Cliff Lee

I’ll miss you, dude.

Maybe not Clifton but definitely Phifer…

as 2 months of the greatest pitching we’ve ever seen. Goodbye Clifton.

It has been an honor and a privilege to have Cliff Lee pitch for my team. My favorite team.

Enjoy the rest of your year, Cliff!

It was great while it lasted and I’ll always remember these special months you shared with us. I wish you luck and happiness in your future endeavors.

We weren’t worthy.

You’re awesome, the best Mariner pitcher I’d seen in years (not named Felix). We will miss you!

You’re an incredible pitcher, you’re always smiling, and you seem like an extremely down to earth guy. Generally I don’t think that baseball players deserve to be paid millions of dollars, but I want to congratulate you on the unbelievable payday you’re sure to get this winter. You’ve really earned it. Good luck with wherever you go, even if it’s New York. <3

You are up there in my favorite players ever with Adrian.

I enjoyed watching Cliff pitch more than I did Felix. No small feat.

I’ve never enjoyed a pitcher more. From your run out to the mound, to your beautiful smile, to your talking to the other pitchers about how to approach the game, you are a special player. Thank you. I wish you the best for the rest of your career.

Go get that ring Cliff.

I’ll second the bandwagon sentiment. Let’s see the Rangers take the title! Good lick, Cliff.

On a side note, I’d be interested in seeing an analysis of post-trade WAR accumulation for trade… okay, I have no idea how to word that. I’m just thinking that with as much as Cliff has been traded in the last couple of years, while simultaneously being one of the best, if not THE best, pitcher in baseball, he may take the title one day of being the most valuable trade piece over the length of his career.

Such awesomeness seems almost beyond the powers of the written word to neatly define.

Then a simple answer occurred to me:

Watching Cliff Lee pitch is literally the exact polar opposite of watching Miguel Batista “pitch”.

From their handedness on through every aspect of pitching they share nothing in common.

One works very quickly while the other prefers a more geologic pace.
One assassinates the strike zone and walks 3 guys in a bad month. The other? I’m trying to forget..
One smiles as he renders entire big league lineups impotent and very much resigned to their own fate.
The other scowls so sadly I sometimes wonder if his own music is permanently stuck in his head. Most importantly, one is ridiculously good and one is tragically bad.

Watching three years of Beluga Tits was like watching the worst low budget movie ever conceived……Over and over until you start to wish for blindness. But it gave me what feels like a deep and meaningful perspective about Mr. Cliff Lee. I now hate the Migger slightly less.

Cliff, It was such a pleasure watching you go through bats like a fuckin’ finely crafted chainsaw. You are just so perfectly awesome to watch pitching. In my heaven all pitchers work fast and throw strikes.
Your time with us was much too short but the *memories will be cherished forever. *Our memories not yours. God your team sucked.

I knew from the first day that we acquired him that he was going to be around, at most, for a year. I expected him to be great, but I’ve seen great players come and go on the Mariners without having too much personal attachment. Most of his starts I watched with admiration, but cold detachment. I watched as countless fools fell for his rugged good looks and ever-present smile. I can honestly say I tricked myself into believing I didn’t love Cliff Lee.

Then, the minute he finished off his game against the Yankees, I was overcome with sadness. Damn you, Cliff Lee. I hate myself for loving you.

made me forget how good Felix is. That in itself is amazing. I know how blessed the M’s were to have his talents for as long as they did. And I thoroughly respect that the man worked his arse off and gave his all every time he stepped on to the mound. Lord I’ll miss him and every start he makes for effing Nolan Ryan’s team is going to hurt. But Lee seems like a professional in every sense of the word, and damn that kid could pitch.

Thank you so much for defining what I can truly call a great pitcher.

It was a pleasure and a privilige to watch you. I will miss seeing you in a Mariners uniform, but will root for you no matter what team you end up playing for.