Pitcher Cliff Lee is leaning towards retirement. He pitched in 2014 for the Philadelphia Phillies and sat out last year to rehab a torn flexor tendon in his pitching elbow. Lee was hoping to make a bid at a Major League Baseball comeback but only in the right situation. That has not happened. If Cliff Lee’s baseball career is over should his next stop be Cooperstown?
Cliff Lee started his MLB career in 2002 with the Cleveland Indians. He started two games and went 0-1 with an ERA of 1.74. 2004 was the first season that he was a regular starter, going 14-8 with 161 strikeouts and an ERA of 5.43. Lee would pitch four more seasons for the Indians. The best year for him was 2008 when he went an impressive 22-3 with 170 strikeouts and a 2.54 ERA. He won the Cy Young for the first and only time.
On August 1, 2009 Cleveland traded him to the Phillies for four minor leaguers. Lee spent the rest of 2009 in Philadelphia. The Phillies went all the way to the World Series before the Yankees defeated them 4 games to 2. In December of that year, he was traded to the Mariners. He only pitched 13 games with Seattle. The Rangers acquired him on July 10 where he finished the year.
Lee left the Rangers and agreed to a $120 million five-year contract back with the Phillies. Lee spent the next four years with them. He won 17 games in 2011. That year he had an era of 2.40 and a career high 238 strikeouts. 2014 he only appeared in 13 games with a record of 4-5 and an ERA of 3.65. A torn flexor tendon forced him to miss the rest of the year.
If Cliff Lee decides to retire, he has an outstanding record of 143-91 with 1,820 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.52. There isn’t much left for him to prove in the game of baseball. Lee appeared in the All-Star Game four times and took home the MLB comeback player award in 2008. He is only missing a World Series title. Lee should be voted in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2021. His record and body of work shows that he should receive this honor as one of the greatest pitchers to play the game. Hopefully the baseball writers will agree with me and put him in first ballot.
What do you think of Cliff Lee’s career and his chances of getting into the Baseball Hall Of Fame?
Leave a Reply