Don’t look back.
It’s how Benton’s Cliff Lee of the Philadelphia Phillies trapped Pine Bluff’s Torii Hunter of the Detroit Tigers off second base Wednesday, and it’s how he avoids feeling trapped pitching for a team given little chance to compete for a championship this season.
“I don’t play the what-if game,” said Lee, a former Arkansas Razorback. “I’m happy with my decision, and I’m glad to be here. This is where I want to be.”
Not in New York, where the Yankees have battled their own issues of age and injury over the past couple of years. Not in Texas, Lee’s temporary home during the Rangers’ 2010 run to the World Series.
These were the teams Lee spurned following that 2010 season, turning down offers of more guaranteed years and upfront money from each so he could return to the Phillies, join three other aces and finally win that elusive World Series.
Well …
That 2011 staff led a Phillies team that won 102 regular-season games and was arguably the strongest edition of its five-year run atop the National League East Division. But injuries have since piled up, beginning with Ryan Howard’s gruesome Achilles’ injury running out the last out of the 2011 National League Division Series. And dubious moves, including the trade of two All-Star-caliber outfielders and the signings of a slew of ragged-armed relievers, further sapped a team that had seemed like a playoff constant.
Meanwhile, the Rangers returned to the World Series in 2011 and were a wild-card team in 2012. Before age took a toll on them, the Yankees appeared in the postseason in 2011 and 2012.
“The past couple of years haven’t gone the way I want it or we want it,” Lee said. “But you’ve got to stick with the decisions you’ve made, try to make the best of it, and do your job.”
Lee has done his job this spring. He finished it with a 2.55 earned run average over 24 2/3 innings, striking out 26 while walking only 4.
“He’s been outstanding,” Phillies Manager Ryne Sandberg said. “He’s just on a roll. He’s also come a long way with holding base runners, and that now is something he’s got in his pocket.”
Truth is, Lee is in Sandberg’s pocket in that regard. A veteran known for telltale facial expressions and “whatevers,” he has embraced the philosophical changes preached by the new regime all spring, which makes the wholesale sell that much easier. Lee isn’t a vocal clubhouse leader, but everywhere he’s been everyday players hand him the same compliment his current manager issued this week.
“He knows how to pitch, and he’s actually a baseball player on top of it,” Sandberg said. “To operate a wrap-around move right there and get a runner who’s trying to steal third - he’s aware. He sets the tone. He’s the Opening Day starter and the ace for a reason.”
Some question the Phillies’ chances this season, pointing to the fact that many of Philadelphia’s key contributors are past their prime. Lee, 35, knows the Phillies are betting on him, and he has tossed in his ante already.
“Our everyday guys are all healthy,” he said. “I think it’s been a big reason why we’ve had some failures the last couple of years, so for them to be healthy is good. We’ve got a lot of guys who have done some special things, and them being on the field is going to give them the best chance to do that.”
Lee pitched against that 2009 Yankees team that began its season with the same aura of being too old. And while he concedes that pitching against Texas will have extra meaning on Opening Day, the reality is there are more players left from that Phillies team than are left from the Texas team he helped reach the 2010 World Series against San Francisco.
“We have all the confidence in the world, and we expect to win the division and get to the World Series and win that ultimately,” Lee said. “That’s what we’re expecting to do. What people think or what people expect, they might be right or they might be wrong. Nobody really knows yet. So we’ll go play the games and see where it leads us.”
Sports, Pages 26 on 03/30/2014