Cliff Lee added win number 20 to his 2008 season tally last night with a dominant complete game victory over the Chicago White Sox. Lee's victory was a pleasure to listen to (over XM radio). The tribe southpaw had precise control, allowing only 5 hits and issuing no free passes.
Lee's 20-2 record gives him a .909 winning percentage, tops in the AL. His 20 wins represent 30 percent of the Indians' 66 wins for the season, the highest percentage of team wins for any Major League pitcher this season. He is also the Tribe's first 20-game winner since Gaylord Perry in 1974.
Here is why I am writing about Lee on BCB today. It would have been easy for Cliff to lose confidence or focus after his 5-8, 6.29 ERA season in 2007, but he didn't. This guy quietly fought and took the mound with a mission to get back to form. Tom Hamilton, on the Indians radio network, said it best last night. Hamilton said, "By looking at Cliff Lee, you would never know if it was his twentieth win or his first."
I just can't help but contrast that with other pitchers in the league. Joba Chamblerlain of the New York Yankees, for example. What would he do (WWJD)? ... or Carlos Zambrano in the NL? In my opinion, these guys could learn a lot by watching the Tribe lefty with the Benton, Arkansas twang.
Don't get me wrong, Lee is a fighter, like many people (including this author) born in Appalachia and/or the Ozarks. Here is an excerpt from Paul Hoynes' article summarizing Lee's confrontation with Chicago's resident baseball punk, A.J. Pierzynski:
Chicago catcher A.J. Pierzynski and Lee exchanged stares and words early and late in the game. After Carlos Quentin grounded into a double play to end the crisply played 2 hour-and-26-minute contest, Pierzynski, his hair dyed platinum blond, stayed in the visitors dugout staring at Lee.
Lee stared into the Chicago dugout before celebrating with his teammates. On the scoreboard, congratulatory messages from Hall of Famers Perry and Bob Feller played.
In the locker room, after his teammates toasted him with champagne, Lee thanked Pierzynski. He said Pierzynski slammed his bat down after popping up in the fourth and stared at Lee as he ran to first.
"I stared back," said Lee. "He was chirping from the dugout the rest of the game. It gave me extra energy. I appreciate that."
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
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2 comments:
Nice post!
Cliff was superb last night despite the distractions from Guillen and Pierzynski. Somehow A.J. often seems to be at the base of controversy...wasn't it about a week ago that he threw a forearm to avoid a double play and the infraction was missed? How about the aledged "dropped 3rd strike" in the playoffs vs. the Angels in 2005? I credit him for having the savvy to run to first but every replay I saw looked as if the ball was caught without a hop...close, but no hop. A.J. is a punk and I hope my Tribe can close his yap with out-playing him.
Thanks for posting this about Cliff Lee. We in Benton are really proud of his turnaround this year. He has quite a few fans around these parts. We have talked about him "a little" on a popular local website. http://www.mysaline.com/main/search/search?q="cliff+lee"
Shelli Russell
MySaline.com - The Social Network for Saline County Arkansas.
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