As the media focus was fixed on Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels this week, pitching off in the distance was a brilliant left-handed starter whose name is Cliff Lee.
Everyone knows who this Philadelphia Phillies' starter is. For those who don't, just ask almost any hitter in the majors leagues. Their downcast eyes will instantly reveal which man won their most recent plate fight.
Lee's acquisition from the Cleveland Indians in the summer of 2009 was followed by him taking the New York Yankees to a Master class in that season's Fall Classic. It's a shame that the remainder of his teammates weren't able to emulate the maestro's performance. Instead, the “Yanks” found a way to deny all Phillies' fans their back-to-back dreams.
Then, general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. traded him away on a stunning mid-December day. That would be the same day that he obtained Roy Halladay from the Toronto Blue Jays.
Poof, Lee was gone and Halladay appeared. But, one year later Amaro reeled him back in from the free agent market. Ironically, the veteran lefty chose the Phillies' offer over a larger Yankees' deal. That monumental decision naturally enabled him to dig deeper into the hearts of the Philadelphia faithful.
Coming off a bizarre 2012 season where he performed extremely well, but was rarely credited with a win, the 11-year veteran doesn't need to take a different approach. He just needs to do one simple thing in order to have another strong year in his career. Pitch.
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