When people are spoiled the way me and my fellow Yankee fans have been over the past decade it can really make you wonder if you truly love the game of baseball, or simply stand by your team to the point where you don't even watch unless they are involved. I buried the 2008 Yankees a good two months ago and thought that there wasn't a chance that I'd have any interest in watching this Post-Season. I was so so wrong. I just love this game far too much to not watch it. The thing that I find myself really taken by thus far in the the 2008 post-season is watching those who thrive in big spots and those who flounder. The most incredible thing I'm seeing is that the guys who have done so in the past are continuing to do it, while those you expect to flop are flopping. The simple reality is that certain guys are "big-time" while others just aren't built to handle the pressure. In some cases I can point to specific players, and in other cases it comes down to an entire team. It's all incredibly fascinating to watch unfold. My hatred for the Red Sox is well-known among my peers, but this franchise is freaking amazing to me, specifically for 2 reasons:
- Bucholtz aside.....Every single kid they bring up from their farm sytem not only pans out, but pans out in a huge way. Pedroia is the AL MVP, Ellsbury is already a leadoff guy that 90% of the teams in baseball would love to have in place of thier current lead off guy, Masterson clearly has solid stuff and is thriving in middle relief, Lowrie is solid at SS, and Lester is obviously tracking to become one of the best Starters in the Majors. They even have a few guys that I'm not mentioning that could be on their way as well. As much as I loathe this organization, they are doing an incredible job scouting and building their talent.
- The second thing worth mentioning, and there is no explanation for it, is that everyone who puts on that uniform thrives in big spots. I just don't get it. The entire line up, pitching staff, and bullpen all thrive in big spots. It sickens me, but it's the undeniable truth. It's something about that uniform, but when you go down the list of the most "clutch" guys in the past decade or so, you're going to have a tough time naming a more clutch Pitcher than Josh Beckett, a more clutch hitter than Ortiz, and a more clutch post-season hitter than Manny. Speaking of Manny.......
I find it both awkward and enjoyable to root for this guy as I have been doing in the 2008 playoffs. There isn't enough that can be said about the talent he has up at the plate. He's not only an amazing hittter, but his personality and child-like antics seem to be infectious to the point where the Dodgers are about to sweep the "Team of Destiny" out of the playoffs in the very first round. Joe Torre is quite the happy guy right now. Speaking of the Cubs.........
Just as I wrote about the Red Sox having a "clutchness" to them, the Cubs are like the anti-Red Sox. They look like a team full of Post-season ARods from their coach down to the players. Something about Playoff baseball just seems to take things back to reality. For example....Cubs fans will argue with me, but Ryan Dempster despite his regular season effort is a journeyman who has failed time and time again to live up to the expectations he had as a minor leaguer. My buddy Jed and I always talk about guys like this who are overachievers for a brief period while failing to succeed during the majority of their career (see also.. Jared Wright). We are in complete agreement that these things have a way of working themselves out in the end. Ryan Dempster is just the latest example. Watching the Cubs over the past two games has been painful though. Game 1 was completely on Lou Pinella and his refusal to take Dempster out despite his 7 walks in less than 5 innings. That was in the top 3 among the worst pieces of managing I've seen in my baseball watching life. My apologies to you Bob Brenly and Grady Little if you just dropped a spot on the list, but Lou earned it in Game 1. Last night's game was just brutal though. The Cubs are a game away from ripping their fans hearts out, and I question that they have a single guy on that team that can rally that group and get them back in it. Bergen Catholic's own Mark DeRosa may be the closest thing they have to THAT guy. Oh...and to the Big Z.....you didn't get much help last night, but you sir are right there with the rest of your "unclutch" teammates.
That brings me to the Cubs of the AL. The Angels are like a nightmare to me as a Yankee Fan. Here is a team that just kills the Yankees with pitching, speed, defense, etc... yet they are a bunch of chumps who curl up into a ball when they come across those Red Sox uniforms. It took one playoff game for me to see that the best REGULAR season team in Baseball is once again going to get bounced by the Red Sox. When you lose 10 straight playoff games and your super-star has 1 RBI in his past 51 post-season ABs you know you are a bunch of chokers who were done the second Tampa clinched the AL East and left them with the Sox in round 1.
The one guy who I think of as the most intriguing in the "clutch" versus "not clutch" argument is CC Sabathia. Here's a guy who took a completely average team on his shoulders and went out and mowed every 3 days to sneak them past the most unclutch organization in all of sports (that felt good to write). However.....CC is going to sign a deal close to 200 million next year, and there is a strong possibility that it will be with the Yankees. So, based on yesterday's performance combined with his complete meltdown in last year's playoffs, I'm not feeling all that confident if I'm trotting out CC in a must-win playoff game in front of a raucous 50,000 in the Bronx. It will make for an interesting scenario if it comes up *fuming about not having Johan right now*.
Red Sox over the Phillies in 6 followed by multiple riots and looting in Philly and my wife talking me off the ledge.
I will be forever grateful to the New York Giants for their DOMINATION of the Patriots. They are a diamond in a pile of Boston shit.
Awards:
AL Cy Young - Cliff Lee
AL MVP - Dustin Pedroia
NL Cy Young - Tim Lincecum (thanks to the Mets sh*tty bullpen)
NL MVP - Ryan Howard
