11/05/24
November 03, 2009
Utley ties Reggie's World Series Record: Utley has hit five homers in five games, tying Reggie Jackson (1977) as the only other player in history with that many in a single World Series. And Mr. November will have at least one more opportunity, in Game 6 tomorrow in New York, to replace Mr. October in the record books.
posted by DudeDykstra to baseball at 03:19 AM - 22 comments
Not to take away from the badass performance of Utley, and I'm no Yankee fan, but isn't Derek Jeter "Mr. November"?
posted by tahoemoj at 11:59 AM on November 03, 2009
From Wikipedia, emphasis mine:
Despite the nickname, Jeter was 3 for 12 (.250) in November baseball that season, as the Yankees lost the World Series in seven games to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
I think Utley has captured the title.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 12:14 PM on November 03, 2009
The wickedly premature question I have: if this goes 7 and the Phillies win... is your MVP Cliff Lee or Chase Utley?
posted by hincandenza at 12:31 PM on November 03, 2009
I think Utley has captured the title.
So every great playoff performer in the future has the opportunity to take away Reggie's "Mr. October" moniker if they outperform him?
posted by tahoemoj at 12:57 PM on November 03, 2009
Another Fact: His last homer was off the slider. The guy has a GREAT ability to swing only at pitches in the strike zone. He has the best strike zone of any hitter that I can think of. His short explosive swing allows him to adjust to breaking balls. What do you throw to a guy that's this hot? Balls.
posted by lab at 01:43 PM on November 03, 2009
OK, so I'm seeing him referred to as Mr. November all over the sports news now. If the writers want to give him that title, who the hell am I to argue. Consider any objections withdrawn.
posted by tahoemoj at 01:47 PM on November 03, 2009
I Fail to understand why the Yankees are still pitching to him. Most of the situations he has homered in have not been situations where the free pass to 1st would have been an choice. I dont care if you walk him intentionally or just throw balls to him and see if you can get him to miss bad pitches, but if I managed the Yanks, he would not see another strike thrown his way till spring training.
posted by Debo270 at 01:53 PM on November 03, 2009
Especially impressive that 4 of the 5 homers have come off of lefties, considering that many left-handed hitters struggle against lefty pitching (I'm looking at you, Ryan Howard). Of course, Utley has actually performed better against lefties in his career, so it should not be too surprising to anyone who has been paying attention.
posted by holden at 02:08 PM on November 03, 2009
What do you throw to a guy that's this hot? Balls.
They tried to make me watch that movie when I worked on cruise ships but I struggled and got away. Apparently it is a lonely life at sea.
posted by THX-1138 at 02:42 PM on November 03, 2009
So every great playoff performer in the future has the opportunity to take away Reggie's "Mr. October" moniker if they outperform him?
Yes. Bud Selig needs to trademark the phrase, convene a selection committee, and order a suitable trophy STAT. Also eleven more trophies for every other month of the year.
I am totally in contention for Mr January!
posted by DrJohnEvans at 03:11 PM on November 03, 2009
Utley's swing is sweet, but not as sweet as Reggie's.
Check out the Ruth Home Run Bar, too.
posted by mjkredliner at 04:50 PM on November 03, 2009
And they couldn't be more different. Reggie reveled in it all with curtain calls, while Utley seems to avoid any and all attention. I don't know what he'd do if he signed with the Yankees who take almost any home run as curtain call time.
Not to take away from the badass performance of Utley, and I'm no Yankee fan, but isn't Derek Jeter "Mr. November"?
Jeter also won the Hank Aaron award for being the American League's best hitter, even though he's not close to being the best hitter on his own team. It's amazing that as great a career as Jeter has had, and it's been a good one, he's so consistently over-rated.
posted by justgary at 05:09 PM on November 03, 2009
THX-1138 that's funny and thanks for the glimpse into your mind. :-)
Utley's swing looks effortless and much sweeter than Reggie corkscrewing himself into the ground from my viewpoint.
justgary I agree. Jeter was, is and will be over-rated. I don't get it.
posted by lab at 05:43 PM on November 03, 2009
Utley's performance in game one is all the more impressive considering that CC hadn't given up a homer to a lefty all year.
Jeter's been called over-rated so long, he's now under-rated. So stop it. He had a helluva year this year.
Now, what's all this talk about hot balls?
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 07:01 PM on November 03, 2009
Jeter was, is and will be over-rated. I don't get it.
I'm pretty sure that I've been on both sides of the "Jeter is overrated" argument.
The best way to describe it is:
Jeter is a hall-of-fame shortstop who has performed at a high level for almost his entire career. He has fantastic defensive plays, amazingly timely hits and clever baserunning on his resume.
He has not, however, walked on water, healed the sick or revolutionized the sport in any way, despite how the New York and national media feel the need to portray him. Everything he does is not perfect. Sometimes, he makes mistakes and fails in the clutch, so it doesn't reduce his luster if the media would mention that, once in a while. He also sometimes performs exactly like an average player would in that same situation, so please stop telling me how AWESOME he is when he fields a 4-hopper and makes a throw to first base.
He's not the best Yankee ever (probably not even top 5). He's not the best shortstop ever (probably not even top 5). He's not the best player in the league right now (not even top 5).
But he's definitely one of the best players of his generation, and I have no problem saying that.
posted by grum@work at 09:13 PM on November 03, 2009
Jeter also won the Hank Aaron award for being the American League's best hitter, even though he's not close to being the best hitter on his own team.
The question shouldn't be whether or not Jeter diserves the Hank Aaron award as the American League's best hitter. A better question would be - why is the American Leagues best hitter award named after Aaron. First, Aaron played all of 2 years in the AL. Second, does anybody on this planet think Aaron was a better HITTER than Williams, Cobb, Ruth, (AL) or Musial, Hornsby (NL)
As for Jeter winning the award this year. Certainly there are a few others who could have received the award. However, Jeter is a leadoff hitter who finished second in hits (behind Ichiro as usual), 3rd in BA, 3rd in OBP and 4th in total bases. Is that not exactly what a leadoff hitter is supposed to be? Hitting home runs is not the only thing to consider when naming someone as the best HITTER.
posted by pullmyfinger at 09:16 AM on November 04, 2009
He has not, however, walked on water, healed the sick or revolutionized the sport in any way...
Tim Tebow?
posted by BornIcon at 11:30 AM on November 04, 2009
Utley's swing looks effortless and much sweeter than Reggie corkscrewing himself into the ground from my viewpoint.
Absolutely. I was making a feeble attempt at humor what with the candy bar wrapper and all.
posted by mjkredliner at 12:17 PM on November 04, 2009
You a Bubba the Love Sponge fan, B.I.?
posted by DudeDykstra at 11:37 PM on November 04, 2009
You a Bubba the Love Sponge fan, B.I.?
Not a huge fan DD but I've heard my share of a few Bubba the Love Sponge shows. Pretty damn funny stuff!!
posted by BornIcon at 01:30 PM on November 10, 2009
Fact:
Utley doesn't see another fastball.