Cliff Lee | The Baseball Zealot

Monty Hall: Let’s Make a Deal

michael-taylor There is another three way deal on the horizon, this one involving the Phillies, the Blue Jays, & the Mariners. Philadelphia would get righthanded ace Roy Halladay from the Blue Jays & pitching prospect Phillippe Aumont (plus another Seattle youngster, yet to be named) from the Mariners, Seattle gets Cliff Lee from the City of Brotherly Love, and Toronto picks up superstar phenom outfielder Michael Taylor, sky’s the limit starter Kyle Drabek (Son of Doug), and minor league catcher Travis d’Arnaud from the Phils. In a deal involving two former Cy Young Award winners switching uniforms, the third party player might end up being the big winner, that’s how good Michael Taylor might end up, he’s that good! Trader Billy Beane jumped into the frey to make it a four-way deal, sending 1B-3B Brett Wallace, a 2008 1st round pick out of ASU by the Cardinals who was traded to Oakland in the Matt Holliday trade, to Toronto for Michael Taylor. While Wallace has some serious power 20 or more homers in each of the last two seasons, he also swung & missed 106 times in the minors this past year. To me, the A’s look to be the big winner getting the highly skilled outfielder Taylor.

This three way deal was probably made possible when the Red Sox inked John Lackey away from the Angels. Once the Bronx Bombers knew Boston was no longer in the hunt to pickup either Halladay or Lee, the Pinstripers could relax and let the trade proceed without outside interference from NY.

In another move, not made by the Yankees, World Series MVP Hideki (Godzilla, but you can call me Shemp) Matsui headed west to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Orange County team needed to bring somebody on board after losing leadoff man Chone Figgins (now with the Mariners) & ace starter Lackey (over in Bean Town) already this offseason. Still I don’t know if it’s much of a consolation prize, seeing the Mariners added Figgins & Lee, while on this day the Halos, in effect, swapped Lackey for Matsui.

Chase Utley takes Phillies to Game 6

Chase Utley is playing like a man on a mission. A mission to get the Phillies their second straight championship. Last night, his 2 homerun, 4 rbi performance keyed the Phils’ 8-6 win over the Yankees.

He’s also playing like a World Series MVP. For the Series, he’s batting .333 with five homers. He could easily get that MVP award assuming Philadelphia wins it all. Not an easy task considering that they’re down 3-2 going into the heart of the Evil Empire for Game 6.

Cliff Lee was on his game last night despite his linescore. He left the game with an 8-3 lead. It’s not his fault that the Phillies seem to find value in Chan Ho Park and think he can get the job done. Rumor has it that Lee might be ready for Game 7 should there be one and he might give Chase a run for his money for that MVP award. Lee is already 2-0 for the Series with a 2.81 ERA in 16 innings.

World Series bits

Looks like the frequency and duration of mound meetings by Yankee pitchers and catcher Jorge Posada are giving MLB some pause. They’ll most certainly be discussing it this winter.

Nice going, Jorge.

The LA Times’ headline reads Another tight game means big numbers for Fox. Nice sentiment but I’m giving more credit to the fact that the Series is taking place in two big market cities.

On a related note, Business Weekly notes that World Series TV ratings are indeed up despite the influx of web streaming of the games.

YFSF presents: Reason(s?) Why The World Series Isn’t Over

Finally, who doesn’t like a little trash talk?

Yankees Turn to Sabathia on 3 Days Rest

85125458JM010_BALTIMORE_ORI C.C. Sabathia was matched up against fellow Cleveland Indians starter Cliff Lee in the opener of the Series. Lee outpitched C.C. in that game, but only Sabathia was ready to go on three days rest, Cliff would need one more day before he could go. So on Sunday night Joe Blanton would answer the bell for the Phillies versus big C.C.

Derek Jeter got the Yankees going in the 1st with a leadoff single, went to 3rd on a Johnny Damon double, and Derek would score on a Mark Teixeira groundout, and then Damon would be plated on a Jorge Posada sacrifice fly, after Alex Rodriguez was drilled by a pitch, Yanks up 2-0 with the Phils coming to bat. Back to back first inning doubles by Shane Victorino & Chase Utley would cut it to a one run game, 2-1 after one.

BIG Ryan Howard got a leadoff single in the bottom of the 4th, stole 2nd, and scored on a Pedro Feliz base knock to knot the game at two. It was time for New York to get to work in the top of the fifth, Nick Swisher started it with a base on balls, went to 2nd on a Melky Cabrera single, and then C.C. Sabathia struckout trying to bunt the runners up. With one out Derek Jeter plated Swisher with a single, then Cabrera scored on a base hit off the bat of Damon, and the Yanks again had a two run lead, 4-2.

The Phillies got their first two guys on in the bottom of the 5th as Jimmy Rollins singled & Shane Victorino walked, bringing up Chase Utley (who had homered twice in game one off C.C.), BIG Ryan Howard, and Jayson Werth, the meat of the order. Two popouts & a strikeout later, and the threat was over. Neither starting pitcher allowed a run in the 6th, Ben Francisco batted for Blanton, ending his night.

Chan Ho Park pitched a scoreless 7th. When Sabathia delivered his 98th pitch of the night in the 7th it struck me, while thinking about this superhuman’s accomplishments, pitchers routinely went the distance in the olden days, often times throwing 200 pitches in a game, sometimes working on two days rest. Still it was great to see this workhorse, C.C., going about his job, mowing down the top of the Phillies order, one, two… But then Utley chased Sabathia from the game with his third home run of the Series off C.C. (so much for platooning), once again it was a one run ballgame, all six Philadelphia home runs being solo shots. Damaso Marte was brought on to get BIG Ryan Howard to popup to end the inning, 4-3 NY.

There were two on & one out in the top of the 8th, Nick Swisher could’ve iced it, but he took strike three down the middle, shaking his head, rather than lighting up reliever Ryan Madson. Joe Girardi didn’t want to have Mariano Rivera pitch more than one inning, thus Joba Chamberlain was called on to face the hot hitting Jayson Werth (down on strikes), Raul Ibanez (K’s him on heat), & Pedro Feliz took the kid over the wall for a game tying homer. Oh brother, wasn’t supposed to happen that way if you’re a Yankees fan, what a ballgame, what a Series! A wicked breaking ball to Carlos Ruiz, and Joba’s struckout the side, but now it’s all tied at four, going into the 9th.

I know this from experience, sometimes you try to save your closer for tomorrow, and then there is no tomorrow. Chamberlain looked overpowering, but Rivera is overpowering. Charlie Manuel called on his closer Brad Lidge to work a tie ballgame in the top of the 9th, getting the first two before Damon singled to left, stole 2nd & went around Feliz, and went all the way to 3rd (the Phillies had a shift on for Teixeira), he’s credited with 2 SBs on that one play. Lidge hits Teixeira, bringing up ARod (1 for 13 in the Series). Alex hits a double off the leftfield wall, big moments for big players. With the Yankees up, Mo starts seriously loosening up to try to close it out with the lead. A couple of insurance runs score when Posada delivers a single into leftcenter, continuing on to 2nd, where he is tagged out easily, 7-4 Yanks.

Not that it matters, but Rivera faces pinch hitter Matt Stairs and then the top of the order. A groundout, a popout, & a groundout, all three to firstbase, and it’s over. The Bronx Bombers now have a three games to one Series lead, with one ballgame in Philadelphia before heading back to New York (if necessary). Philadelphia needs to win three straight, if not impossible, close to it. Game five features Cliff Lee versus nasty A.J. Burnett on three days rest. Joba Chamberlain was credited with the win in this one, but we all know it was C.C. Sabathia on three days, getting the job done.

Yankees Chased over Cliff in Game 1 of World Series

It was the the Cliff Lee and Chase Utley Show last night. They certainly quieted the pundits who were so giddy over the Yankees chances in the World Series. That includes ex-Cub Mark Grace who was predicting the Yanks would take the Series in 6 games.

While the Yankees came in the Series with all the momentum, it is the Philadelphia Phillies who now gain the upper hand. Former Cy Young winner Cliff Lee was masterful beyond compare. Allowing no walks, he kept the Yanks scoreless until the ninth inning when Jeter scored on a measly groundout.

Chase Utley was the total offense for most of the game (up until the eight inning). Thanks to his two solo dingers. Philly had a 2-0 lead which is all they really needed with Lee on the hill.

Props goes to C.C. Sabathia. Despite the ‘L’, he pitched a fair game, allowing just 2 runs in seven frames, good enough for a win in most any other game.

Two observations: Ryan Howard’s line looks pretty good (2 for 5, 2 doubles, rbi) but I thought he looked pretty miserable at the plate for his two strikeouts. Also, the Yanks were obvious pretty anemic with the bat last night but one exception was Derek Jeter. He was 3 for 4 and scored their only run.

Tonight, Pedro Martinez for the Phils and A.J. Burnett for the Yanks.

I checked out PJ’s stats and they’re quite interesting. Not the most durable fellow but it’s amazing how times he’s led the league in certain categories.

Obviously, ERA, five times. Hits per 9 IP, five times, Win/Loss Pct, four times, Strikeouts per 9 IP, four times. walks and hits per 9 IP, six times, and shutouts, 3 times.

Innings pitched, Games Started, and Complete Games… eh, not so much.

Go Phillies.

Weekend’s Best & Weekend’s Worst in One Game

CLIFF LEE ESPN’s Dan Patrick has a feature where he asks for the weekend’s best & the weekend’s worst performances. The third game between the Phillies & the Dodgers last night featured both for me. There are only four teams left in baseball, the top four, pretty evenly matched, and you get an 11-0 outcome, unbelievable! Late in the game Chip Caray & the Chipettes (Buck Martinez & Ron “You don’t have to call me Darling” Darling) came up with their version of stupid when they were talking about how it’s easier to lose one like this, rather than a tough loss. Where does that kind of logic come from?

Cliff Lee was dominant from the beginning to the end, no runs, three hits, no walks, and striking out ten. Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda, wasn’t, he was out of there after going just 1 1/3 innings, surrendering 6 runs on 6 hit, it was like the Phillies were still taking batting practice, on the plus side he didn’t walk anybody, he was wild in the strike zone, not locating his pitches in the strike zone. BIG Ryan Howard ripped a two run triple into the rightfield corner in the 1st & Jayson Werth launched a monster blast deep over the centerfield wall to make it four zip after one. When the game was over, in the 2nd inning, Joe Torre brought in a series of relievers, one looked worse than the next, two walks off Scott Elbert in 1/3 of an inning, Chad Billingsley allowed 2 runs on 2 hits & 2 walks in 3 1/3 innings, Ramon Troncoso walked 2 in 2 innings, and served up some 8th inning BP to Shane Victorino, who nailed him for a three run bomb, the game would’ve been over if there a 10 run slaughter rule (LA would’ve only lost 9-0 if they’d simply forfeited.

Not to second guess Joe Torre, but he did decide to go with Scott Elbert & the injured Hiroki Kuroda (although his interpreter Kenji said he was okay, maybe he got it wrong) over veterans Jon Garland & Jeff Weaver. Dodgers pitchers(?) have walked 7 Phillies in two of the three games so far, they’d be down in the series 3-0 if it weren’t for Charlie Manuel pulling Pedro Martinez in game two after 87 pitches. Cliff Lee demonstrated that you don’t need to throw the ball hard to win, change speeds, spot your pitches in the strike zone, he made it look easy.

I’m not saying LA would’ve won this ballgame, whomever they started, but now the talking heads are wondering whether Billingsley earned(?) a start in place of Kuroda next time, Chad was touched for 2 runs in 3 1/3, remember that?, better than Hiroki, but still, do you think that type of performance will beat Lee?, highly doubtful. Perhaps if Torre had kept Garland & Weaver active, moving Clayton Kershaw to the bullpen, similar to what the Yankees have done with Joba Chamberlain, the Angels have done with Ervin Santana, & the Phillies have done with J.A. Happ this postseason. The postseason is not for the young or the faint of heart.

So now the Dodgers will attempt to regain home field advantage with veteran lefthander Randy Wolf pitching against his old team, with Joe Blanton toeing the rubber for the Phighting Phils. As many of you know I play in a dice baseball league featuring the board game APBA, have done so for 35 years, in the game when you’re beating somebody badly, rolling hit after hit number, your opponent is saying, “get it out of your system”. But this isn’t a dice baseball league, this is real life, their hitters seem spot on, although I did hear somebody ask the question, will Philadelphia need some of these runs tomorrow? Well tomorrow is here today, we shall see what we shall see, can’t wait.

Indians Get 4 for 2 from Phils

donald Cliff Lee was involved in one of the best trades the Indians ever pulled off, when he was traded from the Expos, along with Grady Sizemore, & Brandon Phillips. Now Cleveland is hoping lightning strikes twice, swapping Lee & Ben Francisco to Philadelphia for four top notch prospects.

Jason Donald looked great when I saw him this past year in the Arizona Fall League. He’s pretty much hit .300 every year in the minors, except for 2009, the Indians are hoping he regains his stroke.

Lou Marson is a line drive hitting catcher. I’ve seen Marson in the AFL & spring training, his average has climbed as he’s matured, batting around .300 in AA & AAA ball.

Carlos Carrasco had a breakout season in 2006 in A ball, 12-6, 2.26 ERA, 103 hits in 159′ IP, with 159 K’s. While he’s maintained about one strikeout per inning, his ERA is currently 5.18 in Triple A.

At 6’5″ 225 Jason Knapp, a 19 year old righthander out of New Jersey, can really bring it, striking out well over one batter per inning in Rookie & A ball.

This trade just might turn out to be exactly what both teams need, the Phillies, trying to repeat, get a tough lefthanded starter in Lee and a solid righthanded hitting outfielder in Francisco, in exchange for four top prospects. Donald is a scrappy player, who might be at SS next year in Cleveland, with Marson flashing the signals to Carrasco, with Knapp warming in the bullpen, you never know.

Cliff Lee on his way to a record-breaking season

Teddy Ballgame pointed out to me over the phone the importance of Cliff Lee’s 2008 season. Here we are just entering September and the Tribe hurler has already hit the 20 win mark with only 2 losses. Teddy asked me if I knew who the last Cleveland pitcher to get 20 wins was. I admitted ignorance.

According to Tedd, it was the ol’ spitballer himself, Gaylord Perry. I looked it up and Tedd was right (he always is). The last Indian pitcher with 20+ wins before this year was Perry in 1974 when he had 21.

As of today, Lee has the highest Win % of all pitchers with 20+ wins. Here are the Top Five:

  1 Cliff Lee            .909   20-2 2008  CLE*  
  2 Ron Guidry           .893   25-3 1978  NYY            
  3 Lefty Grove          .886   31-4 1931  PHA            
  4 Preacher Roe         .880   22-3 1951  BRO            
  5 Joe Wood             .872   34-5 1912  BOS

*as of Sept 3, 2008

Tedd noted that Cleveland acquired Lee as a prospect which sent Bartolo Colon to the Expos. Oh, the Tribe got one other prospect in the deal. Who would that be?

Grady Sizemore.

As Tedd said, "The Indians did their homework".

Francona, AL get away with one in All-Star Game

Yes, the AL got lucky last night.

No, I don’t mean with their 4-3 win… That was well-deserved. However as Buck and McCarver talked about incessantly up until the end of the game, Francona breathed a sigh of relief when Michael Young drove Justin Morneau home on a sac fly in the bottom of the 15th. As it was, he had already brought in Scott Kazmir, who was on his “Do Not Pitch List”, for one inning. He didn’t relish the idea of bringing him for much longer.

Maybe we haven’t learned anything from the 2002 All-Star game. That was the year Bud Selig declared the game a tie after both teams ran out of players and relievers. After Francona’s starter, Cliff Lee went two frames, none of the American League pitchers pitched more than one inning until George Sherrill who came in the 12th. To be fair, no one thought this game would go 15 innings. That said, perhaps we should start playing the All-Star game as a game to be won (I don’t buy into the whole idea that now that we’re playing for home field advantage, the game counts… it’s a game and it’s played to be won).

I don’t let NL Manager Clint Hurdle off easy either. Why did he take out Brandon Webb, who pitched the 14th inning, after just one inning? As visitor team and with a tie game, surely he knew that even in the best scenario, Lidge would have to pitch at least two innings for an National League win. I would have left Webb in for just one more inning.

One more thought on the whole matter, if a manager is going to pick a pitcher for a game, even an All-Star Game, make sure he’s a pitcher who he is comfortable putting in the game. Webb and Kazmir are most deserving of a All-Star nod but if they are taking up a spot on roster, the managers should be able to put them in with a minimum of mini-dramas described to us in full details by Buck/McCarver. Less is better, guys.

Other comments on the Game:

Despite the long game, I thought it was exciting. Kudos to the AL for their victory and the NL gave them an excellent fight.

Fine job by the Cub pitchers. Zambrano, Dempster and Marmol in four combined innings allowed just one hit and no runs with six strikeouts.

I appreciated the good defensive efforts on the NL’s part in the (I believe) 10th and 11th innings in dire base situations. Three outs in five plate appearances were made at home plate. Nice job, Russ Martin!

I gotta feel for Dan Uggla. Here’s a guy who’s had an awesome first half and he gets to his first All-Star Game and pretty much stinks up the place. Oh for 4, 3 K’s and 3 errors (two in one inning). Then Buckarver is telling me a heartbreaking story about his Dad too.

See you in St Louis, AL!