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Posts Tagged ‘Cliff Lee’
Giants Pitcher Brian Wilson Entertains
Maybe we don’t have the sexiest World Series matchup this year, with the Yankees and Phillies both rolling over to the Rangers and Giants, respectively. But from a baseball perspective you can’t deny the many storylines. You have the premier pitching matchup between Tim Lincecum and Cliff Lee, the great Josh Hamilton “comeback” story, young talent like Buster Posey and Elvis Andrus, an unlikely hero in Cody Ross, and Bengie Molina being guaranteed a World Series ring regardless of the outcome.
Quite possibly the coolest story, however, is the emergence of Giants closer Brian Wilson as a mainstream cult figure. Giants fans know all too well just what a great personality Wilson possesses. He may be the most entertaining player in baseball. And with the Giants taking their game to the main stage, Wilson is starting to become popular among even the most casual of baseball fans.
Wilson remains as one of the top trending World Series topics on Google as we head into Game 1 on Wednesday night. It’s not because fans want to know more about a closer who led the majors with 48 saves this season. People want to know more about the beard, the ninja lifestyle, and, of course, “The Machine.”
The Strength of the Giants Bullpen Starts With Tim Lincecum
Cliff Lee may seem unstoppable, but that’s what everyone thought about Roy Halladay after his no-hitter and that didn’t stop the Giants from rolling right into Citizens Bank Park and stopping Doc and his Phils, setting a tone that would change the course of the NLCS.
The reason they could do that? Tim Lincecum. The two-time defending NL Cy Young Award winner turned in a start against Atlanta that was arguably every bit as impressive as Halladay’s no hitter (a 14-strikeout, one-hit shutout), then went toe-to-toe with Halladay and the much more imposing Phillies lineup twice. Lee has never lost a playoff start, but he’s never pitched against Lincecum in the postseason either.
As good as the Rangers’ supporting staff is around Lee, it can’t match Jonathan Sanchez, Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, and the excellent Giants’ bullpen. Cain and Sanchez have both turned in great playoff starts, and Bumgarner has been much better than Tommy Hunter, the Rangers’ fourth starter. Read More >>
Cliff Lee is the Best Coming in the Postseason
It shouldn’t take much to explain why the team that beat both the Rays and Yankees can beat anyone, but let’s start with Cliff Lee. He will definitely get the ball in Game 1 for the Rangers and could take the ball in Games 4 and 7 as well, if Ron Washington feels it’s necessary. Lee’s made three playoff starts this year, pitching 24 innings, striking out 34 and walking just one hitter. He’s only given up 13 hits and a total of two earned runs.
Since the start of the 2009 postseason, Lee’s made eight playoff starts, averaging more than a strikeout an inning in his 64 1/3 innings along with an insane K/BB ratio of 9.57 and a 1.26 ERA to boot. He hasn’t just been good or phenomenal, he’s been otherworldly in the playoffs the last two seasons. He’s the best pitcher in the playoffs, and it’s not close. That’s really saying something given some of the other pitching performances we’ve seen in the postseason this year. Read More >>
The Rangers Bullpen Set to Take Down The Yankees
There’s going to be a lot made of the fact that the mighty Cliff Lee, who slayed the Yankees twice in the 2009 World Series, can’t pitch until Game 3 of this series, but we wonder if the people saying that have ever actually seen C.J. Wilson and Colby Lewis pitch. The duo allowed no earned runs in 11 1/3 innings during the Rays series and that’s right in line with the kinds of performances we’ve seen from them all season. Even better, Lewis never faced the Yankees this season and unfamiliar pitchers have been a problem for the Bronx Bombers all year long.
One of the other strengths for the Rangers in this series should, interestingly enough, be one of the things that hampered them for much of the first series. They didn’t get a ton of production from Vladimir Guerrero, Josh Hamilton or Michael Young, three players who don’t figure to remain on the schneid for another whole series. Read More >>
The Rangers Ownership Group Secured a Gem
This American League Championship Series has felt preordained ever since the Rangers swooped in to get Cliff Lee from the Mariners before the Yankees could complete a deal.
That was a big shot across the bow of the American League by the new Rangers ownership group, which has spent its brief time in the executive suite making sure everyone knows that this team plans to be a contender for the top spot every single year. What better way to put a ribbon on that announcement than by knocking off the existing big dogs and going to the first World Series in franchise history?
No better way, obviously, but the New York Yankees aren’t going to be pushovers. They’ve seen and dispatched seven different teams in this round since 1976, so the prospect of a new sheriff in town isn’t one that’s going to have them quaking in their pinstriped boots.
Regardless of who wins this series, it will only be a prelude to a winter of battle between these teams. Lee is a free agent and both these squads will be pulling out all the stops to have him pitching for them the next few years. Will he be a championship treasure or a booby prize?
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