WHO IS MR. CLUTCH?

The baseball playoffs got me to thinking about some of the great clutch performers I've been fortunate enough to see in my lifetime. I have a ton of respect for players that perform their best when in the biggest games. It's one thing to be a Mr. April like A-Rod, it's another to be a guy that elevates his play as the games get more and more important.

Here are some of the greatest clutch players I've seen in my lifetime. Who are some of yours?

Baseball

Curt Schilling: Easily the best clutch pitcher I've ever seen. The guy is money in the big games and he just takes it to another notch when the games count the most. Remember the Bloody Sock game? He is 9-2 in his postseason career with a 1.93 ERA and was just about untouchable during the 2001 playoffs when he helped the Diamondbacks win the World Series as well as in 2004 (minus the game where he got hurt), allowing just one run in his last two starts in the ALCS and World Series. If I have to pick one pitcher to win a big game, Schilling is the guy I want on the mound.

David Ortiz: Here's the anti-A-Rod. A guy who is great in the regular season and even better in the playoffs. Ortiz has career .320 postseason batting average with 10 home runs and 35 RBIs. he was on fire against the Angels in the division series this year and in his last five playoff series his worst batting average has been .333. He was amazing in 2004 when he won three straight Red Sox games, including elimination games against the Yankees in Game 4 and 5, with walk-off hits. Two of those walk-off hits were home runs.

Some others I like in the clutch: Derek Jeter, Orel Hershiser, Josh Beckett, Dave Stewart.

Football

Joe Montana: Like Schilling, if I have one game I have to win this is the guy I want quarterbacking my team. Four super bowls and three super bowl MVPs (the only player to do so) speak for themselves. What's amazing is that in four Super Bowls, Montana never threw an interception in 122 passes. He also threw 11 touchdown passes. Montana also was one of the masters of the fourth-quarter comeback and his game-winning 92-yard drive in Super Bowl XXIII stands as the greatest drive in Super Bowl history. The Niners trailed 16-13 and had about three minutes to go and he goes 8-for-9 for 103 yards (they had lost yardage during the drive due to penalties). His only incompletion on that drive was a throwaway. He also orchestrated the game-winning 89-yard drive when the Niners trailed 27-21 in the 1981 NFC championship, setting off a great dynasty. Last but not least, in his first year with the Chiefs, Montana led two fourth-quarter comebacks against the Steelers and Oilers to lead the Chiefs to their first title game since 1969. One last thing, Montana also led Notre Dame to a national championship and ended his collegiate career by bring the Irish back from a 34-12 fourth-quarter deficit.

Tom Brady: I've said on here before that I think Brady is Montana's long-lost son because he plays so much like Montana. when the stakes are highest Brady is at his best as he has shown with his two game-winning super bowl drives against the Rams and Panthers and his two super bowl MVPs...not to mention his 12-2 postseason record. Three times in the playoffs, Brady also has helped the Patriots knock off the AFC's top seed. He's done it four times in the NFL playoffs when you throw in the 2001 Rams having the league's best record.

Jerry Rice: The anti-Marvin Harrison. As great as Rice was in the regular-season he was even better in the playoffs unlike Harrison who is at his worst in the playoffs. (look it up if you don't believe me). Rice had 14 100-yard games in the playoffs and in his three super bowls with the 49ers his WORST game was a 7-catch, 148-yard, 3-touchdown effort against the Broncos. In his first Super Bowl he was the MVP with 11 catches, 215 yards and a touchdown and in his third he had 10 for 149 and three touchdowns...with a separated shoulder. Even as a Raider at the age of 40, Rice caught a touchdown pass in the Super Bowl.

Some others I like in the clutch: Terrell Davis, John Elway, Michael Irvin.

Basketball

Michael Jordan: As a Pistons fan I hated seeing this guy win so many titles. But damn, I never saw a player hit so many clutch shots time after time after time. Didn't matter who it was, Jordan always found a way to hit the big shot when it was needed most.

Kobe Bryant: He is my least favorite player, but the guy can hit the big shots with the best of them. He's hit a ton of game-winners in his career and a lot of them have come in the playoffs. I couldn't deny the guy's greatness or deny how good he was going to be when, in the Lakers first title year, he carried the team in overtime in Indiana after O'Neal had fouled out and it looked like the Pacers were going to even the series 2-2.

Robert Horry: They don't call him Big Shot Bob for nothing. If they had a clutch shooting hall of fame this guy would be one of the first inducted. With the Rockets, Lakers, Spurs, it doesn't matte, if you leave him open in the final seconds he will burn you. Just ask the Kings and Pistons for starters. I remember watching Game 5 of the 2005 finals when my beloved Pistons were clinging to a two-point lead. As soon as Horry got the ball I threw my arms up in the air in disgust and said we (it's always "we" when your team does well!) just lost. That's how certain I was that Horry would hit the shot. And he did....he always does.

Some others I like in the clutch: Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Hakeem Olajuwon.
- posted by Chris @ 10:05 PM