Pitchers who clinched post season series with more than one franchise

Last night Jose Valverde not only made good on his prediction that the Tigers would move past the Yankees in the playoffs but he also joined a select group of relievers.

Throwing the final pitch of a post season series (a minor obsession of mine) is the pinnacle for any closer. But only handful have done it for multiple franchises.

They are...











TUG McGRAW
closed out the 1973 NLCS for the Mets and the 1980 World Series for the Phillies.










GOOSE GOSSAGE
clinched the 1978 ALCS and World Series and the 1981 Division Series and ALCS for the Yankees and the 1984 NLCS for the Padres.















DENNIS ECKERSLEY
closed out the 1988 ALCS and 1989 ALCS and World Series for the A's and finished the 1996 Division Series for the Cardinals.











RANDY MYERS
finished the 1990 NLCS and World Series for the Reds and then the 1996 and 1997 Division Series as a member of the Orioles.















ROBB NEN
clinched the 1997 Division Series for the Marlins and the 2002 Division Series for the Giants.













JOE BOROWSKI
finished the 2003 Division Series with the Cubs and the 2007 Division Series with the Indians.












JOSE VALVERDE
clinched the 2007 Division Series for the Diamondbacks and the 2011 Division Series for the Tigers.


That's some pretty cool company for Papa Grande.

Can we just create a "He's Been Sucking List"?

Dice-K has been sucking all year for the Red Sox... and now he's suddenly on the disabled list.

Granted some of this is from his shoulder problems and no doubt more of it is from his pitching in the moronic WBC.

(Hey Junior 75 and everyone else who loved that silly exhibition... how often do you think of those games during this season? I think Japan won, right? Or was it Korea? I can't remember... it was THAT MEMORABLE!)

I'm not accusing the Red Sox of pushing him back to the DL simply because he is sucking...

Actually that is EXACTLY what I am saying.

He was cleared to pitch and then threw with all the confidence of Calvin Schraldi.

And the Red Sox aren't the only ones doing this...

Brad Lidge, with Satan now collecting on his bargain, got shuttled off to the DL.

Chien Ming Wang has been horrific with the Yankees... and he's off to the DL.

Before Ortiz got hot again, there were whispers of putting HIM on the DL (and I advocated faking an injury).

In 2008 Joe Borowski was bombing with the Indians when an injury surfaced at just the right time. 

And of course there was the classic fake injury... Phil Hughes last year. No... he didn't suck. It wasn't a mistake to not trade for Johan Santana... he's hurt! Yeah... that's the ticket.

I say let's end the charade.

Give each team one "He's Been Sucking" transaction a year. No need to find an injury or fake one. Just come out and say it. "This is really bad... it would be better for all of us if we just find out what the hell is the matter with this guy."

The guy basically puts the dunce cap on and they can fill his roster spot with someone else.

And there is no limit to how long they can stay on the list. It could be the rest of the season if they suck that badly.

But they can only do it once a year and once the player is off of the "He's Been Sucking List" they can't put him back on. 

They have to figure out what is wrong and they can't shuttle him back and forth.

I'm actually 98% serious about this!

It makes perfect sense to me.

Which is why it will never happen.

Armando Borowski

When I heard the Indians lost a game where they were winning with 2 outs in the 10th inning, I thought to myself "Joe Borowski must be off the DL."

And lo and behold I checked the box score and it was indeed Borowski who let up a 2 out homer to Ramirez.

Not Manny
Not Hanley
Not Aramis

Alexi Ramirez

Oh yeah then he let up a single, a stolen base and a game winning hit.

Hey Indians... here's a tip:
Borowski sucks.
He isn't in Benitez country yet, but maybe the 7.56 ERA should tell you something.

You are in last place a year after taking a 3-1 lead in the ALCS.
You can't afford to lose any more games. It's not a fluke.

Why not sign Benitez? He's available

Did I mention that I love Manny?

I mean I know it is early... but doesn't this seem like an MVP like season?

He's already got 3 game winning hits including last night and is doing it with Ortiz off to a Timmy Lupus like start.

I don't want anyone to talk about him being bad for the game or this or that... he is simply awesome and hilarious.

Meanwhile Cleveland's alleged closer Joe Borowski got put on the DL after blowing the game last night.

I for one think they are putting him on the DL in anticipation for the asswhuppin' Cleveland fans want to give him.

Believe it or not, Joe Borowski could join exclusive company

With closers changing teams all the time, it was surprising for me to find out that only 5 pitchers have thrown the clinching pitch in a post season series for more than one franchise.

The 5 names are the kind of elite All Star closers you would expect to see...

Tug McGraw closed out the 1973 NLCS for the Mets and the 1980 World Series for the Phillies.

Goose Gossage clinched the 1978 ALCS and World Series and the 1981 Division Series and ALCS for the Yankees and the 1984 NLCS for the Padres.

Dennis Eckersley closed out series for the A's in 1988, 1989 and 1990 and finished the 1996 Division Series for the Cardinals.

Randy Myers finished the 1990 NLCS and World Series for the Reds and then the 1996 and 1997 Division Series as a member of the Orioles.

The last one to do it was Robb Nen who finished the 1997 Division Series for the Marlins and the 2002 Division Series for the Giants.

So this year, who can join this elite group?

The way Josh Beckett pitched last night, it was similar to his World Series clinching shut out for the Marlins in 2003... but it is unlikely anyone but Papelbon will be in a series ending situation.

Another Red Sox pitcher, Mike Timlin, closed out the 1992 World Series... but that was a fluke, as would be any big game appearance this year!

Jose Mesa. JOSE MESA? Yeah, he closed out a few series for Cleveland... not the World Series of course... and he might not be the guy you want on the mound for various reasons.

Which leads us to Joe Borowski.
He finished the 2003 Division Series for the Cubs... making him part of even a smaller fraternity: Guys who closed out post season series for the Cubs.

The other two were Hall of Famer Three Finger Brown (1907 World Series) and the strangely named Orval Overall (1908 World Series).

So if the Indians win this series and Borowski is on the mound to clinch it... forget his ERA above 5 and his many blown saves... he will be in select company for closers!