Cliff Lee named AL All-Star game starter

"The left-handed Lee's dominant first half has pushed him to the forefront in his first career All-Star appearance. American League manager Terry Francona named Lee as the AL starter on Monday, a high honor that stands as Lee's reward for his incredible comeback."

11 months ago bogey021 Comment 23 comments 0 recs |

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Congrat to Cliff. He deserves it.

by JulioBernazard on Jul 14, 2008 12:23 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Seriously. What an unexpected an amazing half-season from Lee. More power to him and more power to Cleveland for not giving up on him or selling low.

by APV on Jul 14, 2008 12:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hopefully he gives some yankee fans the mock hat wave.

Dear Mr. Sabean, I hear you have a reputation of being stupid. Want to deal Lincecum or Cain? You can pick THREE of these 4 players for either: Borowski, Dellucci, Blake, Byrd.

by westbrook on Jul 14, 2008 12:31 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

I’m guessing most true fans of any persuasion have been priced outta the park.

by JulioBernazard on Jul 14, 2008 1:32 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

You da man, Cliff

by jhon on Jul 14, 2008 12:31 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

i’d like cliff to tank it and give the NL homefield in the WS. i don’t much care for any of the AL teams that are likely to be in the hunt.

by Brick. on Jul 14, 2008 12:34 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Couldn’t Cliff be lights out and have someone not wearing an Indians jersey tank?

"Lotta heart in Cleveland." - Ian Hunter

by Denver Tribe Fan on Jul 14, 2008 6:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

stop making sense.

by Brick. on Jul 14, 2008 8:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I’d be curious to know whether he has a clause in his contract that attaches a little monetary recognition to this honor. Talk about a long shot paying off!

by ken from alexandria on Jul 14, 2008 12:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Doubtful. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an incentive for starting the All-Star game — as opposed to merely being voted or named an All-Star — but it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s been done once or twice.

by Jay on Jul 14, 2008 1:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Apparently it has been done at least once.

The San Diego Padres once promised reliever Alan Embree a $50,000 bonus if he were named the starting pitcher in the All-Star game, even though he had never been an All-Star and hadn’t started a game since 1992.

The big winner bonus-wize has to be Chipper Jones, who get’s a $2 million salary increase next year. The big loser is Alex Rodriguez, who lost a $200,000 bonus from his old contract when he renegotiated, as the Yankees don’t go in for something as pedestrian as bonuses.

by FredOx on Jul 14, 2008 1:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I find the whole A-Rod-lost-his-bonus story to be annoying and fatuous. The lost bonus (200K) is literally less than one-tenth of one percent of value of the new contract ($275 million) over the old one ($67 million given up by opting out). It’s like, you get a new job, twice the money, and then you find out they don’t give you a free coffee mug on the first day.

by Jay on Jul 14, 2008 1:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I know, I just thought it added some color, counterpoint to Chipper. In point of fact, most players at lease profess to not even knowing what their All-Star bonuses are, that’s how meaningless they are in the grand scheme of things. Both Halladay and Sizemore say they didn’t even know they were getting $$, since their agents handle that sort of thing.

by FredOx on Jul 14, 2008 1:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think with that pending divorce, even A-rod can use every dollar.

by Toxicadam on Jul 14, 2008 1:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I know I can stop worrying about poor ol’ A-Rod having to sell autographs in Vegas with Pete Rose after Iearning he has a prenup.

by Fredward on Jul 14, 2008 2:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Twice

Sheets’ All-Star bonus doubled to $50,000 for being selected as the starting pitcher.

by ganatz on Jul 14, 2008 6:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Congratulations, Cliff. Just incredible.

by Voltaire on Jul 14, 2008 3:11 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

If someone had said on opening day that an Indians lefty would be starting the All Star Game, i think Cliff Lee would have been everyone’s third or fourth guess. Watching him turn around his career with this excellent stretch has been by far the most fun thing about this lost season.

I hope he pitches a great 2 innings tomorrow and keeps proving Steve Phillips right.

by mpstable on Jul 14, 2008 3:51 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I just hope he acquits himself better than the last Tribe hurler to start the All Star Game, Charles Nagy, who gave up 3 runs on 4 hits in 2 IP in 1996. Lee joins a rather short list of Clevelanders to start: Bob Feller (1941, 1946), Luis Tiant (1968), Gaylord Perry (1974) and Nagy (1996). Only three Indians have been the winning pitcher in the game – Mel Harder (1934), Feller (1946) and Bartolo Colon (1998).

by FredOx on Jul 14, 2008 4:02 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Six starts in 68 years seems like more than our fair share. Of course, it’s only our second start in the past 34 years, but the expansion era has something to do with that.

Colon got that “win” by giving up the lead right before the AL took it back. I think he gave up three runs in an inning.

Nagy … was never quite as good as the credit he got … and almost half the time wasn’t good at all.

by Jay on Jul 14, 2008 7:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nagy is the personification of Grit in a starting pitcher.

by gte619n on Jul 15, 2008 1:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I can go along with this. He also, although Jay has stated his opinion of him, had some pretty decent years mixed in with mostly league avg. years. Posting ERA+ of 133, 135, 144 in that span and if you neutralize his numbers over his career you get a 3.92 career ERA and a 1.30 WHIP.

by hans on Jul 15, 2008 2:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I really hope he’s turned things around for the long run and that he, Fausto, and Laffey can anchor the rotation for the next few seasons. It would make CC’s departure so much more palatable.

"Lotta heart in Cleveland." - Ian Hunter

by Denver Tribe Fan on Jul 14, 2008 6:04 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs