We all remember how the Phillies won the World Series in 2008 and it had to do with the pitching staff and outstanding young left hander Cole Hamels. So this year how would the Phillies be able to maybe win BACK TO BACK titles in Philly. Well pitching was a big key for the Phillies this year and in the beginning of the year the pitching wasn't there at all.
For Cliff Lee the 2009 season was one to remember. He would start opening day and his 4 1/2 months with the team he has been with since 2002 the Cleveland Indians. Cliff Lee in 2008 won his first ever CY Young award with 22 win and 3 loses and American League best ERA with a 2.54. If you were to ask Cleveland fans, who was this guy 2 years before they would have probably said "Cliff Lee"? "That guy's a bum" Lee who 2006 had an ERA of 4.40, 14 wins and 11 loses and was still looking for that magic in his arm, but in 2007 things only got worse for the left hander. Lee would suffer a groin strain during spring training and would be put on the DL for the beginning of the season. On July 26, 2007 Lee would give up 7 runs in 4 innings and would be booed off the field. The next day Lee was sent down to triple-A ball where he would play most of the season there. September 1, 2007 he was called back up but only pitched in 4 games, the Indians won the Central Division Championship and would head for the playoff but without Cliff Lee as he would yet be on the DL. For those who don't remember the postseason in 2007 the Indians got past the Yankees in the ALDS but would fall into a hole against the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS with a 3-1 game lead and blew it. Maybe if they had the extra healthy pitcher in Cliff Lee, who knows what would have happened in 2007.
In 2009 Cliff Lee clearly won the ace spot with the Indians with the big dog C.C. Sabathia now with the New York Yankees, Lee would start off with a losing record 4 wins and 6 loses, but a really good ERA of 2.88. But on July, 29, 2009 just two days before the trade dead-line, Lee and teammate Ben Francisco were traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. Baseball writers and fans never saw this coming because the Phillies were talking to Roy Halladay for the longest time. This move came out of nowhere. Cliff Lee would leave the town and team that he had been with for his whole life with an EAR of 3.14 and losing record with 7 wins and 9 loses in 2009 with the Indians. Phillies fans had their ups and downs about this move. Some said "well Lee is a guy who can definitely help the Phillies repeat as World Champs". Other said "I still think we should have gotten Halladay". Lee would make his first Phillies day-few on July 31, 2009 against the San Francisco Giants. He would win his first game as a Phillie by having a complete game win by a score of 5-1 with 6 strikeouts. Lee would than win his next 4 games in row and his ERA was 0.68. Cliff Lee would finish the season with 7 win, 4 loses and a ERA of 3.39 as a Philadelphia Phillie. But overall with both Cleveland and Philadelphia he had an ERA of 3.22, 14 wins, 13 loses.
The Philadelphia Phillies would win their third straight National League East Division title from the help of Cliff Lee. It seemed like he gave this team the extra push they needed. On October 7th Cliff Lee would make his first ever postseason start as the ace of the staff against the Colorado Rockies and would win his first ever playoff game by a score of 5-1, and Lee would indeed finish the game off with a complete and 5 strikeouts. His next big start came on October 18th in the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers and boy did this game send a message to the Dodgers and Dodgers fans. Lee shutout the Dodgers 11-0 with 10 strikeouts in only 8 innings of work. Lee would now have the best an ERA in postseason 0.00. The Phillies would win the National League Championship Series for the second straight time against the Dodgers and would have a date with the 26 time World Series Champions the New York Yankees in the World Series. On October 28th, 2009, Cliff Lee was making his first ever World Series start against his former teammate and good friend C.C. Sabathia who was making his first ever World Series start as well. Two former teammate, two former CY Young award winners, two friends on two different teams going against each other to become World Series Champions and for these two guys it was all that they could have dreamed of.
Cliff Lee would do a little bit better than his friend C.C. in Game 1 game of the World Series by winning 6-1 with 10 strikeouts and having yet again another complete game in the postseason. Lee was then called on to pitch in Game 5 of the World Series with his team trailing three games to one. So on November 2nd, Lee would have to try to help keep his team alive in the World Series. Lee wouldn't despotic, he may have not pitched that well in this game like he did in Game 1 but he got the job done going 7 inning and only having 3 strikeouts and winning the game by a score of 8-6, he would now have 4 wins in the postseason. But as we know the Phillies failed to win the World Series in 2009, it was still one of those years as a pitcher that says let go out there and do this again and that's what Cliff Lee brings to the table. "The goal is winning and staying on top of my game come opening day next year" said Cliff Lee.
So that kid from Benton, Arkansas, who was drafted by the Florida Marlins in 1997 and did not sign to attend the Meridian Community College, to was later drafted in 1998 by the Baltimore Orioles who still did not sign to attend the University of Arkansas, who was later drafted by the Montreal Expos in 2000 and signed, who was later traded by the Expos along with stars like Brandon Phillips, Lee Stevens, and Grady Sizemore to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for Bartolo Colón and Tim Drew. Cliff Lee now finds himself with a team that knows how to win and has the heart to win. It’s just a question and a matter of time when will it happen again? For Cliff Lee the sky's the limit in 2010. This beyond a heart of a pitcher, this is beyond baseball.
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