I get that you define yourself as a player in this marketplace not by what you do in the regular season, but by what you do in the post-season. That rings true in every major sport and for that matter all sports. You never want to be defined as a great ‘regular’ season player. It is a backhanded compliment.
With that being said, I think we all need to take a breath before defining a player as clutch or not. Some would argue that the clutch gene does not exist.
That is complete and utter nonsense.
Nerves do exist in each and every one of us and for the athlete to be able to perform regardless of the situation, is by definition clutch. As statisticians take over the sports landscape in placing value on a player and what it takes to build a winner, we should also remember what Joe Torre said a number of years ago in his book ‘The Yankee Years,’ that there is a heartbeat to the game and for that matter in a player.
I bring that up because of the pushback on Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who by most standards had a pretty good regular season.
Did he play at the same level as the year before when he hit 59 home runs and won the NL MVP for the Miami Marlins? Absolutely not. Is he a mistake hitter? Yes. Is he remarkably streaky? No question about that.
But he is also going through the playoffs for the first time as a major leaguer. I think we do have to cut him some slack and let him establish himself in the postseason before we define him in October in this city and as a Yankee.
As Stanton went 1-for-5 on Friday night with 4 K’s in Boston against the Red Sox, which included a strikeout in a bases loaded situation where the Yankees were trying to rally from an early 5-0 deficit and also a strikeout on just three pitches in the top-of-the-ninth against Sox closer Craig Kimbrel, social media exploded with ‘hot takes’. Judge is Derek Jeter and Stanton is Alex Rodriguez. ‘Get Stanton off the team’ and ‘He is terrible’ were just a couple of the social hits on Stanton.
What a load of malarkey and such a lazy take.
First off, back to the comparison to Rodriguez. At the time of the trade with the Rangers, Rodriguez was considered to be the best player in the sport when he came to New York. Stanton never has and never will be.
Rodriguez could not get out of his own way and his constant need for attention was a constant and consistent drain on the organization. Stanton does not need, nor does he seek out the attention.
Stanton was brought here because the Yankees were the last team standing that he was willing to be traded to as he used his no-trade clause in his contract. The only real comparison is that both players kind of fell into the Yankees’ laps, where they did not have to give up comparable talent for the player they were bringing into the organization. That is where the comparisons should end.
For Stanton, yes he will build his legacy by consistent offensive production in the regular season but will be leaned on to be productive when the games mean the most in October.
With the money and the talent comes the expectations to produce. But, you can not and should not define a player based on just a couple postseason. He has his deficiencies as a hitter and we went through some of those earlier, but let’s give him a chance.
I am not saying that he can’t hear boo’s or get criticized, because nobody is above reproach. But, you can’t define him this early. It is just unfair.
He went from a marketplace that did not care about baseball to one that lives it, eats it and breathes it every single day. He comes into a situation where the expectation before he arrived was to win the 28th World Series in franchise history. After all, they got rid of a manager that took them to Game 7 of the ALCS a year ago because they wanted to change the message and in stepped Aaron Boone. Let’s just be fair before we define and pigeon hole what Giancarlo Stanton is and isn’t in October. It is only right.
