PHILADELPHIA -- Chase Utley and his wife, Jen, have spent almost two years living in London, giving their two sons experiences and perspectives they could not get in the United States.

But baseball has never been far from Utley, and Phillies fans have never been far from him.

He said recently on ¡°The Phillies Show¡± podcast that he still hears those famous three words from his infamous 2008 World Series championship speech -- ¡°World [bleeping] champions!¡± -- even in Europe.

¡°I was in a clothing store [in London]," Utley said. "Another time, I was walking down the street. I was in Switzerland. We were on a ski trip.¡±

You can bet Utley, 45, will hear ¡°WFC¡± over and over again this weekend at London Stadium, where the Phillies and Mets play in the 2024 London Series. Utley will be there, not only because he lives there, but because he has been working as an MLB Ambassador in Europe, working to introduce more and more people to baseball in Europe. It involves work at the grassroots level, educating the media about baseball, promotional work and more.

Utley recently visited Philadelphia to promote the London Series. He shot a promo with Bryce Harper and ¡°It¡¯s Always Sunny in Philadelphia¡± star and friend Rob McElhenney, too.

Utley got the MLB Ambassador job because his wife initiated the idea years ago about the family moving to Europe while their boys, Ben and Max, were still young.

¡°She had spent a year abroad in college, and it kind of shaped how she thought about the world,¡± Utley said. ¡°She looked back on that experience as being a wonderful experience. I obviously didn¡¯t do much traveling other than in the United States playing baseball. Summers were kind of occupied. So, I said, 'Sure, whenever it¡¯s said and done, we¡¯ll talk about it.' I retired [in 2018]. Within a few months, she brought it back up.

¡°Change is kind of not comforting to me. I like routine. I know where I¡¯m going to get my coffee. I know when I¡¯m eating lunch. I know what I¡¯m going to have for lunch. So this was way out of my element. But the more I thought about it and the more I talked with her, the more I realized for me personally, this would be a great experience. But more importantly, for my kids.¡±

Utley said his children knew Northern and South California and Philadelphia. They had been to Mexico a few times.

But the rest of the country? The rest of the world?

Not so much.

¡°To broaden their horizons, to have them understand there is another part of the world,¡± Utley said. ¡°So we got out of our bubble to explore and to show them something different. It¡¯s not going to last forever, but they¡¯re at an age where we felt we could maneuver them a little bit.¡±

Utley noted that life as a big leaguer meant somebody was always taking care of something for you, particularly travel.

He showed up, the plane was there, the bus was there, the bags were there, the room was ready.

¡°We¡¯ll just go to London, find a place, put the kids in school, no big deal,¡± Utley said. ¡°Soon, I realized that I was completely na?ve. You actually need a visa to do so. 'Oh, OK. Now, how are we going to work this out?' I talked with Jen a little bit. I was kind of going through my Rolodex of people that I know who have businesses there. She was like, ¡®You¡¯re such an idiot. Doesn¡¯t MLB have an office there?¡¯ Actually, they do. So I made a couple phone calls.¡±

Utley had a job. The Utleys were bound for Europe.

They¡¯ve taken advantage of the opportunity. They¡¯ve been all over: Italy. France. Portugal. Austria. Germany. Denmark. The Netherlands. Turkey. Kenya. They¡¯ve been to some of those places multiple times.

They¡¯ve been fortunate. It¡¯s been a blessing.

And it¡¯s been great for the boys.

¡°The conversations that we¡¯re having now about Europe or the Middle East or Africa, would not be happening whatsoever if they were still in L.A.,¡± Utley said.