02-07-2009, 11:59 PM
"Clutch," in regards to hitting, is a mostly a myth. Although today is not really a day to defend A-Rod, I'm going to use him in regards to the "clutch" argument, since he seems to pretty much <i>personify</i> a "totally UN-clutch guy," a choker.
So, let's check those darn ol' statistics to se if that's even true.
In his first 7 playoff series (to give you a comparison, the Cubs have played a grand total of exactly 7 playoff series since 1945) here are A-Rod's numbers:
.330/.384/.583
That's an OPS of 967. Go check out A-Rod's <!--coloro:#FF0000--><!--/coloro-->career<!--colorc-->
<!--/colorc--> regular-season OPS. It's EXACTLY <!--coloro:#FF0000--><!--/coloro-->967<!--colorc-->
<!--/colorc-->.
And that includes the historic Yankee collapse series against the Red Sox in '04. And it's not a tiny sample either...26 games, 7 series, over a 10-year period.
If you extrapolated those numbers over an entire 162-game season, it'd look like this:
211 hits, 37 HR, 100 RBI, .330 Avg. , 106 runs scored. And that's against superior competition...playoff pitching staffs. Hardly call that guy a choker, would you?
So yeah, after that, he sucked for a couple series, and the Yankee press made a big deal about it, but come on...how can a guy be <b><!--coloro:#2E8B57--><!--/coloro-->TOTALLY clutch<!--colorc-->
<!--/colorc--></b> for ten years, and then suddenly be the poster boy for un-clutch. It's absurd.
One final note: even <i>including</i> <!--coloro:#0000FF--><!--/coloro-->A-Rod<!--colorc-->
<!--/colorc-->'s recent poor playoffs, his lifetime post-season <!--coloro:#0000FF--><!--/coloro-->OPS: 844<!--colorc-->
<!--/colorc-->.
Compare that to the "King of Clutch," Mr. November, <!--coloro:#FF0000--><!--/coloro-->Derek Jeter<!--colorc-->
<!--/colorc-->'s lifetime post-season <!--coloro:#FF0000--><!--/coloro-->OPS: 846<!--colorc-->
<!--/colorc-->
So, let's check those darn ol' statistics to se if that's even true.
In his first 7 playoff series (to give you a comparison, the Cubs have played a grand total of exactly 7 playoff series since 1945) here are A-Rod's numbers:
.330/.384/.583
That's an OPS of 967. Go check out A-Rod's <!--coloro:#FF0000--><!--/coloro-->career<!--colorc-->
<!--/colorc--> regular-season OPS. It's EXACTLY <!--coloro:#FF0000--><!--/coloro-->967<!--colorc-->
<!--/colorc-->.
And that includes the historic Yankee collapse series against the Red Sox in '04. And it's not a tiny sample either...26 games, 7 series, over a 10-year period.
If you extrapolated those numbers over an entire 162-game season, it'd look like this:
211 hits, 37 HR, 100 RBI, .330 Avg. , 106 runs scored. And that's against superior competition...playoff pitching staffs. Hardly call that guy a choker, would you?
So yeah, after that, he sucked for a couple series, and the Yankee press made a big deal about it, but come on...how can a guy be <b><!--coloro:#2E8B57--><!--/coloro-->TOTALLY clutch<!--colorc-->
<!--/colorc--></b> for ten years, and then suddenly be the poster boy for un-clutch. It's absurd.
One final note: even <i>including</i> <!--coloro:#0000FF--><!--/coloro-->A-Rod<!--colorc-->
<!--/colorc-->'s recent poor playoffs, his lifetime post-season <!--coloro:#0000FF--><!--/coloro-->OPS: 844<!--colorc-->
<!--/colorc-->.
Compare that to the "King of Clutch," Mr. November, <!--coloro:#FF0000--><!--/coloro-->Derek Jeter<!--colorc-->
<!--/colorc-->'s lifetime post-season <!--coloro:#FF0000--><!--/coloro-->OPS: 846<!--colorc-->
<!--/colorc-->
There's nothing better than to realize that the good things about youth don't end with youth itself. It's a matter of realizing that life can be renewed every day you get out of bed without baggage. It's tough to get there, but it's better than the dark thoughts. -Lance