Clutch Time
| 10
|
by user Debo
When you think of clutch hitters in the playoffs, more specifically the World Series, who comes to your mind first? Reggie Jackson? Derek Jeter? Joe Carter? Kirk Gibson? Bobby Brown?
Wait wait wait wait...Bobby Brown? He didn't come to mind? Believe it or not, Brown has the all-time leading postseason and World Series batting average, with a 40 AB minimum. No, not Bobby Brown the rapper. But Bobby Brown the New York Yankee, who played from 1946-54. Take a look at Brown's career numbers.
Reg Season Playoffs Diff
BA .279 .439 +.160
OBP .367 .500 +.133
SLG .376 .707 +.331
Whatever the reason, Brown found a way to step it up in the postseason, when it counts most. Which brings up the question. Is playoff performance overrated? I'm not saying that what you do in the playoffs shouldn't count towards how good of a player someone is, but I am saying that you can't judge a player solely on their clutch ability or playoff performance. You are just as likely to hit a hot streak in the playoffs, like Brown, or you could just as easily hit a cold streak. Which brings me to the conclusion that maybe the term 'clutch' is overrated. Bobby Brown wasn't necessarily clutch, but he happened to get hot during the playoffs.
There is a time when a player needs to get a hit. And if he does, we usually deem him a 'clutch player.' But most of the time, it's just getting a hit at the right time. It's not like a person with a higher 'clutch rating' will perform much better 'in the clutch' than he does during any other normal at-bat. Was Gibson's game-winning homerun in 1988 clutch? We like to think so, but I like to call it luck. Gibson was hobbled over, walked with a limp, and had no business being in that game. How did he hit the homerun? Was it clutch? Some of it depends on the pitcher, some of it depends on the pitch, but a lot of it depends on luck. Gibson hadn't had a plate appearance during the whole World Series up until that at-bat. Luck had to have played a part in it, not some abstract attribute inside a player, "clutch."
Obviously, some players seem to do a lot better in the playoffs consistently. Derek Jeter is one example. Does that make him clutch? Well, I guess you could call it that, but I'm sure it has to do with some other factors. I would bet that Jeter prepares more for playoff games, both mentally and physically, than he does with regular season games. This, in combination with more pressure on the pitcher, results in Jeter getting more hits in playoff games. He just finds a way to focus and prepare more than his opponent at the time.
Another example that clutch isn't really a good measurement of a player's performance. The player with the second best BA in postseason history is, you guessed it, Jose Offerman. With a .279 career batting average working against him, Offerman has managed to post a .429 career postseason BA. To go along with that, his OBP is .520, compared to his .361 career regular season number. Does Offerman have more clutch ability? In a word, no. He just happened to hit some hot streaks in the postseason, due to luck or preparation.
An example of a player with great career regular season numbers but poor postseason numbers is none other than Ty Cobb. Cobb, in fact, is the all time leader in career BA. But it's a different story in the postseason.
Reg Season Playoffs Diff
BA .366 .262 -.104
OBP .433 .314 -.119
SLG .512 .354 -.158
Granted, Cobb only had 65 postseason AB, so the results may be a little misleading. But, it's not like Cobb had less clutch ability than a guy like Offerman or Brown. He just happened to get into a cold streak during the playoffs, whether it be because of preparation, opposing pitchers, or just plain bad luck. Whatever the reason, Cobb will never be known as a 'clutch player,' even thought that the term is overused and overrated.
So the next time you see a player get a hit in the crunch time of a game, specifically a playoff or World Series game, consider the numbers before you consider him a 'clutch player.' Clutch may be a formula of 1/3 luck, 1/3 focus and composure, and 1/3 pitching, not a separate attribute.
Date
Fri 08/11/06, 2:33 pm EST
