Quiet Dominance
Shortly before this season's trade deadline, Texas Rangers' president Nolan Ryan and general manager Jon Daniels set out to prove that they were legitimate World Series contenders.
Amid a pending change of ownership, the Rangers, who had never won a playoff series in their history, acquired Cliff Lee from the struggling Seattle Mariners. The price for Lee was relatively cheap for the Rangers: first baseman Justin Smoak (.218, 13 HR in 100 games in 2010), and three minor league prospects (none of which were in the Rangers top 10, according to Baseball America) for the left-handed ace.
Lee, who is with his fourth team in the last two seasons, struggled in his first start at Rangers Ballpark. Though he pitched a completed game, he gave up three homers and six earned runs in a 6-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.
However, in his next start against the Red Sox in Fenway Park, Lee dazzled, going nine innings for the second straight game while only giving up two runs and striking out six.
The second run came on a Kevin Youkilis double that scored Marco Scutaro to force extra innings. The Rangers ended up losing the game in the eleventh inning after a Youkilis sacrifice fly scored Scutaro yet again.
The next day, after the Rangers took the series with a win over Boston, Lee sat in the club house alone while his teammates celebrated around him.
There, on my first assignment for an internship with a Boston TV station, I observed Cliff Lee. While his teammates celebrated, goofed around, and talked to the media, Lee just sat and ate his food. When he finished, he pulled out his iPad and played games, sitting by himself on a couch in the clubhouse. The only words I heard him speak were, "Thanks," as he tipped the clubhouse attendant when he left to get on the team bus.
I'm not sure if Lee was still frustrated that he allowed the Red Sox to force extra innings the night before, or if he was still adjusting to his new team, but his quiet persona surprised me.
In an age where the pitchers who have dominated like Cliff Lee has - such as Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling - were cocky, almost arrogant personalities, Lee is the exact opposite. He speaks with the media when he has to and keeps quiet off the field.
After two dominating performances this postseason, the latest coming in a complete game victory to eliminate the Rays last night, Lee has carried his quiet demeanor, seeming to be focused on his next start as soon as his last one ends.
In Cliff Lee's seven career postseason starts, he has three complete games, six wins, zero losses, 54 strikeouts, and most amazingly, only six walks. Lee has made a statement with his pitching - not with his mouth - that he might someday be considered among the best postseason pitchers of the modern era.
When I visited Texas in May to see the Cubs play the Rangers (before the Lee acquisition) I told my brother as we left Rangers Ballpark after a Cubs extra-inning win, "This team will when the AL West and be dangerous in the playoffs." With Lee, the Rangers have a strong possibility of winning the World Series.
If the Rangers are celebrating in late October, it will likely be due to Cliff Lee. Lee is a free agent when the season ends and his agent (not named Scott Boras) will likely land him one of the largest contracts for a pitcher in history.
One thing is certain, Cliff Lee will quietly take the money he has rightfully earned and continue to dominate opposing batters.
