Since TBS and ESPN keep telling us that it was Cleveland's clutch hitting that won the series:
New York, LDS - 60 LOB
Cleveland, LDS - 77 LOB
Thanks to reader Matthew. It's crazy how much of the series was determined by one man, Chien-Ming Wang, simply not performing up to expectations. He had two bad games. Horrendous games. Wang was charged with 12 earned runs over 5.2 innings. In a four-game span, that's just huge.
Wang was good to very good throughout the regular season, so he should be given a lot of credit for getting the Yankees to the playoffs in the first place, but it's tough to overcome your #1 guy giving up 18 baserunners in two games, especially when he only records three outs in one of those games.
** EDIT EDIT EDIT, EDIT ALL DAY LONG, AS I WRITE AN EDIT, I SING THIS EDIT SONG **
Reader Ed contributes this rebuttal to reader Matthew:
77 left on base in like 37 total innings? Come on, now.
The actual LOB totals were Cleveland 39, New York 24.
And more caustically, Jason sends this:
I don’t really think it’s a fair comparison. Cleveland had 65 hits + walks in the series and New York had 45.
It’s hard to leave guys on base when they don’t get there in the first place. After all, a team on the wrong side of a perfect game had 0 LOB. Great, huh?
I do think Cleveland had a large number of two-out hits; I don't think this was just over-the-top clutch-loving. The very fact that the Indians actually did get on base more than the Yankees, though, is certainly another part of the story.
Labels: chien-ming wang, yankees
