Cliff Lee vs. Everybody

You don’t go undefeated in post season appearances because you’re bad at your job.  Cliff Lee has smoothly cruised into his second consecutive World Series, sickening opponents and onlookers with devastating fastballs, cutters, and a curve that drops your jaw at a cunning 76 mph.

Needless to say, his historic numbers have garnered him one unfortunate aspect of being awesome:  The endless comparisons.

First, he was compared to Roy Halladay for a variety of reasons.  For one, Lee was shipped out of Philly to make for him.  Second, they are quite easily the debatable top 1-2 pitchers in Major League Baseball (a topic that always has to have “debatably” or “debatable” in it; yes I know “debatably is not a word but you totally know what it means regardless).

Both have appeared in the 2010 post season, with Roy Halladay and the Phillies making an unceremonious exit just recently.  Lee will be taking on the Giants in the World Series, however, and the Phillies’ elimination staves off any “Cliff Lee’s Inadvertent Revenge” scenario that would have been cooked up had he faced Philadelphia.  Such a match up would have bred comparisons across the table, but since we don’t get to see that one unless we live in another dimension where Cody Ross just shuts the hell up like he’s supposed to, here is how the basic layout looks, according to my private calculations.

At least 20 post season strikeouts?

X

X

Threw post season no-no?

X

Pitched four innings after pulling groin?

X

Has played in World Series?

X

Is playing in World Series?

X

There’s plenty of areas in which one has out-awesomed the other, but both remain top performers.  Cliff Lee may never have to pitch in the LCS with a pulled groin, but Doc’s offense took a nap for most of the 2010 playoffs.

Which brings up the argument of the team around them.  Lee has played for contenders twice, while Halladay only started to in 2010 after 12 years in Toronto.  Obviously, “playoff experience” is right out the window in this case, with Doc’s no-hitter being his first foray into the post season, but the window in which one can wrack up post season stats is shockingly small for a guy who many consider to be the master of his craft.

Historically, Lee is also now being touted alongside such playoff wonders as Bob Gibson and Sandy Freaking Koufax.  But hang on, former Angels pitcher and no-hitter thrower Clyde Wright weighed in on this very topic in the L.A. Times:

"“I know you’ve got to go with the numbers, but if I had my druthers, I’d take Gibson or Koufax in three World Series games, pitch him against Lee each time, and I think I’d come out on top.”"

I’m not writing off Wright’s opinion when I say this, but its always funny to me when someone starts a statement with “I realize what the stats say, but if you completely disregard them, my argument is valid.”

But its also not funny, because he is right in a way.  I prefaced that with an escape pod because Wright has every gut instinct working for him, having actually seen Gibson and Koufax play.  Lee also plays in an era where the MLB post season has been expanded, and then expanded again, and possibly expanded yet again, all for the sake of precious, precious TV viewership.  In Gibson and Koufax’s day, the teams played all season, and the two league champions squared off in the World Series.  There was no bracket to work through.

The rest of the teams engaged in a bloody street fight with bricks, sharpened twigs, and antique pistols.  I wish.

X

X

Post season ERA under 1?XPlayed after more tiers of post season added?XPitched in at least 3 WS?

X

X

World Series ring?

X

X

Within Clyde Wright’s “druthers?”

X

X

This is an incomparable case, really.  I see no reason for the L.A. Times to throw this out there other than to get people’s eyes twitching.  It’s not about who is better, it’s about the contrast in eras being so vivid these things don’t matter.

For a guy with some of the best stuff in the game, Cliff Lee has been a bit of a floater.  Multiple clubs have watched in awe as he made his debut in their colors, bulldozing through their opponent like a drunk construction worker, only to inevitably lose him or trade him with ulterior motives.

Cliff Lee was drafted by three different teams, before playing for the Indians, Phillies, Mariners, Rangers, and probably the Yankees.  If we are invaded by aliens and a “Space Jam but with baseball” scenario presents itself, you can be sure Cliff would be involved in that, too.

A 7-0 post season record with a 1.26 ERA may have put him in debates alongside Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, and Clyde Wright’s “druthers.”  His ability to adapt, use his pitches, and simply dominate makes him freakish, even compared to The Freak.

We are at the point where the only fair comparisons to draw are both supernatural and from fictional stories.

"“With Cliff Lee, I have no concerns about anything.”–Ron Washington"

"“As a matter of fact, since you hired Mary Poppins, the most extraordinary things seem to have come over the household.”–Mrs. Banks, Mary Poppins"

His wandering arm could easily be paralleled to that of a gunslinger, liberating cattle towns across the western horizon, but I’ve decided a more appropriate comparison is Mary Poppins, whose ability to float into town just when she’s needed and then disappear just as her job was complete makes her the “Cliff Lee” of Disney characters.

Mary Poppins

Drifter?

X

X

Incomparable skills in field?

X

X

Inspires confidence?

X

X

88 MPH cut fastball?

X

Deals with two children in a familial setting?

X

X

Convinced children its cool to take some unprescribed drugs?

X

World Series ring?

Look.  I’m a big Cliff Lee fan.  I look forward to watching him dismantle the Giants; twice, probably.  But there’s as much a need to force him up against some of baseball’s biggest post season legends as there is to do so with beloved Disney characters.

It’s not that he doesn’t deserve to be, obviously, it’s that you really just can’t do it.  The distinctly more commercialized and expanded playoff system of the modern era alone eliminates the ability to effectively rate these guys against each other.  If this year’s World Series had been played in the Gibson/Koufax era, it would have been a Phillies-Rays repeat (best records).

Baseball is built on numbers, stats, and math.  History is so much more of an abstract concept when applied to statistics that most of the time, it is passed over in favor of high digits.  The times, advantages, conditions, settings, injuries, and context change so drastically in such a period that any comparison is eclipsed by the sheer contrast.  Baseball has evolved, and there’s no reason you can’t accept that and enjoy watching Cliff Lee eat a team alive just the same.

Justin is responsible for a variety of messes, including those seen on That Balls Outta Here and Philthy Blog.  You can stay current on all the Call to the Pen content and news by following us on Twitter, Facebook, or by way of our RSS feed.

Look.  I’m a big Cliff Lee fan.  I look forward to watching him dismantle the Giants; twice, probably.  But there’s as much a need to force him up against some of baseball’s biggest legends and there is to do so with beloved Disney characters.  The distinctly more commercialized and expanded playoff system of the modern era alone eliminates the ability to effectively rate these guys against each other.  If this year’s World Series had been played in the Gibson/Koufax era, it would have been a Phillies-Rays repeat.

Maybe when Lee’s career comes to an end, it’d be worth going toe to toe with