Lee picked up his September exactly where he left his August off, on yet another scoreless inning streak. After pitching his Major League leading 6th Complete Game Shut Out of the season Lee has found himself flirting with another almost 30 inning scoreless streak. His streak stands now at 29.2 innings. Lee has been nothing short of brilliant in these stretches this year. His June and August he was undefeated going a perfect 10-0 and giving up an insanely low three total runs.
Cliff Lee has managed to do something that no other Phillies pitcher since Steve Carlton has done and that is throw six complete game shut outs in one season. For a Phillies team that worked effortlessly to bring Lee back to the team this off season, he has been just as advertised and everything the Phillies could have wanted in an ace.
Lee began the year on a negative note by posting an under average April and May with a record of 4-5 and a 3.50 plus era. Needless to say Lee did not have a good start and as we as fans so often do in Philadelphia, we let him know that he was not pitching well or in Philly terms that he was sucking. Now I was as happy as the next person when the Phillies came out of nowhere and announced the signing of Lee but I did worry when after two months of the season he was not pitching how I had remembered. Sure there were flashes of his former self but nothing consistent and it didn't look good.
Either Lee was tired of hearing the Philly fan boos or he realized he needed to step up because after May turned to June, Cliff Lee became a different pitcher. Lee was the definition of lights out in June going 5-0 in 5 starts, posting a 0.21 era and throwing a remarkable three CGSOs in a row. Lee pitched brilliantly and quickly silenced all of his critics. In a "what have you done for me lately," sports town, Lee instantly warmed his way back into Philly fans' hearts.
Lee's brilliance was not only in his pitching however as he also brought back the bat fans knew and loved. The pitcher who once hit more rbis than he had earned runs was once again hitting the cover off of the ball. He quickly became one of the best hitters in the NL and was often more excited to talk about his hitting than dominant pitching. What could he say, the man loves to hit.
It is his love of hitting and his hard work that he puts into the game which saw him hit not one but two home runs in the summer months. He was pitching brilliantly, hitting better than anyone expected and playing gold glove defense. Lee was the whole package. Unfortunately in July he reverted back to the April/May Lee but come August and the dog days of summer Lee was right back to pitching excellence. August was not as great as June as he gave up two earned runs in the five games started and had an era of 0.45. He did record another CGSO however and did go 5-0 putting him in the company of pitching greats Walter Johnson and Bob Gibson as the only pitchers in baseball history to have two 5-0 or better months with an era of less than 0.50.
So as anyone in Philly will tell you that in points this year Cliff Lee has been superhuman. He can pitch, he can hit, he can play defense, he can run bases and the man really has no kryptonite. Now I honestly don't believe that this string of near perfection is the real Lee just like I don't believe that the 4-5 start was the real Lee either. Somewhere in between good and great, in between mediocrity and perfection is the Cliff Lee the Phillies signed and hope to see perform for a long time. Don't get me wrong though because I love the Lee we've seen this year in June, August and so far September and will ride that train into October and the postseason all the way to the world series.
So whether Cliff Lee is perfecting the art of the CGSO, hitting HRs, stealing bases, robbing hits, battling for a Cy Young or flirting with perfection, he has been the Phillies superman and season MVP. Gone from the team in 2009 I believe that bringing him back is the piece that will bring Philly another World Series.
Thanks Ruben for bring Cliff back where he belongs!
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