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Jockbeat

Jockbeat: Who's the Real 'Mr. October'?

By Allen Barra, Monday, Oct. 12 2009 @ 12:09PM
Comments (21)
Categories: Featured

NU-JOCKBEAT-LOGO150.jpg
​
There's a perception that Alex Rodriguez has finally "turned around" his postseason hitting with three good games. But he's still not in the same league as Reggie Jackson as a postseason hitter, the radio call-in shows keep reminding us.

If that's your perception, then look at the following comparison:

Player A: 42 games, 151 at-bats, 40 hits, 7 homers, 19 rbi, .265 batting
Player B: 42 games, 158 at-bats, 46 hits, 9 homers, 25 rbi, .291 batting

I'll give you a hint -- Player A likes to collect antique automobiles, Player B is often seen with Kate Hudson. Shock and amaze your friends with those statistics: Player A is Reggie, Player B, A-Rod. Through their first 42 postseason games, A-Rod batted 26 points higher, had hit two more home runs and drove in six more runs than Reggie in his first 42 postseason games.

What changed everyone's perception was Reggie's 43rd postseason game, Game Six of the 1977 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, when he hit three home runs. No one called him "Mr. October" before that game. Next time, think about this before you start to dump on any player for choking in the postseason. What a difference one game can make.

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More About:

  • Alex Rodriguez
  • Reggie Jackson
  • Kate Hudson
  • Los Angeles Dodgers
  • World Series

Comments (21)

Greg says:

Reggie Jackson: 5 WS Titles
Alex Rodriguez: 0 WS Titles (to date)

Posted On: Monday, Oct. 12 2009 @ 5:23PM
Dan says:

I wasn't aware that WS titles were individual accomplishments.

Posted On: Monday, Oct. 12 2009 @ 5:25PM
Skeptic says:

What are the "Yankee Years" postseason numbers?

Posted On: Monday, Oct. 12 2009 @ 5:28PM
David says:

Also, Reggie Jackson: 1973 World Series MVP. A-Rod: Never even got that far.

Posted On: Monday, Oct. 12 2009 @ 5:44PM
doofman says:

While I don't believe Reggie Jackson is any more "clutch" than A-Rod in general, if you restrict Jackson's numbers to the World Series, you get the following:

.357/.457/.755, 98 AB, 10 HR, 24 RBI, 15 BB, 35 H

Just saying.

Posted On: Monday, Oct. 12 2009 @ 6:54PM
The Honorable Cock Jowles says:

If you're dumb enough to take a sample of 42 games and evaluate a player's performance, you deserve to be completely wrong about every assertion you make about baseball.

Notice that A-Rod's performance projects to about 40 HR over a full season. Notice that, given a small, arbitrarily chosen sample, anything can happen: Derek Jeter could go 0-32. Notice that Albert Pujols can go 3-10 with 1 RBI in a postseason series and still be the greatest hitter of the last twenty-five years not named Barry Bonds.

It's all a matter of sample size. The large majority of baseball players with significant playoff experience perform EXACTLY THE SAME in the playoffs as they do in the regular season. Look up players like Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams. They play to their career averages.

How can anyone argue with fact?

Posted On: Monday, Oct. 12 2009 @ 8:31PM
Clutch says:

You take a large enough fielding % sample and Bill Buckner would be a clutch performer

Can you argue with that?

Posted On: Monday, Oct. 12 2009 @ 9:32PM
Andrew says:

@Clutch: Yes, over a large enough sample size it would be possible to find that Bill Buckner, assuming that he is, is a clutch player. One "unclutch" play does not unmake an entire career of clutch. It can turn them into a scapegoat.

Matt Holliday has won a ton of games with clutch HRs and RBIs, but I guess one error in a game where he scored half the Cardinal runs makes him unclutch!

Posted On: Tuesday, Oct. 13 2009 @ 1:17AM
N. says:

The fact that you guys are even discussing fielding percentage and "clutchness" to determine a player's worth automatically disqualifies you from talking about baseball.

"Clutch" does not exist.

Posted On: Tuesday, Oct. 13 2009 @ 2:07AM
G says:

""Clutch" does not exist."

Well no, not for A-Rod. What is the opposite of clutch?

Posted On: Tuesday, Oct. 13 2009 @ 11:15AM
j c says:

Asking sports fans to think is already asking too much. Nobody is ever better than your home team.

Posted On: Tuesday, Oct. 13 2009 @ 11:44AM
Maciej says:

"Asking sports fans to think is already asking too much. Nobody is ever better than your home team."

Why are you even reading a sports article, you raging idiot?

Posted On: Tuesday, Oct. 13 2009 @ 11:54AM
ron says:

ryan howard is mr october this year.

Posted On: Tuesday, Oct. 13 2009 @ 12:39PM
The Honorable Cock Jowles says:

"Well no, not for A-Rod. What is the opposite of clutch?"

There is no "opposite."

It's like saying "What's the opposite of Santa Claus?"

It doesn't exist. There is no such thing as clutch in professional sports. Professional athletes are not like you and me. MLB players are (typically) the best 700 players in the Western Hemisphere and then some. They prepare their entire lives to hit, throw and catch a baseball. And when you start looking at FACTS, you'll see that they normally perform to their career averages in "pressure" situations, like the playoffs.

When you arbitrarily choose a set of data (ex: "A-Rod was X for XX in his first X games, but then went X for XX in his next X games), you set yourself up for being 100% wrong. And you are.

A-Rod's reg. season BA/OBP/OPS:

.305/.390/.965

Postseason (over just 180 PA, which is less than 1/3 of a full season):

.291/.381/.900

This is choking to you? Are you mentally deficient?

Posted On: Tuesday, Oct. 13 2009 @ 12:51PM
Mister Snitch says:

"What's the opposite of Santa Claus?"
The Grinch, of course.

Posted On: Tuesday, Oct. 13 2009 @ 1:28PM
Lee says:

I think you have to look at context, not just stats. Up until the moment that Reggie hit the three home runs, he had been a centerpiece on four world series teams in six years, and six playoff teams in seven years, including appearances with two different teams, and already had a World Series MVP.

(By the end of 1978, it would be seven postseasons in eight years, five titles and two World Series MVP's)

Was he the first to have such a streak? No. And he wasn't the last. But there weren't many. And the confluence of his personality, his success, and the infancy of free agency created the "Mr. October" moniker.

Posted On: Tuesday, Oct. 13 2009 @ 1:39PM
Maurice Clarett says:

A-Rod is a cheater. Screw him.

Posted On: Tuesday, Oct. 13 2009 @ 1:56PM
Matt says:

I think you need to see how well both player
batted vs pitcher they met. A Rod could've been better because the type of pitcher he met in the playoff. But for the Reggie, why people call him Mr. October? well, you know why.

Posted On: Tuesday, Oct. 13 2009 @ 4:10PM
Dave Sopchak says:

Reggie never had to resort to slapping a ball out of the glove of someone while trying to make it to first in the post-season. A-rod? Please see 8th inning of 2004 ALCS Game 6.

Posted On: Tuesday, Oct. 13 2009 @ 10:39PM
cyc says:

@Dave Sopchak: The true measure of cluch is how you run to first. everyone knows that. Just ask this guy.

Actually, RISP means nothing to me. The guy with the highest BA with 2 strikes in close and late, in any game, is the most clutch.

and @Honorable Cock Jowles: Not sure I've ever heard it put better than that. Outstanding.

Posted On: Friday, Oct. 16 2009 @ 2:25AM
Fredrick Sodeman says:

I believe you should insert a video to the write-up in order to make it much more fascinating. Nevertheless I appreciated your writing style

Posted On: Sunday, Mar. 14 2010 @ 6:56AM

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