A-Rod: Clutch?

Dr. Giganto

A-Rod has been getting killed in the NY media recently for his lack of "clutch" hitting. This was exacerbated by him killing a late rally against the Mets by hitting into a double play (just like he did in Game 5 of the ALDS last year) followed by hitting a 2-run home run while trailing 9-1 the next night against the Red Sox. So, I thought it would be interesting to look at A-Rod's 48 home runs last season, and see what the situation was when he hit them.

The Elias sports bureau defines a clutch at-bat as one in the 7th inning or later, with either the score tied, trailing by 3 or less runs, down by 4 with 2 on, or down by 5 with the bases loaded. I defined "semi-clutch" as those situations but in the 5th or sixth inning, or with a lead of less than 3 runs in the 7th, 8th, or 9th inning

1. 4/6 vs. Boston - Solo HR, 4th inning, Yankees trailed 1-0 at the time

2. 4/17 at Baltimore - Solo HR, 8th inning, Yankees trailed 8-3 at the time

3. 4/18 vs. Tampa Bay - 2-run HR, 2nd inning, Game tied 0-0 at the time

4. 4/18 vs. Tampa Bay - 2-run HR, 3rd inning, Yankees led 13-2 at the time

5. 4/26 vs. Anaheim - 3-run HR, 1st inning, Game tied 0-0 at the time

6. 4/26 vs. Anaheim - 2-run HR, 3rd inning, Yankees led 3-2 at the time

7. 4/26 vs. Anaheim - Grand Slam, 4th inning, Yankees led 6-2 at the time

8. 4/27 vs. Anaheim - Solo HR, 4th inning, Yankees trailed 3-0 at the time

9. 4/30 vs. Toronto - Solo HR, 4th inning, Yankees led 2-0 at the time

10. 5/4 @ Tampa Bay - Solo HR, 2nd inning, Game tied 0-0 at the time

11. 5/8 vs. Oakland - Solo HR, 4th inning, Game tied 0-0 at the time

12. 5/14 @ Oakland - Solo HR, 3rd inning, Yankees led 4-1 at the time

13. 5/17 @ Seattle - 2-run HR, 5th inning, Yankees led 3-0 at the time

14. 5/18 @ Seattle - 3-run HR, 1st inning, Yankees led 1-0 at the time

15. 5/24 vs. Detroit - Solo HR, 2nd inning, Game tied 0-0 at the time

16. 5/24 vs. Detroit - 2-run HR, 4th inning, Yankees led 1-0 at the time

17. 5/26 vs. Detroit - 2-run HR, 5th inning, Yankees trailed 3-2 at the time Semi-clutch

18. 6/8 @ Milwaukee - 2-run HR, 1st inning, Game tied 0-0 at the time

19. 6/8 @ Milwaukee - Solo HR, 8th inning, Yankees led 10-3 at the time

20. 6/21 vs. Tampa Bay - Solo HR, 8th inning, Yankees led 18-11 at the time

21. 7/5 vs. Baltimore - Solo HR, 4th inning, Yankees led 9-0 at the time

22. 7/7 vs. Cleveland - 2-run HR, 1st inning, Game tied 0-0 at the time

23. 7/9 vs. Cleveland - Solo HR, 1st inning, Yankees led 1-0 at the time

24. 7/14 @ Boston - 2-run HR, 9th inning, Game tied 6-6 at the time Clutch

25. 7/16 @ Boston - 2-run HR, 3rd inning, Game tied 0-0 at the time

26. 7/17 @ Boston - Solo HR, 8th inning, Yankees led 4-1 at the time Semi-clutch

27. 7/21 @ Anaheim - Solo HR, 1st inning, Yankees led 1-0 at the time

28. 7/26 vs. Minnesota - Solo HR, 2nd inning, Game tied 0-0 at the time

29. 8/2 @ Cleveland - 2-run HR, 6th inning, Yankees trailed 6-1 at the time

30. 8/4 @ Cleveland - Solo HR, 9th inning, Yankees trailed 3-2 at the time Clutch

31. 8/7 @ Toronto - Solo HR, 2nd inning, Game tied 0-0 at the time

32. 8/8 vs. White Sox - 2-run HR, 1st inning, Game tied 0-0 at the time

33. 8/9 vs. White Sox - Solo HR, 8th inning, Yankees trailed 2-0 at the time Clutch

34. 8/13 vs. Texas - Solo HR, 3rd inning, Yankees led 3-0 at the time

35. 8/14 vs. Texas - 2-run HR, 6th inning, Yankees led 7-3 at the time

36. 8/15 @ Tampa Bay - 2-run HR, 4th inning, Game tied 0-0 at the time

37. 8/25 vs. Toronto - Solo HR, 1st inning, Yankes led 3-0 at the time

38. 8/26 vs. Kansas City - Solo HR, 6th inning, Game tied 0-0 at the time Semi-clutch

39. 8/29 @ Seattle - Solo HR, 8th inning, Yankees led 5-4 at the time Semi-clutch

40. 8/30 @ Seattle - Solo HR, 5th inning, Yankees trailed 8-2 at the time

41. 9/9 vs. Boston - Solo HR, 3rd inning, Yankees trailed 3-2 at the time

42. 9/15 @ Tampa Bay - 2-run HR, 6th inning, Game tied 5-5 at the time Semi-clutch

43. 9/16 @ Toronto - 2-run HR, 4th inning, Yankees led 6-3 at the time

44. 9/18 @ Toronto - 2-run HR, 3rd inning, Yankees trailed 4-0 at the time

45. 9/20 vs. Baltimore - Solo HR, 8th inning, Yankees led 10-7 at the time Semi-clutch

46. 9/24 vs. Toronto - 2-run HR, 1st inning, Yankees trailed 4-0 at the time

47. 9/28 @ Baltimore - Solo HR, 6th inning, Yankees trailed 1-0 at the time Semi-clutch

48. 10/1 @ Boston - Solo HR, 5th inning, Yankees led 6-2 at the time

Danny Diamond

Founder/Admin

So in conclusion. He is about as clutch as a dead hooker on prom night.


If you have the time Tommy boy, do the same for David Ortiz. You may end up puking in your Yankees cap when you see how "Clutch" he is.


Boo-ya. You can have A-Rod. The guys a pansy

Dr. Giganto

30 of A-Rod's 48 HR's came in the 4th inning or earlier...

To his credit, he did bat .308 in "clutch" situations last year. (close games in the 7th inning or later), which is repsectable. It must have been a lot more singles though, and not HRs

Matsui led the Yankees with a .444 batting average in those situations last year.

Blitzkrieg

Yeah Papi might be the most clutch player I've ever seen or at least recently.

Dr. Giganto

Ortiz:

1. 4/5 @ Yankees - Solo HR, 4th inning, Boston trailing 3-0 at the time

2. 4/9 @ Toronto - 3-run HR, 6th inning, Boston trailing 5-1 at the time

3. 4/15 vs. Tampa Bay - Grand slam, 2nd inning, Boston led 3-0 at the time

4. 4/19 vs. Toronto - 2-run HR, 7th inning, game tied 1-1 at the time Clutch

5. 4/23 @ Tampa Bay - Solo HR, 3rd inning, Boston led 3-0 at the time

6. 4/23 @ Tampa Bay - Solo HR, 5th inning, Boston led 4-2 at the time

7. 4/24 @ Tampa Bay - Solo HR, 7th inning, Boston led 4-2 at the time Semi-clutch

8. 5/6 vs. Seattle - Solo HR, 3rd inning, Boston led 3-0 at the time

9. 5/8 vs. Seattle - Solo HR, 4th inning, Boston trailed 2-0 at the time

10. 5/15 @ Seattle - Solo HR, 3rd inning, Boston trailed at the time

11. 5/29 @ Yankees - 2-run HR, 1st inning, Game tied 0-0 at the time

12. 5/29 @ Yankees - Solo HR, 3rd inning, Boston led 3-2 at the time

13. 6/2 vs. Baltimore - 3-run HR, 9th inning, Boston trailed 4-3 at the time Clutch

14. 6/8 @ Seattle - Solo HR, 6th inning, Game tied 0-0 at the time Semi-clutch

15. 6/10 @ Cubs - Solo HR, 6th inning, Boston trailed 7-1 at the time

16. 6/10 @ Cubs - 2-run HR, 9th inning, Boston trailed 14-4 at the time

17. 6/21 @ Cleveland - 2-run HR, 1st inning, Game tied 0-0 at the time

18. 6/21 @ Cleveland - Solo HR, 5th inning, Boston led 3-0 at the time

19. 6/24 @ Philadelphia - 2-run HR, 9th inning, Boston led 6-0 at the time

20. 7/5 @ Texas - 2-run HR, 1st inning, Game tied 0-0 at the time

21. 7/6 @ Texas - Solo HR, 6th inning, Boston trailed 2-0 at the time Smei-clutch

22. 7/14 vs. Yankees - Solo HR, 7th inning, Game tied 5-5 at the time Clutch

23. 7/15 vs. Yankees - Grand slam, 6th inning, Boston led 13-1 at the time

24. 7/24 @ White Sox - Solo HR, 1st inning, Game tied 0-0 at the time

25. 7/31 vs. Minnesota - Solo HR, 4th inning, Game tied 0-0 at the time

26. 8/8 vs. Texas - 2-run HR, 1st inning, Bsoton trailed 3-0 at the time

27. 8/12 vs. White Sox - Solo HR, 7th inning, Game tied 5-5 at the time Clutch

28. 8/12 vs. White Sox - 3-run HR, 8th inning, Boston led 6-5 at the time Semi-clutch

29. 8/15 @ Detroit - Solo HR, 7th inning, Boston led 5-3 at the time Semi-clutch

30. 8/16 @ Detroit - Solo HR, 9th inning, Boston trailed 3-2 at the time Clutch

31. 8/16 @ Detroit - 3-run HR, 10th inning, Boston led 5-3 at the time Semi-clutch

32. 8/27 vs. Detroit - 3-run HR, 3rd inning, Boston led 1-0 at the time

33. 8/28 vs. Detroit - 2-run HR, 8th inning, Boston led 9-3 at the time

34. 8/29 vs. Tampa Bay - Solo HR, 1st inning, Boston led 1-0 at the time

35. 8/29 vs. Tampa Bay - Solo HR, 7th inning, Boston led 7-2 at the time

36. 8/31 vs. Tampa Bay - Solo HR, 5th inning, Boston trailed 5-4 at the time Semi-clutch

37. 9/3 vs. Baltimore - Solo HR, 7th inning, Boston led 6-4 at the time Semi-clutch

38. 9/6 vs. Anaheim - Solo HR, 9th inning, Game tied 2-2 at the time Clutch

39. 9/12 @ Toronto - Solo HR, 4th inning, Game tied 0-0 at the time

40. 9/12 @ Toronto - Solo HR, 11th inning, Game tied 5-5 at the time Clutch

41. 9/13 @ Toronto - Solo HR, 6th inning, Boston trailed 6-1 at the time

42. 9/14 @ Toronto - 2-run HR, 8th inning, Game tied 3-3 at the time

43. 9/16 vs. Oakland - Solo HR, 6th inning, Boston trailed 2-1 at the time Semi-clutch

44. 9/19 @ Tampa Bay - Solo HR, 9th inning, Boston trailed 8-6 at the time Clutch

45. 9/20 @ Tampa Bay - 2-run HR, 1st inning, Game tied 0-0 at the time

46. 9/20 @ Tampa Bay - 2-run HR, 3rd inning, Boston led 3-2 at the time

47. 9/29 vs. Toronto - Solo HR, 8th inning, Boston trailed 4-3 at the time Clutch

Dr. Giganto

So, if you're keeping track, that's 9-3 clutch HR's, 9-7 semi-clutch HR's, 29-18 HRs in the 5th inning or later, 19-8 HRs in the 7th inning or later, and 2-0 HRs in extra innings, all in favor of Ortiz

Dr. Giganto

So, I've been really getting into the new breed of statistical analysis that baseball people have been using (Billy Beane, Theo Epstein, and the like). There is a theory among SABRmetricians that there is no such thing as "clutch" hitting. Namely, David Ortiz comes up big in clutch situations simply because he's a good hitter.

Well, I don't really agree with this at all. Baseball players are people, not robots. they do get affected by pressure, and some people don't handle pressure well.

I was just looking at some of A-Rod's numbers, and found some interesting stuff.

Career regular season OPS: .961
Career postseason OPS: .872

Career OPS Innings 1-6: .993
Career OPS Innings 7+: .886

So then, I decided to take a gander at Ortiz's numbers. Needless to say, I was a little surprised.

Career regular season OPS: .907
Career postseason OPS: .877

OPS Innings 1-6: .916
OPS Innings 7+: .885

Hmmm....surprising, to say the least.

Mr. Hyde

Ortiz' clutch hitting puts A-Rod to shame. It's almost expected that Ortiz will deliver a walkoff shot in the bottom of the 9th, whenever it comes to that situation!

Dr. Giganto

I realized I made a mistake...those numbers I put up before were only for 2005, not for their careers.

The actual numbers are:

Ortiz career regular season OPS: .901
Playoffs: .935

A-Rod career regular season OPS: .962
Playoffs: .927

Blitzkrieg

Well.. Ortiz is more clutch but everyone always says they'd still rather have A-Rod on their team except of course, Red Sox fans.. so which is it? Is it really a big deal that A-Rod plays defense? He's actually not as good fielding at 3rd then he was at short..Plus, A-Rod doesn;t steal like he once did..

So who would you rather have on your team?