Talk:Cliff Lee/GA1

GA Review

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Reviewer: Usernameunique (talk · contribs) 19:52, 20 January 2022 (UTC)

Lead

• "intentionally pitching at his opponents' heads" — Seems to be stated more authoritatively here, whereas the body makes it unclear as to whether it was intentional.
  • Clarified the ambiguity.
• "during which he led the American League in earned run average and all of MLB in wins." — Maybe add the ERA/wins in parenthesis.
  • Added, but not in parentheses.
• He was the starting pitcher for both of the Phillies' 2009 World Series wins, correct? Maybe worth adding here or later.
  • Reworded accordingly.
• "with whom he reached another" — another what?
  • Added with link to the appropriate WS.
• "as well as by his poise and level-headedness on the mound" — A bit surprising to see this, after just reading about him throwing at the level of batters' heads.
  • Clarified.

Infobox

• Somewhat odd that his left-handedness is hardly mentioned in the article.
  • Added a quote to the early life section.

Early life and college career

• "a shoulder injury forced him off of the pitcher's mound and into the outfield." — For how long?
  • Source does not specify.
• In what rounds was he drafted?
  • Specified.
• Is "signed a contract" the correct terminology for a college commitment?
  • Source said "signed" but did not specify a contract, so I changed to "committed".
• Can you signpost his college years (freshman, sophomore, etc.)?
  • Done to the best of my ability.
• What exactly did DeBriyn say? Why is his attribution needed?
  • Rephrased to specify that it was below expectations.

Montreal Expos organization (2000–02)

• "the scout who saw Lee pitch at Arkansas" — "the scout" or "a scout"?
  • Source says It turns out Jordan was the area scout who signed Phillies lefthander Cliff Lee after the Montreal Expos selected him in the fourth round of the 2000 draft.
• "he had been moved to the bullpen in college" — Perhaps should be mentioned in the college section.
  • Done.
• Jupiter Hammerheads — Single A?
  • Clarified.
• Does "placed him on rest" mean replaced him, or does it mean gave him an off day?
  • Clarified.

Early years: 2002–2004

• What was his ERA at Akron?
  • Added.
• I'm assuming he left runners on base in the sixth, and they scored after he left?
  • Clarified
• Helped clinch, or clinched?
  • Clinched
• Was the stint with Buffalo at the beginning of the season on a rehab assignment, or was he actually sent down?
  • Added two sources that say he was reassigned
• Were all his MiLB appearances starts?
  • Yes
• "While recovering from surgery" — I.e., at the hospital?
  • Yes, added
• What was his record going into the June 3 game?
  • Added
• Was there an alleged reason for throwing at Griffey? E.g., had Griffey homered earlier?
  • Griffey had homered the inning prior, but Lee is the only one to make that connection. Clarified to the best of my ability
• "Lee intended" is technically better as "Lee said he intended", since we can know only what he said, not what he thought.
  • Fixed
• "falling into a six-game slump and carrying an ERA of 10.51 between July 21 and September 2." — Correct to say "falling into a six-game slump between July 21 and September 2, during which he carried an ERA of 10.51"?
  • Changed
• How many (earned) runs in the September 8 game?
  • Added

Breakout seasons: 2005–2006

• Who took the wild card instead? Was Cleveland second?
  • Until 2011, there was only one wild card per league. Included that this year it was Boston who took it.
• Who were second and third in Cy Young voting?
  • Added as a note.
• In 2006, who were starters four and five?
  • Added.
• Anything MLB-specific to link "contract arbitration" to?
  • Linked to Major League Baseball transactions#Free agency and salary arbitration

Minor-league setback: 2007

• "appeared not to suffer any lingering physical difficulties" — How do we know this?
  • Clarified based on source.
• "Catcher Victor Martinez approached the mound to begin a verbal altercation with Lee after the pitch" — Where does the source say this?
  • Rephrased in accordance with the source.
• Any evidence the demotion was linked to the Sosa HBP, or just his performance?
  • Article does not mention. Reordered paragraph.
• Cleveland dropped four games, not three, to Boston in the 2007 ALCS.
  • Fixed.

Cy Young Award and aftermath: 2008–2009

• Lee's offseason home? Willis's offseason home?
  • Clarified.
• Did he allow any runs in his first game?
  • Added: one, unearned
• "His wins with Cleveland came on roughly a monthly basis" — An apt, and brutal, observation.
  • And then he went to the Phillies where he got great run support and lived happily ever... wait.

Philadelphia Phillies (2009)

• "he was pulled in favor of Ryan Madson" — What was the score at this point? Why was he pulled?
  • Added more details.
• How many hits did he give up in Game 3?
  • Added courtesy of another source

2009 World Series

• Maybe add that he was in a taxi.
  • Added.
• How many hits allowed in Game 1?
  • Added
• No decision or win in Game 5?
  • He got the win, added a source that clarified

Seattle Mariners (2010)

• "but understood why Philadelphia opted to take Halladay instead" — "said he understood" would be more accurate. And what was the reason?
  • Added a full quote
• "Lee's trademark temper" — Could it really be considered trademark?
  • Changed to "notorious short"
• "intended to appeal the decision" — Again, this speaks to what was going on in their heads, which we can't know. We can know, however, whether they said they intended to appeal the decision.
  • Clarified with wording from the source, which specifies that this is what the GM told reporters.
• "The suspension was rescinded on April 21" — Then the previous sentence should say they did appeal it.
  • The previous sentence is from before the suspension was appealed.
• "from colliding with Snyder" — So he hit the guy he previously collided with? Any more info about that collision (and is it something that might have angered Lee)?
  • Added an additional source to clarify that the injuries resulted in a wild pitch.
• What date was that spring training game?
  • Added.
• "posting an 8–3 record" — How many starts?
  • Added.

Texas Rangers (2010)

• You variously term it the "trade deadline" and "trading deadline".
  • It should be "trading", per our article. Uniform now.
• "Shortly afterwards" — What day was the ASG?
  • Added.
• "the Rangers appreciated Lee's clubhouse presence" — According to whom?
  • The team themselves. Clarified.
• with teammate Colby Lewis referring to the back half of the Rangers season as "relaxed fun" — Was this in reference to Lee?
  • Added longer quote.
• "Ron Washington opted not to let Lee pitch on short rest, instead starting Tommy Hunter for Game 4. Instead, Game 5 proved a rematch between Lee and Price" — Looks like both managers made the same decision? Might be worth mentioning.
  • Not particularly, it relates to a statement Washington had made earlier about using a three-man rotation. Added.
• "Lee pitched 7+1⁄3 innings" — How many runs?
  • I do not see this phrase in this section.

2010 World Series

• "the first time that Lee's team had lost a postseason game that he had started" — In how many starts?
  • Added.
• "Game 5 proved to be a rematch" — This could use some signposting so the reader knows what's at stake before getting to the final sentence. Something like "With the Rangers down 3–1 in the series, Game 5 proved to be a rematch..."
  • Added.

"Four Aces" lineup: 2011

• "Despite being offered a seven-year, $150 million contract with the New York Yankees, Lee opted to sign with the Phillies on December 14, 2010, taking their smaller offer of five years and $120 million" — Unclear that it's actually a "smaller" contract. He was offered $21.4 million/year with one team, $24 million/year with the other. One could argue he was gambling on making more money in the end.
  • Most sources stress that he was making less money overall.
• Any word on why he chose the Phillies over the Yankees?
  • Added, after some digging.
• who took his exclusion from the "Four Aces" lineup with humor — How so?
  • Added quote from the Inquirer.
• Did Hamels or Oswalt get any Cy Young votes? How far behind was Lee?
  • Added.
• "They were eliminated, however, in an upset series win from the St. Louis Cardinals" — Should be something like "They were upset, however, by the St. Louis Cardinals in the [NAME OF SERIES/LINK]".
  • Done.
• Might want to add a sentence at the end about how the series concluded. We know the winner, but in what game?
  • Added in the sentence about the upset.

2012–2013

• "mired in a slump, beginning with his first start, when he pitched 10 innings but took the loss in a 1–0 defeat to the San Francisco Giants" — Hard to call a one-run, ten-inning outing the start of a slump!
  • I rephrased to something more accurate: that he personally did well but couldn't seem to get a win.
• "(H/9)" — You never use this again, and it's something that I don't recall as something I've commonly seen. WHIP (which you define above, then never use again) is different, in that I hear people say "WHIP" much more than I hear them say "walks plus hits per inning pitched". But I rarely (if ever) hear/see someone say/write "H/9" instead of "hits per nine innings."
  • Removed H/9.
• "His run of 13 starts without a win" — What was his record at this point? ERA?
  • Took some hunting, but added.
• Overall, I think the first paragraph overstates his struggles. If he had a 3.16 ERA, then by a lot of standards he crushed it, run support or no.
  • I'm not sure how to remedy this. Most of the Phillies coverage during the 2012 season was about "what more could Cliff Lee possibly be doing to get better?" It wasn't necessarily flattering despite the circumstances but seemed to highlight the frustration he and the fans were feeling.
• "the Phillies missed the playoffs in 2012 with a 2–1 loss to the Miami Marlins on September 29" — What game #?
  • Added.

Injury and end of career: 2014–2015

• "the eighth pitcher since 1914 to be credited with a win despite giving up eight or more earned runs" — Definitely not necessary, but what about adding a footnote adding the other seven?
  • Done, and changed "since 1914" to "of the live-ball era", since that's what was more or less implied.
• "a career-high 12 hits" — Well, he tied his career high.
  • Rephrased
• "of his age" — Which was?
  • Added

Retirement

• May as well mention somewhere, and perhaps here, his BBHOF results.
  • Excellent catch, thank you.

Pitching style

• "he considered" — he said?
  • I prefer the original wording, as changing to "said that his curveball was his" seems a little more mealy-mouthed
• "he rarely discussed that pitch in interviews" — Why not?
  • Unclear, but I found an article that used the slider interchangeably with the cutter
• "he intentionally hit Sammy Sosa with a pitch" — It's only hinted above, and not expressly said, that this plunking was intentional.
  • Rephrased
• "Lee preferred playing" — according to whom?
  • From the man himself; clarified.

Personal life

• "Lee met his future wife Kristen when they were in middle school, but they did not start dating until Lee was in college" — Did they actually know each other between middle school/college (e.g., as friends), or just generally known to each other?
  • Added that they were high school acquaintances.
• "Cliff and Kristen" — sounds informal. "The Lees"?
  • Changed.
• "known for his" — Suggest "known for having an"
  • Changed.
• "personality, with an article ... saying" — "Suggest "personality; an article ... wrote"
  • Changed.
• Any further word on what he's done since retiring?
  • Absolutely no clue. The last interview with him was in 2020 (and is linked in the article), and he talks primarily about how we shouldn't institute a universal DH.

Status query

Usernameunique, GhostRiver, where does this review stand? It's been a while since anything has been posted here. Thanks. BlueMoonset (talk) 03:19, 24 February 2022 (UTC)

I am chipping away. I have had various health issues throughout the month of February, and when I edit, it is easier to do the "less social" parts of Wikipedia. — GhostRiver 15:51, 24 February 2022 (UTC)

Sorry to hear that, GhostRiver. I've also been busy; please feel free to take your time, and just give me a heads up when you're finished so I can take a look at all your responses as one. --Usernameunique (talk) 18:43, 5 March 2022 (UTC)

Usernameunique Excellent timing, as I believe I've finished the last response. As an aside, if there are additional comments that need to be addressed, I would prefer that you group them together down here rather than responding in kind to the bullet points above, as that will help me keep track of them with such a long article (which I should thank you for taking on, by the way). — GhostRiver 18:54, 5 March 2022 (UTC)

GhostRiver, this looks great. Four follow-up comments below. In the meantime, they're nothing to hold the article up over, so I'm passing it now.

• Was Cleveland second in the wild card standings in 2005? I know there was only one wild card at that point, just wondering if other teams were between Boston and Cleveland.
• "with the score 2–1 after a walk and an error" — "down 2–1" or "leading 2–1"?
• Ref #28 doesn't have an archived URL in the archive-url parameter, so is giving an error message.
• "Of these, he considered his curveball to be his most effective pitch" — What about "Of these, he claimed his curveball as his most effective pitch"? --Usernameunique (talk) 20:09, 5 March 2022 (UTC)