Phillip/AP
Rangers ace Cliff Lee reacts after throwing one bad pitch - a chest-high cutter in a 2-0 count to Edgar Renteria in Game 5 of the World Series - which may be his last in a Rangers uniform.ARLINGTON - It had to end this way, the Giants capping off one of the most remarkable displays of postseason pitching in baseball history with one last gem.
You just didn't think it would end on this night.
Surely Cliff Lee would reestablish his Superman presence, redeem himself for Game 1, and extend this World Series even if it meant having to outpitch another otherworldly creature, The Freak, Tim Lincecum.
Lee couldn't lose two straight World Series games, not after we'd all come to think of him as maybe the best postseason pitcher ever. Not when the Yankees are poised to throw, what, $150 million at him this winter.
Yet here he was, after the Giants had beaten him 3-1 to win the World Series in five games, standing in front of his locker trying to explain how his marvelous duel with Lincecum got away from him in the seventh inning because of a chest-high cutter that Edgar Renteria belted over the wall in left.
"If I could go back in time and throw another pitch," Lee said glumly, "I would. But I can't."
He wasn't talking about pitch selection. Behind in the count 2-0, Lee threw a cutter that he wanted down in the strike zone. He had just struck out Pat Burrell with runners at second and third on such a cutter, and it looked as if he would escape to keep the game scoreless. Only this cutter didn't obey.
"It was up and he put a good swing on it," said Lee. "Nobody in this room is more disappointed than I am. But you have to give them credit. Lincecum threw an unbelievable game."
Yes, in the end, this World Series, really this entire postseason, turned out to be about the Giants' starting pitching, all of it young, home-grown, and mostly brilliant beyond belief. They came within Nelson Cruz's solo home run Monday night of throwing five shutouts in the postseason, but as it was their four tied the major league record.
Above all, this was a night when the Lincecum legend grew a little more - the little guy proving just how much heart he has to go with all that hair by matching Lee zero for zero, getting the Rangers to chase his devastating changeup, until the other guy cracked.
It felt like destiny, all right, for a team nobody thought had enough offense to go the distance. And you didn't have to be around in New York in 1954, the last time the Giants won a World Series, to feel the sense of history that went with this title.
But if the glory belonged to the Giants, Lee was still the most compelling figure. It wasn't his fault the Rangers were going home, but he hadn't lived up to the crazy expectations he'd created for himself by going 7-0 in his first eight postseason starts.
And then there is his impending free agency and the Yankees' expected pursuit of him. It wasn't really what he wanted to talk about Monday night, but when he did answer the questions, he sure did sound like he is curious to see what that Yankee offer will look like.
"I'd love to be back here," he said. "This is the most fun I've had playing this game, because of this bunch of guys. But so many things can happen, you never know. There are a lot of things I've gotta weigh into that. What's best for my family, a lot of things.
"This is my first time I'm a free agent. I want to see what that's all about. It's a right you earn as a player and I've got to see how it all plays out."
Give him credit for being honest about it on a tough night for him. Maybe it would have been different if he had taken a more cautious approach with Renteria, the eventual Series MVP and certainly a tougher out at the moment than Aaron Rowand, who was on deck at the time.
Lee had an open base and could have walked Renteria, especially after falling behind 2-0. But his mantra is throwing strikes, and on this night he may well have been stubborn to a fault about it.
"There was a base open so maybe I should have been more fine," Lee said. "But that's the way I pitched all year. I don't want to walk anybody."
Instead he threw a pitch he regretted. So we found out in this World Series that Lee wasn't Superman, after all. Soon enough we find out where he goes from here.
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