Re: does clutch exist?
 

sure, and some sports psychologists talk about it. I have not read everything out there, but the idea is more complex than trying harder. People play for different reasons and respond differently to certain situations. Some players definitely focus better the more important the situation is and don't let negative stuff affect them as much. So they may perform better than they usually do while others perform less well. As others have said, I think announcers and fans come to simplistic and hasty conclusions. I don't think you can judge a baseball player by his batting average in one short series of course. And yeah, Tiger handles it better than others.

Re: does clutch exist?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Pujols' clutchness couldn't possibly be related to this could it?

http://www.drugscope.org.uk/wip/24/images/steroids.jpg

[/ QUOTE ]

Who do you think he is, Bagwell or Caminiti?

Re: does clutch exist?
 

Ever wonder if "clutch" is just some media fabrication?

Derek Jeter is a .210/.355/.306 hitter in the postseason with runners in scoring position.
He is also a 176/.263/.323 hitter in the postseason in "close and late" situations.

Alex Rodriguez is a career .330/ .395/ .583 hitter in the postseason.

Re: does clutch exist?
 

Is that clutch or just greater ability than the others? Nicklaus had the same "clutchness" too. He never missed a crucial putt when he needed it. But he was simply a great putter. He was just so great at everything else that people didn't recognize him as a great putter. They said Watson or Crenshaw were great putters (which they were) because their putting made up for other parts of their game that was not as good as their putting.

Same with Tiger I think. People say Faxon is a great putter (which he is) but not Tiger. Because Tiger is great at everything.

Still, there are probably players who had great ability but didn't get the most out of it because they couldn't peform in pressure situations. You can see it in Tiger's face down the stretch. Driven.

Re: does clutch exist?
 

To some extent, players with good images in the media in general bet the reputation for being cluth performers on the basis of a few hits or plays, without their records being carefully examined. Jeter has not hit particularly well in "clutch" situations during the regular season at any time during his career. I posted his numbers for 2005 and 2002-2004 in another thread. He has made some very "clutch" plays in the field at key times, though, and those have gotten a lot of publicity, maybe deservedly so (maybe not).

Re: does clutch exist?
 

I'm not gonna go digging through the numbers...but I'd say Robert Horry is a pretty good example of "clutch." That guy is lights-out when the game is a) important, and b) on the line. Night in, night out - he's an average-to-below-average NBA player.

Re: does clutch exist?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Ever wonder if "clutch" is just some media fabrication?

[/ QUOTE ]

You can't tell me that, if the media didn't exist, and there were no headlines or commentators running at the mouth about so and so being clutch, and the only thing fans had to go on was what they saw with their own eyes day after day, less than 95% of them would come to the faulty conclusion that "That player has come up big in a couple key situations, and that other player hasn't, therefore player A must be clutch and player B a choker." The availability of statistical information in the last decade has changed things drastically.

In large part, a lot of the opinions sports media coverage reflect are the opinions of the majority of fans. And the reason is pretty obvious -- before I or any of my colleagues became sportswriters, we were fans. Most of my opinions on sports were formed long before I got into this profession.

So, no, I don't think "clutch" is just a media fabrication.

Re: does clutch exist?
 

People talk about clutch until it's one or two at-bats.

Re: does clutch exist?
 

So-called cluth and choke is exaggerated.
As a Yankee fan I will compare A-Rod vs Reggie Jackson. The blunt truth is that Reggie was a better hitter than A-Rod. I always thought he sleep-walked through the season and got motivated at the end. A-Rod is a more consistent player, but just doesn't hit great pitching. Even during the regular season he is a semi-automatic out against great pitching.

Re: does clutch exist?
 

[ QUOTE ]
So-called cluth and choke is exaggerated.
As a Yankee fan I will compare A-Rod vs Reggie Jackson. The blunt truth is that Reggie was a better hitter than A-Rod. I always thought he sleep-walked through the season and got motivated at the end. A-Rod is a more consistent player, but just doesn't hit great pitching. Even during the regular season he is a semi-automatic out against great pitching.

[/ QUOTE ]

duck