Ooh boy, could this get interesting in a few weeks. As much as the nation might want the World Series to end up being a Phillies-Yankees matchup (except for New Yorkers and baseball fans over the age of 60, who probably want an old school Yankees-Giants series), for my money, Cliff Lee has now made Phillies-Rangers the far juicier proposition. After dominating the Rays in both the series opener and clincher of the ALDS, last night Lee stole back home-field advantage from the Yankees, shutting down the AL's best offense to the tune of eight innings pitches, zero runs, two hits, one walk, and a stunning thirteen strikeouts, as the Rangers won 8-0 to take a 2-1 series lead. Where it ranks among Doc's no-hitter and Lincecum's 14-Karat debut is irrelevant--all that matters is that the dude's beast credentials are beyond legit, and that the Phils' decision to trade him last off-season could be coming to a head real soon. The best illustration I've seen of the Phife Dog's dominance this post-season was from Nationals blogger Mark Zuckerman comparing Lee's '10 post-season to Dodgers immortal Sandy Koufax's legendary three-game performance in the '65 World Series--the two lines are, somewhat needless to say, virtually identical. Between this post-season and the last, Clifton is now 7-0 in eight playoff starts, with a 1.26 ERA and a 0.73 WHIP. Lee has already ensured his immortality in Rangers lore by pitching them to their first-ever postseason series win, if he manages to get them to the World Series, he could go down as one of the great big-game pitchers of recent years, not to mention one of the best mid-season acquisitions in baseball history, two years running. And what of the Phillies, who jettisoned Lee in Ruben Amaro Jr.'s now-infamous Operation Restock the Cupboard trade of February '10? Well, the smart from that one has certainly lessened due to Amaro's atonement deal for Roy Oswalt at mid-season, not to mention the resurgence of Cole Hamels and the unquestioned awesomeness of Roy Halladay, the man who essentially supplanted Lee in the first place. But were the Phillies to face Lee in the World Series--a situation many of us joked about at the deadline, but few of us believed we'd ever actually see--some of those old questions are bound to come bubbling back to the surface. (And don't think for a second that Cliff isn't gearing up for the possible challenge himself). Of course, there's still much to do on both sides to make this matchup a possibility--the Phillies have to start by following the Rangers' lead against the Giants tonight, and the Rangers are going to need more than last night's flesh wound to finish off the Yankees. But man. Lee. Halladay. Game one and/or seven. Sends a little tingle down the ol' spine, doesn't it?
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