patient Chase Utley Met in 2006 Is Now His Teammate

Devin Smeltzer met Utley in Philadelphia. Now he’s a pitcher with the Dodgers.
Dan Gartland|
This 10-Year-Old Cancer Patient Chase Utley Met in 2006 Is Now His Teammate
This 10-Year-Old Cancer Patient Chase Utley Met in 2006 Is Now His Teammate

The odds of a baseball player being selected in the MLB draft are slim. They’re even slimmer when you’re diagnosed with cancer at age 9. But Devin Smeltzer, a lefthanded pitcher from New Jersey who kept playing baseball as he underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatments, was selected by the Dodgers in the fifth round in 2016. 

Ten years earlier, Smeltzer met a young Phillies second baseman named Chase Utley during a visit to Citizens Bank Park and got his autograph. Now Utley plays for the Dodgers, giving Smeltzer a chance to meet the now not-so-young second baseman again. 

You can see the full SportsNet segment here, including the emotional embrace between Utley and Smeltzer. 

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Dan Gartland
DAN GARTLAND

Dan Gartland writes Sports Illustrated’s flagship daily newsletter, SI:AM, and is the host of the “Stadium Wonders” video series. He joined the SI staff in 2014, having previously been published on Deadspin and Slate. Gartland, a graduate of Fordham University, is a former Sports Jeopardy! champion (Season 1, Episode 5).

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