Is Energy/Chemistry Worth a Damn?

[Butcher]

<!--quoteo(post=41408:date=Jun 1 2009, 10:45 AM:name=BackyardLegend)-->QUOTE (BackyardLegend @ Jun 1 2009, 10:45 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=41402:date=Jun 1 2009, 10:23 AM:name=Butcher)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Butcher @ Jun 1 2009, 10:23 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->When a team isn't playing well, we tend to look for answers in weird places. Leadership, energy, chemistry? If everyone is hitting and pitching, there's plenty of that. If everyone is sucking, everyone thinks the team is lacking in intangibles.

BackyardLegend -- good to have you on board, by the way.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Thanks, I'm glad to be here.

I hear what you are saying here Butcher, but I have to ask this: when we entered the playoffs last year after an incredible regular season, who did you point to and say, "That is the man that is going to lead this team to the promise land."

I guess that goes hand-in-hand with being "clutch". Some people say I'm full of crap when I say clutch is an attribute you can have. But with that said, I would take Manny Ramirez over Alfonso Soriano any day of the week. (Steroids aside)
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I'd expect our best players to pull most of the weight. Zambrano on the pitching end, Ramirez on the offensive end. And if Soriano ever goes into the playoffs on a hot streak, he could be the NLDS/NLCS and World Series MVP.

If "clutch" is truly an attribute, then Ramirez is someone who has it in spades, right? He seems to come up with a whole lot of big hits in big situations. Unfortunately, he didn't do it in the playoffs the last two seasons. Of course, we only played six games, so I'm not sure you can glean much from that sample size (whether Ramirez is truly "clutch" or not).