Once upon a time, there was a baseball player named Reggie Jackson who played his best baseball and made his best hits during the playoffs--in the month of October. Performing at a high level in the postseason for both the Oakland Athletics and the New York Yankees during his Hall of Fame career, Jackson earned the nickname "Mr. October". Before and since Reggie Jackson, there have been many players who elevated their game to higher levels in the playoffs. Who else is deserving of the "Mr. October" title? Let's discuss.
Pedro Martinez- Pedro was my favorite player as a kid. Even now, he ranks right up there with Jason Varitek, Tim Wakefield, Derek Lowe, and Trot Nixon as one of my all time favorite Red Sox players. The others on that list won me over with their work ethic and intense gamer mentality, but Pedro had much more than that. He was so good at what he did. Pedro was a freak of nature, a power pitcher with a small frame (I'm a little surprised that people have not been comparing Tim Lincecum to Pedro yet for that reason). He was so dominant that Red Sox Nation would have forgotten all about Roger Clemens completely if Clemens was not wearing pinstripes. In fact, the Sox only victory in the 1999 ALCS came when Pedro faced Clemens, a game Billy Crystal called "Cy Young vs. Cy Old", and Pedro was dominant. Pedro put up numbers in the height of the Steroid Era that pitchers in the Dead Ball Era or any era would envy. He faced Clemens again in 2003, this time in Game 7, but a certain boneheaded manager prevented Pedro from being the hero, prevented a juiced-up Clemens from ending the season (which he said at the time would be his last) in shame, and prevented The Curse from being wiped off the books a year early. In case you had not noticed, that game still makes my blood boil. A year later Pedro redeemed himself and asked the Evil Empire the rhetorical question, "Who's your daddy, now?" He has said numerous times that he would not trade his one World Series ring in Boston for three anywhere else. Last year at the age of 38, he pitched admirably for Philadelphia, but it was sad to see that his magic had run out. He might be the greatest pitcher of all time--he certainly was the best pitcher I ever watched when he was in his prime--but somehow he found a way to turn it up yet another level when the leaves started to change color.
Derek Jeter- I feel a little guilty putting Derek Jeter in this conversation, but I would be daft not to. As long as I have been following baseball religiously (in 1998 I started watching and listening to every Sox game I could and my dad would leave a note at breakfast with the score and highlights if it ran past my bedtime), Derek Jeter has been the starting shortstop for the New York Yankees. I resented him for starting the All Star Game in 2000 even though Nomar Garciaparra got more votes (Joe Torre was managing the American League and he chose to start Jeter because Nomar had started the year before). My dislike turned into respect over the years, though. His hustle from short to foul territory to on the first base side to pick up an overthrown ball and flip to Jorge Posada to tag Jeremy Giambi who did not think to slide into home was one of the most frustratingly spectacular plays I have ever seen. With five World Series rings and seven World Series appearances, Jeter is one of the best clutch performers you will find in any sport.
Carlton Fisk- Eighty-six years is a long time. A really long time. It was a championship drought so long that Red Sox fans were willing to revel in whatever moral victories they could get. Carlton Fisk's walk-off home run in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series was the finest hour in Boston eighty-six year championship drought. After 2004 and 2007, it does not seem like much, but Red Sox fans for generations went to the grave thinking this was the greatest moment of their lives. It was the most memorable event of the Series, and you can make the case that Fisk should have been the World Series MVP instead of Pete Rose (that series certainly was not what defined Rose's career). Forcing a Game 7 against the Big Red Machine, with a homer off the left field foul pole in the bottom of the 12th inning was enough to legitimize Fisk wearing a Red Sox cap on his plaque in Cooperstown when he played more years with the White Sox. Moments like that today do not feel the same once you have experienced a championship. When a struggling Jason Varitek hit the game winning home run in Game 6 of the 2008 ALCS, it was largely forgotten when the Sox lost Game 7 the next day.
Jack Morris- One of the greatest Game 7s in baseball history occurred in the 1991 World Series between the Minnesota Twins and the Atlanta Braves. Jack Morris took the mound for Minnesota and faced John Smoltz in one of the greatest pitchers duels of all time. Morris got the win, pitching all ten innings before Minnesota scored the only run of the game in the bottom of the 10th. Morris was the one of the star pitchers of his generation, was a five time all star, and won four World Series with three different teams (the Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Twins, and Toronto Blue Jays), and yet he has not been inducted into the Hall of Fame yet.
Kirk Gibson- Gibson holds the distinction of being the only National League MVP to never appear in an All-Star Game, but that is not what people think of when they hear his name. The current Arizona Diamondbacks interim manager could barely walk from the injuries he suffered getting to the 1988 World Series, but he could stand long enough in the batters box to pinch hit. His wrists worked just fine as he hit a home run off A's Hall of Fame closer Dennis Eckersley. No matter if the D'Backs decide to keep him as manager or what he does with the rest of his life, Gibson will always be remembered for his pinch-hit home run in Game 1 of the '88 World Series. It was his only at bat in the series, but he made the most of it.
Johnny Damon- Red Sox fans were wrong to boo him, even if he signed with New York. He did too much when he was with the Sox to deserve that. His long at bats, fouling off pitch after pitch until the pitcher finally caved and gave up a double is something the Red Sox have lacked consistently since he left. He went all out for the team. He nearly killed himself colliding with Damian Jackson in the 2003 ALDS against Oakland. His grand slam in Game 7 of the ALCS in 2004 was one of his greatest moments. In 2009, he showed us that he still has a knack for the heads up play in clutch situations. Stealing second and third in the same run because he noticed nobody was covering third because of the infield shift was the turning point in the World Series which caused Brad Lidge to lose his composure and the Phillies to lose their confidence. It was at that moment that everyone realized that the Yankees were going to win the World Series. He missed the playoffs playing for the Tigers this year, but perhaps he will get a chance to work his magic again next October.
Derek Lowe- Whenever the Sox needed to clinch a series, Lowe was there in 2003 and 2004. Here he is pictured with catcher Jason Varitek, whom he was traded to Boston from Seattle with in 1997. Getting those two, who were still in the minors at the time, in exchange for inconsistent closer Heathcliff Slocumb, was one of the best trades the Red Sox have ever made. Everyone remembers the bloody sock and the drama behind Curt Schiiling in the 2004 playoffs, but it was Lowe who was pushed out of the starting rotation in the ALDS, but ended up getting the win in Game 3 against the Angels, Game 7 against the Yankees, and Game 4 against the Cardinals. Derek Lowe went on to be the ace of the Dodgers rotation after that season, and is now the ace for the Braves. He may have lost to Tim "The Freak" Lincecum last night, but he pitched really well. As long as he has been in the big leagues, Derek Lowe has elevated his game when the season is on the line for whichever team is employing him.
Roy Halladay- Is it too soon to put him on the list? I think not. Roy Halladay has waited his entire career to pitch in the playoffs, and this week, he finally got his chance. In his first playoff game on Wednesday, Halladay pitched only the second no hitter in playoff history. As the Phillies pursue their third consecutive pennant, Halladay started them off in the right direction. Only time will tell if he will have a reputation of being a strong playoff performer, but so far, he has been unhittable in October.
No comments:
Post a Comment