No Stopping Cliff Lee

I feel as if those who watched game 1 of the World Series witnessed possibly one of the best post season pitching performances in recent memory. The reason I say this is because not only did Cliff Lee dominate the entire Yankees lineup as well as one of the hottest hitters in baseball in Alex Rodriguez, but nearly every pitch he threw was perfect. He made probably fewer than 5 mistakes the whole game. He gave up no earned runs on 6 hits with 10 strikeouts and no walks (ESPN). The last pitch he threw to Jorge Posada was absolutely unhittable and will probably make rounds on Baseball Tonight’s filthy pitches segment. Simply put, Lee was better than the Yankees last night.

My passionate baseball side tells me to be upset, angry, even frustrated that the Yankees were not able to get anything going. They finally managed to put the first batter on base in the 5th but essentially grounded into a double play to end any hope of a rally. The only run the Yankees scored was fairly meaningless as they were down 6-0 in the bottom of the 9th at the time and all it served to do was to break up the shutout. Yankees pitching was not much better. CC Sabathia pitched decently but hurt himself by driving up his pitch count. He did make two costly mistakes that Chase Utley ripped for two homeruns and he forced his pitch count up early by throwing balls early in the at-bats. Every time I looked up at the TV I saw 2-1, 3-1, or 3-0. Utley’s second homerun struck me as unusual. Sabathia threw almost the exact same pitch he did the first time he gave up a homerun to Utley, but before he threw that pitch he shook off Posada who wanted a curveball inside. Sabathia felt more confident in his fastball and missed his spot and bang, 2-0 Phillies. CC was just outpitched tonight; he did not do a bad job by any means, but Lee was much better.

Having played baseball for most of my life, I know how hard it is to accept a defeat but I also know what it is like to simply be beaten by a better pitcher. No matter what the Yankees did last night they were not going to beat Cliff Lee. He was simply too good. Let’s hope tonight goes differently.

*About Me*
Born in New York City and raised in Connecticut, I have been a Yankees fan my whole life in a place where 50% of the people root for the Yankees and 50% of the people root for the Red Sox. My allegiances with New York sports teams runs as far back as my grandfather rooting for the Brooklyn Dodgers, a team he actually liked more than the Yankees. I have grown up in a time when Boston was the dominant team and have not had the opportunity to truly cherish and appreciate a Yankees World Series win. This had made me frustrated and like the Boss himself playoff appearances alone are not enough to satiate my need for Yankees dominance. I have not ever tried posting on a blog like this but I saw the opportunity to do so and took it. I hope to contribute to this site on a regular basis.