LONDON -- For a time, like everyone else around Flushing, Daniel Murphy despised Chase Utley.

How could he not? Utley represented everything the Mets and their fans considered evil about the Phillies and, later, the Dodgers -- a hard-nosed player who not only came up with clutch hit after clutch hit, but who most infamously broke Ruben Tejada¡¯s leg during the 2015 postseason. It was not until the summer before that incident that Murphy, playing on the National League All-Star team alongside Utley, grew to change his opinion.

¡°I actually had to spend time with him and humanize him,¡± Murphy said. ¡°I didn¡¯t much care for him before that, no. Just in passing and competing with him -- I don¡¯t want to say I could do without him, but he certainly wasn¡¯t my favorite. And then to spend two days, you learn about him, you learn about his family and you¡¯re like, ¡®Well, son of a bee sting, this guy¡¯s like a real person over here. Here I am thinking he¡¯s a demon.¡¯¡±

Years later, the two can laugh about old contentions -- and certainly will this week in London, where Murphy and Utley are set to compete against each other (as well as a pair of Gladiators named Apollo and Fire) in a promotional Home Run Derby at Trafalgar Square. The event is part of the lead-up to a two-game London Series between the Mets and Phillies on Saturday and Sunday.

¡°London, obviously, is a great city,¡± Murphy said. ¡°It was an adventure that didn¡¯t feel worth passing up.¡±

For Murphy, the derby highlights what should be a whirlwind weekend alongside his close friends and former teammates David Wright and Josh Satin, who plan to travel to London with their wives. Two other legendary Mets, Mike Piazza and Mookie Wilson, will also take part in the festivities.

Unlike Utley, who has lived in London since 2022 while serving as MLB¡¯s European ambassador, Murphy is merely an admirer of the city. Years ago, he gained an appreciation for Tottenham Hotspur of the English Premier League because he enjoyed playing with them (and specifically with their 6-foot-7 former striker, Peter Crouch, and his devastating header) in games of FIFA. When Murphy mentioned once in an interview that he was a Spurs supporter, the team¡¯s PR director reached out to invite him to a match. Murphy took him up on the offer, traveled to White Hart Lane with his wife and has been back about half a dozen times since.

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Typically, Murphy will fly in from Florida on a Thursday, watch football matches on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, then return home on Monday. In that fashion, he¡¯s seen some of the EPL¡¯s most hallowed grounds, including Stamford Bridge, Old Trafford and Anfield.

Now, Murphy will view the United Kingdom in a different, more baseball-centric light, alongside Wright, Satin and their wives. Those three don¡¯t often reunite as a group given their general life commitments. But they¡¯ve gathered at events ranging from weddings to a recent golf trip that also included Wright¡¯s close friend, Ryan Zimmerman. The result is typically the same.

¡°It¡¯s like being in the locker room again,¡± Murphy said. ¡°It¡¯s good because Josh will bop David on the nose from time to time, and David needs to be bopped on the nose from time to time. ¡­ We¡¯ll talk ball. We¡¯ll talk family, business. It¡¯s really like being in the locker room again, and we fall right back into rhythm -- a bit of hazing here, a bit of laughter there and away we go.¡±

Given such an audience, Murphy might feel some pressure to perform at the Trafalgar Square derby, which will be held in an outdoor cage with a virtual screen tracking the path of each hit. He also has reason to believe he can succeed.

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Upon retiring from baseball the first time after the 2020 season, Murphy went about two years without so much as touching a bat. That changed when he became hyper-interested in the history of baseball, and specifically some of the greatest sluggers from the Dead Ball Era. Murphy has since spent countless hours reading about the game and studying grainy video footage of its all-time legends.

Last year, armed with his new knowledge, Murphy attempted a comeback, playing first for the Long Island Ducks and later for the Angels organization. He batted .295 at Triple-A Salt Lake but never took the final step back to the Majors, instead retiring for good and fielding some part-time work as an SNY analyst. (Murphy, who served as a color man for a pair of Spring Training games, has another broadcast date scheduled for July.)

That¡¯s a much heftier recent resume than Utley, who retired after the 2018 season and hasn¡¯t played at a high level since. Plus, Murphy has a secret weapon: former Mets bench coach Dave Jauss, who pitched to Pete Alonso in his 2021 Home Run Derby victory.

¡°In theory, I probably should win it,¡± Murphy said when asked to predict the event. ¡°Now, [Utley] is probably going to go to the Hall of Fame, so he does have that. I¡¯m not even sniffing that. They¡¯ll wipe my buns off the ballot if I even get on it the first year.¡±

Murphy considered the question, noting over the phone that he was, of course, holding a bat in his hand.

¡°Me,¡± he finally said. ¡°I¡¯m going to pick me. Why wouldn¡¯t I just pick myself?¡±