Thanks for posting…

I love his writing.

thanks for the post

That’s sports writing.

I wonder what it was that Cliff Lee learned between the 2007 and 2008 seasons, and who he learned it from.

and the analogy is obviously not 100% right, but I have to say it…

Nothing went right from the start in 2007 for Cliff Lee. He injured his groin in spring training. He was not quite ready for his fastball to lose some of its heat. The Indians were badgering him to throw more of his secondary pitches, to not rely so much on his fastball.

And, though he’d had some success, he really did not know how to be a pitcher. That lack of certainty finally bubbled to the surface. Hitters teed off. Lee gave up 28 doubles and 17 home runs in fewer than 100 innings. Those secondary pitches still had no shape, and his fastball was not getting him out of trouble anymore, and Lee felt the world closing in.

This is why I like Matt Harrison. I think that his stuff is really good – if he could only learn how to be a pitcher instead of a guy with several good pitches who gets lost on the mount (I also think this fits Derek Holland). Yeah, yeah, yeah… this is the drawback to probably 90% of pitchers who never make it in the big leagues.

I really can’t think of another guy writing about baseball I really like to read. Everyone else is either 1) trying to fill column inches with stupid personal thoughts containing no research and/or 2) taking as contrary position as possible with the hopes of landing a TV job.

To all sportswriters – if you’re worried about losing your job to the internet just do your jobs better. There will always be a need for articles like this.

when I had gotten to the end, I wanted more.

It is imaginative, well organized, and I felt like I have been a part of a baseball tapestry. Yes, I saw the game last night, but I was too flummoxed to be as observant.

the best way to savor the game indeed.

and Lee perfected that last night… Joe P just did a great job of capturing that awesome aspect. There is some fun and value in looking at the raw numbers of greatness, but there is something about baseball that is poetic and can only be felt and described in poetic ways.

This piece got me thinking about how there is little need, these days, for game recounts. Everyone follows it via some form of media, and the colorful recaps of the pre-radio era are no longer needed.

Yet Posnanski found a way to describe something (at length) that we all watched in a way that was both riveting, poetic, and illuminating. And he did it without relying on any sort of access (though it is obviously available to him).

Marvelous.

Thank you, Joe.