Alex Harkaway – For the Review. Each postseason, baseball gives us something special.
Some years, it is an unforgettable play, such as Steve Bartman’s foul catch in 2003 or Derek Jeter’s backhand flip in 2001. Other years, it is the performance of a certain player, such as Linfield’s own Scott Brosius in 1998.
This year’s playoffs have provided a taste of something different and, so far, have been defined by neither a play nor a player but by a position. This year, the World Series will be determined by closers.
Consider this: All four division series winners benefited from late-inning meltdowns in their opponents’ bullpens. The Yankees and the Dodgers won Game Two of their respective series that way. The Angels won Game Three of theirs with a furious late comeback. So did the Phillies in Game Four of their series. What made these instances shocking was the caliber of the pitchers these late-inning heroics came against.
In each case, the Twins, Cardinals, Red Sox and Rockies had their closer on the mound in the ninth inning with the lead, only to watch their best relief pitcher blow it.
The guilty pitchers for the Twins, Cardinals and Red Sox were All-Stars this year. All four had been dominant in the regular season. Then the playoffs rolled around, and — poof — none got the job done. Those teams are now eliminated.
The next round changed nothing. The Angels’ and Dodgers’ closers have already given up ninth-inning leads and allowed their teams to lose games in heartbreaking fashion.
As of this writing, both the Angels and the Dodgers trail three games to one in their respective series with the Yankees and Phillies. Barring stunning comebacks, the only two teams whose closers have yet to blow a postseason save will be the ones meeting in the Series.
The last two closers standing are the Phillies’ Brad Lidge and the Yankees’ Mariano Rivera. They each made it to this stage in entirely different ways.
Lidge is coming off the worst season of his career, in which he blew 11 saves and posted an ERA above seven. He appeared to have lost the ability to throw his fastball for a strike, and his chances of even making the Phillies’ postseason roster seemed remote.
Rivera, on the other hand, posted another exceptional season. He made his 10th All-Star team this year and entered the postseason oozing with confidence; he holds Major League Playoff records for saves and ERA.
These two very different pitchers are the only ones who have faithfully protected ninth-inning leads this October. We have seen All-Star after All-Star falter, and now it appears the Series will be won with either Mariano Rivera’s cut fastball or by Brad Lidge’s slider.
The only question remaining is, which one will join all the others as a playoff goat, and which one will close out 2009 a champion?