The Phillies are coming ‘to my jawn.’ And this U.K. superfan is welcoming all with help from Chase Utley.

LONDON — Dave Shaw doesn’t sleep much. It’s the trade-off he made with himself 12 years ago, when he chose to devoutly follow a baseball team that plays five time zones behind his home in England.

But even without a Phillies game to watch, he was up all night Dec. 4.

A week earlier, Shaw got invited to what MLB Europe described to him as an “unmissable” event to kick off ticket sales for the London Series between the Phillies and Mets in June. What the 37-year-old superfan didn’t know until the day before was that he would be riding around town in a classic London black cab with none other than Chase Utley, his all-time favorite player.

» READ MORE: From 2022: Chase Utley has moved to England to spread the gospel of baseball — and he’s already converted one Brit

“It was the worst night’s sleep ever,” Shaw said, chuckling. “It was terrible. I woke up way before my alarm. Tried to go back to sleep. Couldn’t. Had breakfast. Didn’t go down too well. Got the earlier train because I just wanted to be in London. Just so excited, like a kid on Christmas Eve.

“I don’t usually get nervous before meeting people. But when that black taxicab turned up, my heart was going. It was like, ‘Wow, Chase is in there!’”

For the first time since Shaw saw his first baseball game — June 27, 2012, to be exact (Utley homered, of course) — the Phillies were coming to him instead of the other way around.

Never has that been more true than this week. The Phillies jetted across the Atlantic late Wednesday night. They will work out Friday at London Stadium, built for the 2012 Summer Olympics and home to West Ham United of the Premier League, and transformed from a soccer pitch into a baseball diamond for one weekend in June.

And they will play the Mets in a two-game series Saturday and Sunday.

It will mark the third time MLB has visited. The Yankees and Red Sox played in London in 2019, and, after a three-year hiatus because of the pandemic, the Cardinals and Cubs came over last season.

“Soccer/football is ingrained pretty much in everyone over here, and they’re accustomed to a normal football match that has certain types of food, certain types of chants,” said Utley, who lives in London and works as MLB’s ambassador to Europe. (Yes, that’s an actual job.) “It doesn’t really slow down much. It’s kind of nonstop action for a few hours. So this is a good taste of something a little bit different.”

Shaw was hooked years ago. A passionate sports fan (his soccer team is Brighton, once a second-tier club that returned to the Premier League in 2017), he attended a Phillies game on his last day in town during a multicity U.S. vacation in 2012.

The atmosphere bowled him over. From tailgates outside the ballpark to the sights and smells inside, Shaw fell hard for baseball. He went home and continued following the Phillies, staying up to watch night games that don’t begin until midnight in London.

In 2017, Shaw created a Phillies Twitter account (@UKPhillies), which just topped 21,000 followers. He returns to Citizens Bank Park every summer and was there for the NL Division Series against the Braves in 2022 and last season. Rhys Hoskins’ bat spike might be the biggest homer Shaw has witnessed. (Shhh, don’t tell his pal Utley.)

» READ MORE: Enjoying life in London, Chase Utley is proud of his career — whether he’s voted into the Hall of Fame or not

But the Phillies’ transatlantic appearance is Shaw’s equivalent of Super Bowl week. He’s eager to not only see his favorite team play on his home soil but also to extend the same hospitality to traveling fans that he enjoys when he visits South Philly.

Shaw’s day job is as a customer adviser for Mercedes-Benz. His Phillies fandom has become “like a part-time job in itself,” and he’s only half-kidding. He has posted a slew of content on social media, including a series of videos that may serve as a travel guide of sorts, with most (but hardly all) roads leading to Philly-themed sports bar Passyunk Avenue.

“I’ve gone all-out for this,” Shaw said. “Every time I’ve been to Philly, people have gone out of their way to give me recommendations on where to go in the city, what to do, what to eat, what to drink, made me feel so welcome at the ballpark, invited me tailgating. Now, everybody’s coming to my jawn. So, I’m taking it very personally to return that favor to everybody else to make it as easy as possible for people to navigate around London.”

Through his love of the Phillies — and baseball in general — Shaw said he has made new friends in the U.K. and the U.S. He believes he has helped turn some people on to baseball who otherwise wouldn’t have been interested.

Oh, after once saying that all he ever wanted was to have one beer with Utley, they’re on a first-name basis now.

Shaw and Utley rode around London for a few hours, stopping at Tate Modern and other attractions to film a promotional video before arriving for a pub quiz at the Shakespeare’s Head in the city’s West End. Shaw greeted Utley by calling him by his Harry Kalas-anointed moniker — “The Man” — and, to Utley’s delight, did his best impression of “World [bleeping] champions!”

» READ MORE: Will the Phillies' historic start lead to a World Series title? Here's what the numbers say.

“Chase pulled up in the taxi, and I was very nervous for a minute beforehand,” Shaw said. “As soon as I got in the back of the taxi with him and the film crew, it was just very relaxed. It felt very normal. He was open to talk about anything — his family, how he’s finding the U.K., anecdotes from his time in Philly.

“And he was asking me questions as well, which I was quite surprised. He was genuinely interested in the story of how I got to become a Phillies fan. He knows me by name and knows who I am. People have said he’s spoken about me when being back in Philly, which, again, it’s surreal. It’s incredible. I just try to take it in stride. I’m just a normal guy who works an 8-to-5 job, Monday to Friday.”

Shaw said he and Utley will reunite Friday at MLB’s fan fest in Trafalgar Square. Utley is scheduled to face former Mets infielder Daniel Murphy in a home run derby, among the many events planned throughout the city.

At London Stadium, Utley said there will be live music, fireworks, and other surprises. Celebrity Mets and Phillies fans Matthew Broderick and Rob McElhenny will throw ceremonial first pitches Saturday and Sunday, respectively. MLB will set up a “Phillies Zone” and “Mets Zone” on either side of the stadium, where fans can eat Philly- and New York-centric cuisine, from cheesesteaks to pastrami sandwiches.

“When you walk in the stadium, you look at the field and you would think that this field’s been there for a while,” Utley said. “These types of games, as a player, are exciting. I imagine from the players’ perspective, they’re going to have a little more adrenaline than a standard game.”

Shaw still can’t believe it’s actually happening. After so many years of staying up until 3 a.m., the Phillies are finally coming to him.

“It’s a lot of emotions,” he said. “It’s a pinch-myself moment. It hasn’t felt real until the last few weeks. It’s like, damn, this is happening. The Phils, Bryce Harper, Zack Wheeler, the Day Care, they’re all coming. Topper [Rob Thomson]. The fans. The Philly invasion is going to be descending upon London. This is actually happening. And honestly, it has been already the most fun.”

Join Inquirer Phillies writers Scott Lauber and Alex Coffey at noon Saturday, June 8 to discuss all things Phillies and take your questions before the team takes on the Mets in London.