Fascinating to be discussing the odds on Rollins and Utley being HOF candidates because in 2009 when I was writing my Connect the Dots column for PhillyBaseballNews I penned a column right before the Phils were preparing to meet the NY Yankees in the WS.
I wrote in my column that if the Phils defeated the Yankees Utley, Rollins, Howard and Manager Charlie Manuel would someday all get solid consideration for the HOF. Obviously, I did not see Howard tearing his Achillies Heel in the 2011 playoffs and even if the Phils had won the 2009 WS he wouldn't have gained serious consideration.
But I believe Utley would have been a lock, Rollins a near lock and Manuel a serious candidate. Had the Phils won that series [and they could have if Hamels didn't blow a 3-0 lead in game 3] Utley would likely have been the series MVP and that would have almost cemented his case.
Having two WS titles would have made Rollins a very serious candidate and in my opinion he would have gotten in. Manuel's resume is a bit less impressive but he lead his teams to several playoff berths and with two WS titles his numbers would have matched up well with other HOF managers.
I won't even go into what would have happened had the Phils gotten into the 2010 and 2011 WS, but needless to say that would have likely cemented Utley, Rollins and Manuel into the HOF.
