[wack]

ow!

Know who's a great clutch hitter? Tony Womack. Smacked that double off the greatest closer of all time in the bottom of the 9th, down by a run of game 7. Doesn't get much more clutch than that. Maybe we should sign him...oh wait...

17 I couldn't agree more. I've pointed out some of Jeter's faults here not because I think he's a choker just that I wanted to show how we ignore when he screws up because the party line is he's a gamer and a true Yankee (TM). To demand that Alex has to have a year like he did last year every year is a joke. That was a videogame year and likely the best of a Yankee since perhaps Mantle's triple crown year. In other words last year wasn't just MVP it was a historically great year. Demanding that is a joke.

The other example is last night. Pettitte was awful last night, yet we've spent all this time talking about how crappy a choke artist A-Rod is.

I love when people argue how the dynasty team was all a bunch of gamers with no standouts. That 98 team had 3 or 4 borderline HoF players (at prime positions) including the greatest relief pitcher of all time. But yeah, it was all because of Scotty Brosius and his "winning" attitude.

Never mind that that doesn't make any sense. He's been saying it several times a game for 19 years, who's going to argue with him?

Pettitte

Pedro

Pat Burrell -- 0-for-7, 4 Ks, 10 LOB

1) there's no statistical proof that player performance in designated "clutch" situations is consistent enough to qualify as a skill rather than as a small-sample fluke that varies wildly from season to season for each player

2) "Clutch" means different things to different people. Should clutch be measured in comparison to the remainder of a player's performance, be it overall in that season, in their career, or in non-clutch situations over either time frame. Even then, is a true clutch hitter one who exceeds their non-clutch performance in clutch situations, or one who simply maintains that level of performance? Are you measuring gross performance in those situations (thus holding David Ortiz and Miguel Cairo to the same standards), or measuring net performance, meaning whether or not a player steps up his game, or simply maintains their typical level of production.

Of course most of 2) is rendered moot by 1). And of course opportunity comes into play as well (as the linked post acknowledges, but doesn't compensate for). Talk about a hitter's rate of driving in runners on base/in scoring position/on third with less than two outs. Talk about a hitter's OBP with his team trailing in the late innings (thus creating opportunities for teammates). Do not say "remember that big hit" or "remember that GIDP," every great hitter hit into a double play, and every terrible hitter has hit a home run. It's the ability to do either with consistency that matters, and as I said, such an ability as it applies to artificially designated clutch situations (another category which has no universal definition) continues to appear to have more to do with randomness than skill.

I don't know much about Sumoza, though an .880 OPS in low A as a 20 year old, while not eye-popping, isn't laughable. Good power, doesn't seem to K much.

Kotsay has a bad back, and I wouldn't expect much past a .750 OPS out of him at this point. Plus, he's a FA at the end of the year, so they're not stuck with anything.

I don't know much about Sumoza, though an .880 OPS in low A as a 20 year old, while not eye-popping, isn't laughable. Good power, doesn't seem to K much.

Kotsay has a bad back, and I wouldn't expect much past a .750 OPS out of him at this point. Plus, he's a FA at the end of the year, so they're not stuck with anything.

And on, and on, and on. How can one even begin to argue if something exists or not without being able to define it in the first place?

The different perspectives are interesting and some people tend to gravitate towards the storyline. But once a player has a reputation, it's hard to shake. Pettitte is still a big game pitcher, eh?

Meh. There will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth for the next couple of seasons and then the media can get all hagiographic about next crop of superstars clutch gods. And for that reason, I don't think that Jeter's decline and retirement/next contract is going to be handled gracefully by the media. Christ, they're still grousing about Torre "being fired".