Cliff Lee......SABOTAGE?!?!?!?

Some want to believe this guy is purposely throwing games
for the Rangers.

If you're in an around the DFW area, and heck, even nationwide if you listen to Colin Cowherd's take on Cliff Lee, sabotage and mailing it in is becoming more and more common in recent weeks when people talk about Cliff Lee's performances with the Texas Rangers. 

HOW DARE ANYBODY STRUGGLE IN A LONG 6 MONTH SEASON!!!!

Since joining the Rangers just prior to the all-star break this season, he is 2-5 with a 4.69 ERA, double his ERA from the first part of the season with the Mariners, and the mood quickly changed around DFW from pure jubilation for each one of his starts and complaining that he wasn't getting ANY run support to now going so far to calling the trade a complete mistake, and some of the extreme comments saying he is purposely trying to sabotage this team to make sure they do not win and get into the playoffs.

REALLY?!?!?!?

No, the guy has been far from a real shut down ace in his stint with the Rangers thus far.  He has had some starts where it was true greatness, like the 13 strikeout 9 inning performance against the A's in late July (not a complete game as the team had to win in extra innings 3-1), and going at least 8 innings in his first 6 starts with the team, but in recent weeks over his last 4 starts, there has been some clear struggles, and now panic is quickly setting in with regards to Lee, some even saying he is not the ace of the staff and doesn't deserve the ball in game 1 of the playoffs, and even saying that he may not be worth the attempt to resign the guy.

Oh how "fans" can jump ship so quickly and bash a guy just like that.  Most likely, these are the same "fans" who didn't even give the Rangers a second thought back in April, and constantly found something else to do than follow the Rangers prior to them winning and leading the division.

Let's take a LONG look back in time to oh....2009.  He was acquired by Philadelphia just prior to the trade deadline last season, and was nothing short of spectacular in his first month with the team, posting an ERA of 2.00, and going 4-1, but his final start in August, things began to go south.  He followed up the stellar first 4 starts with a September ERA of 5.59 and a 4.76 in one October start, going 2-3 and finishing at only 6-4 for the Phillies in the regular season.  And this is in Philly, where the fans will bash EVERYONE, including Santa.

Anything look familiar??

Then the 2009 playoffs began, and he quickly quieted ALL skeptics and bashers.  He won 4 of his 5 stars, including the only 2 wins the Phillies had in the World Series defeat at the hand of the Yankees, with a no decision in the other game, but the team won all 5 games that he started.  By postseasons end, he posted a 4-0 record, with a 1.56 ERA and a 33-6 strikeout to walk total in over 40 innings pitched. 

You think by then anyone was spending any time talking about what he did from end of August through the final day of the regular season?  ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!

But here we are in 2010 with the Texas Rangers, a team who has not been to the postseason in over a decade, and finally with a stranglehold on the AL West as we begin the final month of the season, and Cliff Lee is struggling, and some fans who believe they know all have nothing intelligent to say about Cliff Lee other than he is purposely trying to sabotage this team.  What player is EVER going to purposely try and sabotage a team he is playing for when they are getting ready to play in the postseason and hopefully make a World Series run?  Especially a player who does not yet have a ring himself.

Then again, many of these are the same fans who put far to much stock in the regular season results and want to call the Mavericks and Cowboys champs in the middle of the season after they win a few in a row and get on a roll, and much of the same has happened this year with the Rangers.  It's all about the postseason.  Once you get there, those regular season performances DO NOT MATTER!

The best in their respective sports know how to turn it back on when the games get bigger after a few regular season struggles.  Come October, when Cliff Lee most likely turns everything back around and gives this team some great starts, each one of these fans who bash, Cowherd included, will completely change face, and want right back on the bandwagon that they are currently jumping off of.