Philly Front Office

The legend of Cliff Lee in Philadelphia was probably already cemented when he hit free agency after the 2010 season. He came here in 2009, dominated, pitched an unbelievable Game 1 of the World Series in Yankee Stadium, and then we got rid of him. Sure, we got Roy Halladay in an adjacent trade, but Cliff loved it in Philadelphia. Still, Ruben Amaro Jr and ownership turned him away.

How do you remember December 15, 2009?

Despite the trade and then getting traded again at the 2010 deadline, Cliff Lee did what he does and led the Texas Rangers to the World Series. After that he was a free agent. The Rangers wanted to resign him, but these were still the days that the Yankees threw money around and would not be outbid. The team he dominated just a year before on the biggest stage was coming for his services. We all felt it was only a matter of time.

The sad part of this was that we all felt defeated. Wouldn’t it be great if Cliff Lee came back to Philadelphia? Memories of what he did for us over his measly 17 starts (including playoffs) were still fresh. Unfortunately, his trade was still raw too. There’s no way he would even want to come back after what we did to him. It was betrayal. Personally, I was so mad at the Phillies. Why did we make the trade? How could we poison the well with Cliff Lee of all people???

As the Winter Meetings hit, there was word that there was a “mystery team” involved in the bidding. The fabled mystery team is usually just a ploy by agents to drive up the price of their guy. After all, the Yankees and their deep pockets were involved. When there is no real competition, the mystery team is the best way to get a better deal. The agent is daring the team to bid against itself. Afterall, it has worked with the Yankees before.

Rumors came out that the Yankees had offered 7/$148m and the Rangers put up 6/$138m. The Phillies, still notorious for being cheap but slowly shedding that label, were never going to do a deal like that for a pitcher. Hell, why are we even still thinking about it. I can’t stress enough just how hopeless and sad the fanbase was as we assumed he would go to the Yankees. Hell, we were rooting for the Rangers.

Late on December 13th, with my future wife already asleep, I got into bed and decided to check MLBTradeRumors one more time before I ended my frantic MLB news mongering for the night. PHILLIES SIGN CLIFF LEE!!!

Holy shit, WE were the mystery team the whole time! I yelled with joy. My wife obviously woke up, but she wasn’t mad. Cliff Lee was her favorite player. She’s still mad at me for not getting her a Cliff Lee #34 jersey.¹ When we lost in 2010, she was adamant that we deserved it because we traded him and she never fully accepted Halladay. I stayed up for the next two hours waiting to see the terms of the deal.

Starting Pitcher for the Phillies, #34, Cliff Lee

5 years, $120m with a $12.5m buyout in year 6. That’s right, he took less money to come back to the Phillies. He loved it here too. He loved us. He wanted to be here. He turned down the Yankees money to be a Phillie. I’m tearing up all over again just thinking about it.

It turns out that the fear that Lee had been hurt by the trade was absolutely true. In Todd Zolecki’s book, Doc, he lays out the whole Lee/Halladay/Phillies saga that lasted about 2 years. Lee and especially his wife hated Ruben Amaro for what happened. He wanted to be in Philly, but they didn’t know how they could ever trust him. To Ruben’s credit, he admitted he was wrong and won them back.

The 2011 season was one for the ages. We didn’t win the World Series, but day in, day out, it was the most awesome display of pitching you’ll ever see. Lee and Halladay simply dominated en route to a 2nd and 3rd place Cy Young finish (Clayton Kershaw is a thief). Cole Hamels finished 5th. Lee’s June that year is maybe the most dominant month in pitching history. Over 5 starts and 42 innings that included 3 shutouts, he gave up 1 run for a 0.21 ERA. Lee would have other highlights in his second stint with the Phillies including a 10 inning, 0 run loss, but it never again reached the heights of that 2011 season. It was worth it.

I know he has become a bit of a recluse, but I still love Cliff Lee and hope I can shake his hand and thank him one day.

2011 Cy Young: Clayton Kershaw vs Roy Halladay vs Cliff Lee

1. I couldn’t find one at the end of the 2009 season. By the time they were available, he was already traded. When he came back, he had switched to 33 because Halladay took his number. She has a 33 now in powder blue, but it’s not the same. If you were wondering, MLB will not let me customize a 34 Lee jersey. ↩︎