Cliff Lee

Cliff Lee decides money isn’t everything

In an age in which ballplayers tend to sign with the highest bidder, it was refreshing to learn that Cliff Lee had not signed with the Yankees, accepting less money to return to the Phillies.  Lee pitched in Philadelphia during the second half of the 2009 season and did all he could to stop the Yankees from winning their 27th Fall Classic, winning both of his starts against the Bronx Bombers, but none of his teammates on the pitching staff was able to secure a win.

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How about Cliff Lee?  Pitching against a slugging Yankee team that hit its way through the first round, the veteran southpaw was simply masterful.  After his Game 3 performance against the Bronx Bombers, Lee improved to 7-0 with an absurd 1.26 ERA in eight career postseason starts.  Lee’s 34 strikeouts during this year’s playoffs are more than twice as many as Yankee ace CC Sabathia’s 15.  As happy as I was to see the Rangers wrap up the ALCS tonight, it would have been tremendously satisfying to see

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Wilson and Cliff Lee combined to hold the Rays to one run in 13.1 innings.  Lee displayed his talents during last year’s World Series, earning both of the Phillies’ wins over the Yankees, but Halladay, Lincecum and Wilson were all making their postseason debuts, and not one of them showed any sign of butterflies.

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was second only to Zack Greinke.  Along with recently acquired Cliff Lee, Hernandez will provide the Mariners with a very strong top of the rotation.

How about the number of bona fide free agents still looking for work with spring training just around the corner?  Johnny Damon, Carlos Delgado, Orlando Cabrera, Brian Giles, Jermaine Dye, Gary Sheffield, Mark Mulder, Erik Bedard, Pedro Martinez, and John Smoltz are among the proven veterans who remain unsigned entering the last weekend of January.  They may not like it, but many of the seasoned vets will have to settle for one-year, incentive-laden contracts, or face retirement.

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After the way Cliff Lee pitched against the Yankees in the World Series six weeks ago, I would have been surprised to hear that the Phillies were even listening to offers for their ace.  But when the chance to acquire Roy Halladay comes around, I suppose any team would be crazy not to listen.  Before I knew it, Halladay was a Phillie and Lee was heading to Seattle, where he’ll join his third club in the span of four and a half months.  How often does that happen to the defending Cy Young Award winner?

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Cliff Lee was meant to pitch for the Phillies.  How else do you explain his ridiculous string of starts since joining the team last month?  In five games, Lee has a 5-0 record, a 0.75 WHIP, and a 0.68 E.R.A.  In 40 innings, he has struck out 39 batters and walked just six, surrendered a grand total of zero home runs, and looked like a true ace while averaging eight innings per start.  As if he weren’t contributing enough already, Lee is hitting .313, which, if it were over enough at-bats to qualify, would lead the team.  The southpaw has truly made the most of his time in the City of Brotherly Love.

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How about Cliff Lee?  Since donning a Phillies uniform after being acquired just before the trade deadline, Lee has hurled 24 stellar innings over three starts, striking out 23 batters and surrendering just three earned runs – good for a 1.12 E.R.A.  To top it off, Lee collected two hits of his own in his debut with his new club.

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With CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee pitching lights-out, we will all have to watch to see what sort of difference Shoppach makes here.

It's just one more injurious insult to the Indians, who currently have Travis Hafner, Jake Westbrook, and Fausto Carmona on the DL, along with their new "answer" at second base, Josh Barfield, who sprained his middle finger one day after being called up to replace former Mariner Asdrubal Cabrera. The Indians have been slipping steadily behind the ChiSox in the AL Central and, with Chicago finally remembering how to hit, they will be hard-pressed to stay in the race.

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Mike Piazza announced his retirement on Tuesday, concluding a 16-year major-league career that includes 2,127 hits, a .308 batting average, 427 home runs, 1,335 RBI’s, 12 All-Star teams and one All-Star Game MVP, 10 Silver Slugger awards, a Rookie of the Year award, and one trip to the World Series during which he slugged two homers in the Mets’ five-game series loss to the Yankees.  Though he was known almost exclusively for his offense, Piazza actually caught two no-hitters, including the only one thrown at Coors Field in the thin Colorado air.

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tossed 54 straight in 1974, and the Indians longest since 1948, the last year they won the Series. Cliff Lee in particular has been lights out, starting out the season 6-0, with a microscopic 0.67 ERA and WHIP. Five of his starts have been shutouts, and two of them complete game shutouts. It's a mind-blowing beginning for a guy dangled in trade talks over the winter and generally considered to be a middle-of-the-road starter. 

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