Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - MLB's Most CLUTCH Players REVEALED | Who Rises to the Occasion?

Episode Date: April 22, 2025

Can the Dodgers, Padres, and Giants keep the National League West race thrilling until the end? With the Dodgers and Padres neck-and-neck and the Giants just a game behind, this MLB season promises intense competition. Dive into the dynamics of division races, the emotional toll of different types of losses, and the elusive quality of being "clutch" in baseball. Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms… 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-rays/Locked On MLB League-Wide: Every Team, Prospects & More🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/leagues/mlb/Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Amazon Fire TV Stick 4kDid you know your Fire TV is also an Xbox? Turn any TV into your gaming and entertainment hub with Fire TV Stick 4K devices — no console required. Head to Amazon.com/firetvlockedon to get started. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription and compatible controller required.Supply HouseJoin the TradeMaster program today at SupplyHouse.com/TM and start ordering plumbing, HVAC, and electrical supplies with just a few clicks. Plus, use promo code S-H-5 for 5% off your first order. That’s SupplyHouse.com!Wonderful PistachiosGet snackin' and get crackin' with the snack that packs a protein punch. Visit WonderfulPistachios.com to learn more! Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONMLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A lot of tight races around the league so far, but which division will have the most interesting race when things are all set and done? On today's Locked-on MLB Squad Show. Step up to the plate. It's the Locked-on MLB Squad Show, sponsored by game time. From the Dodgers to the Astros, the Mets to the Rangers, and everyone else in the league, with the experts of the Locked-on podcast network bringing you the most comprehensive breakdown of all the action around the horn. We're coming in spikes up. No hurt feelings allowed. So squat up.

All right, baseball fans. Welcome into the show that covers the big news of the week with the experts from the Lockdown MLB channel. I'm your host, J.D. Hadford from Lockdown Cardinals, multiple hosts here with us from the Lockdowne Network, ready to give you daily analysis of your favorite team from your favorite sport. Another great smelling and attractive looking crew here from our Lockdown Network. We've got not one, but both hosts from Locked on Reds with Jeff and Stephen. We got Booney from Locked on A's. Hobby checking in from Lockedon Padres and the Godfather himself, Sully, from Locked on MLB, who will inevitably catch hell from the listeners for all of our takes on this show here today.

Today's episode is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, use that code Locked on MLB for $20 off your first purchase. Later on the show, we're going to be discussing which type of loss is worse. and what exactly is clutch? What is it to be clutch? Who is clutch? We'll talk about all of that. But first, let's talk about division races.

Week 5 of the MLB season is underway, and we've got plenty of tight races going on around the league already. But we're going to try to look into our locked on crystal balls and talk about which division races we think are actually going to be the most interesting throughout the season. And I want to start with somebody who is not necessarily affiliated with one, team, but let's go with Sully to start this. Which division are you looking at right now that you find to be pretty interesting

and will be interesting going on throughout the year? Well, I mean, obviously the National League West, you have the Dodgers and the Padres as of this recording are tied, and the Giants who are playing are only one game back in the lost column. Unless we forget the Diamondbacks are only two games back in the lost column at this point. I mean, it's very early, but you're getting a sense for teams like the Giants and for the D-backs, they need to get out of the gate fast. And they both have done that.

Boy, the Diamondbacks are going to regret that loss they had in Chicago, where scoring 10 runs and one inning wasn't enough. But that's going to be a very interesting race because you can argue that probably the two best teams in baseball play in that race. But boy, oh, boy, I underestimated the Mets. I didn't give them enough credit, or maybe I gave the Braves too much credit. the Braves are on a little bit of a hot streak right now. But the Mets are now tied with the Dodgers and Padres by beating the Phillies.

And it is never the wrong time of the year or too early to beat your chief divisional rivals. It was a too tight a game for Mets fans, you know, because it was five bagel, and it turned out to be five, four with Bryce Harper at the plate. But, you know, I think the NOS would be the most interesting. the Mets are making the NL East interesting, but I do think both central races are interesting because there's no favorite. So if there's ever going to be a who the hell,

how the hell did they get in? It would probably be in one of the central races. But I think the most interesting in terms of quality baseball is going to be the NL West. Yeah, absolutely, Ben. I agree. Padres are a great baseball team. That's what I picked up from that.

Yeah, first of all, I've never heard bagel used to describe zero ruds. Oh, really? I've only ever heard donut. So thank you for that one. I don't know. I've just never heard that before. It's really nice.

I'm a big fan of it. But I agree with everything silly said. I think that Atlanta is also just, I get it's just not. I refuse to believe that the team that had, it's one thing to be like, say, Cleveland, if Cleveland fell off or if Detroit fell off. It's another thing to be Atlanta, which basically had the same, give or take a few games, win total projections as the long. Los Angeles Dodgers in a lot of ways. And they're just having somehow two seasons from hell, like consecutively. That usually doesn't happen.

You had last year with all the injuries and then really poor batting outside Marcel Lozuna and a couple of other guys. And this year it's been a little bit inconsistent batting. And then my former, my former love Jerks and ProFAR getting Popperporep getting Popporep. Radalo Lopez heading to the IL. Ronald Cudy Jr. still being hurt and apparently hitting his manager for totally justifiable reasons, by the way, but doing it publicly.

and then Spencer strider getting injured tossing just just just warming up and stuff so i'm i'm just fascinated by this because this would be like one of the biggest wrinkles um in baseball is if the braves are just fine uh that that completely changes everything because of the wildcard spots because of the fact that the n o s looks like it has four great teams in it right now so i don't know man i'm really really really locked it on that and the rest of baseball is like whatever i mean nobody honestly cares obviously no no no no whatever the other divisions are fun actually at Let's talk about the other West, the American League West, because I, no, this is fun. I am all in and rooting for the athletics now, Booney.

I want to tell you what, the fact that they're just three games behind in the division right now, I want them to win that damn division and create chaos. I want to watch Rob Manfred sweat about having to let playoff baseball play at the Hellscape with this Sacramento. I want to have to take it on the chin. And, you know, it's a fun when a division's that group together. I think we're seeing in the natural group together. There's going to be, that makes it fun. Now, you know, are they as exciting as flashy as the $400 million

dollar Los Angeles deferrals? Probably not. Are they as front and flashy at San Diego who's spending, trying to keep up with their big brother up the road, we just smacks them around? Probably not. But it's still fun baseball. I think, you know, as regionalized as baseball is,

that's good for baseball that these divisions seem to be kind of grouped together right now. And, you know, just so what if Atlanta got off to a bad start? There's other things to follow. Those are the things to see. I like what's happening in baseball right now. Will it hold all year? I don't know, but it's fun to think and dream about right now. I agree with you on the AAL West, and it's not just because the A's play in there.

But if you really look at all the storylines per team, right, you got the 2000 and 23 World Series champs, the Rangers, who was picked by many to win the division. You got the Astros in there. It's like, hey, we're the king of the hill. Someone needs to knock us off. The Mariners have been trying to be relevant for years. A lot of people have been picking them to get to the playoffs to win the division. And the best thing for baseball right now is Mike Trout playing well, right?

His batting average isn't there, but ace high for the league league and home runs at eight. And I'm sure the batting average will come around. And of course, the storyline with regard to the A's or the athletics. and Sacramento and whatever it may be and then playing in a minor league ballpark. And yes, it's not the best division in baseball, but I tell you, man, I mean, I watch the Houston-Torano game part of it today, and I was rooting like hell for Toronto.

And, you know, so when you have the emotion for other teams against other teams in the same division, you could feel like the rivalry is there. So for me, the most interesting one is, like you said, all teams are real tight together is the AOLS. See, but here's the. thing. Everybody has done this investment thing in the NL West and the AL East and even a little bit the Detroit Tigers and the AL Central. Can I interest you in a division with five teams that don't

care? I mean, yes, the Cubs did get Kyle Tucker, but they're like, nah, Cody Bellinger can head east. Like, he can go play for the Yankees. We don't need him. And our pitching staff, yeah, we just need waiver claims. We don't really need to spend money on pitchers. I mean, we got Shota Emmanaga. He pitches every fifth day. what more do you need? And then the Reds haven't had an outfielder for five years. And what do they go do? They go get Austin Hayes, who albeit has had a nice little bounce back in his first handful of games coming off the injured list. But other than that, they've got a bunch of other dudes that are just trying to prove that they are major league caliber. And then you've got the Cardinals that used to be a really well-ran organization, decided to stop doing that.

And the Pittsburgh Pirates exist in this division as well. And I haven't even mentioned the Milwaukee Brewers who said, Willie Adomas, yeah, you can go to the West Coast. We don't care. Our former ace, Corbyn Burns, you're available. Please go somewhere else. And our closer, we don't need him either. He can go to New York.

This division is so interesting for the fact that nobody wants to win it. And you have the Cubs that have a run differential of like plus 45. And the Reds who just beat the Orioles by 22 in one game. who their run differential is almost plus 40 as well. It's a ridiculous grouping of teams that, quite frankly, I'm getting to the point, whoever ends up winning the division,

I'm going to, well, yeah, that makes sense because nobody wanted to win it. Just incredible tag. Incredible tag. Because this is something that we want to discuss in our next segment. What type of loss is actually the worst type of loss?

Which one hurts the most? Which one annoys you the most? Which one's the worst one to handle? So we're going to jump into that and talk about it on our next setup of Locked on Moby's Squad Show. The NBA playoffs are here, and Fandall is giving new customers an incredible way to get in on the action. Right now, when you join Fandall and you place your first $5 bet, you'll get $250 in bonus bets if your bed wins. And one of the great things about Fandual is how easy it is. It's so easy to be a part of it, whether it's picking your favorite team to win the big game,

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Once again, thank you guys for coming in and joining us on this Lockdown MLB Squad show. We're talking ball. We just ran through some of the division races and which ones we think are going to be entertaining and exciting. And at the very tail end of that, Jeff from Locked on Reds brought up, you know, the crushing loss by the Baltimore. Orioles over the weekend where his reds and Stevens Reds. I don't want to leave you out there, Steve, just completely beat the snot out of the Baltimore Orioles where, you know, you got position players coming in.

You guys got bottom of the lineup guys just teeing off and set in records, things that nobody will remember later on down the line except probably you two. But they did happen. It did happen. So losing sucks no matter how it happens, but some losses are going to hurt worse than others. You've got the blowout games that you guys made, that you brought up.

which can be an embarrassing massacre. Or you've got walk-off losses where it comes down to the final pitch and ends in agony for one team either by home run or base hit, walk, wild pitch, et cetera, whatever it is. But which type of loss is worse? Personally, I think I'd rather get curbs stomped like the Orioles did over this weekend. I'd rather have that happen a couple of years ago. The Cardinals saw both Albert Pooholz and Yaddi and Molina get a chance to pitch and blow out losses

in their final seasons. And despite, you know, losing those games big time, there was something charming and fun about seeing those old guys on the mound. But what do you guys think? Which one is the worst way to lose? Is it a blowout or is it in a walk-off fashion? It's the walk-off. Listen, we saw, you know, Jeff and I experienced live opening day in Cincinnati.

It's a holiday. It's almost as big as Christmas in Cincinnati. And we got to watch Ian Jabot allow a game-winning home run. in the ninth inning. You know, not quite a walk off, but they blew it in the ninth. Then we got to celebrate yesterday,

as Jeff mentioned, 24 runs on 25 hits. You know, if I'm going to lose, I just, let's lose, let's get that over with because as we saw from the Reds,

the next day, doesn't freaking matter if you win by that much because you can go out and lose the Miami. So I, this did, though, this interesting,

just real quick side trip, J.D. Because it helped me come up with a new plan. Since Rob Manfred's hell bent on ruining baseball anyway, I came up with a Manfred plan. I want to be able to take all of the positive run differential for games that you didn't

score in a divisional game and apply them to a game that was a divisional game. So say I lost to Milwaukee 3 to 2. I want to take a couple of those runs from the Baltimore game and change the score in the freaking Brewer's game. And that might make. So we're going to have to carry an Excel spreadsheet with us everywhere. It's fine. It's a smart dude.

he'll figure it out. I got a new plan. I got to write it down and I'm sending it to New York. First of all. Oh, I'm sorry. You go, you go, hobby. You know a little bit about losing. Okay. Okay. Okay. I mean, you know what? I'll allow it. It's fine. It's fine. It's fine. It's fine. It's okay. I thought we were friends. But you know what? This is what life is like, right? Like you sometimes just face utter betrayal at the hands of the closeted meritor's fan who could have joined the Padres and did it and now he's upset no i'm just kidding but um i've kind of struggled with this question my entire life honestly um like i i really don't know whether it's worse because at least you felt alive at some point and in this world

i feel like we often are just duh you know like you're kind of everything sucks the energy out of you that's kind of the world we've built for better or worse i don't mean people on this call but the powers that be. So I do like to be like, you know what, at least I saw a game. And I think that it hurts more in the moment, right? You're going to be mad. In my case, you'll be at a bar and someone throws a drink in your direction and it hits the TV right next to you and your friend, and then it gets all over you. And for some reason, the bouncer doesn't kick him out and we're just standing and we don't even know what really happened. But I look at the blowout and I say, that's also just really funny. It's better to be disastrously wrong than wrong.

Like, if I predicted the Padres to win the World Series and they won 65 games, that's infinitely more fun than I think they'll make the playoffs and they won 87. They didn't make it. Right. So it's, I know that this is like the ultimate not answer. I'm still frankly recovering from slowly being mean out of nowhere. But. Well, I think totally had called for.

I thought I thought Jeff Snyder wasn't on this call. Like, okay. It's just crazy. also the winningest team out of everybody here. Just want to throw that out there. But I do think that I prefer, I think, the walk-off because you'll look back and be like, well, that was a great game, you know? And losing in crazy fashion, I think sticks.

I'm friends with Jets fans in my life. And they are like bordering on nihilism at this point. You know what I mean? And I've been a Chargers fan, which is year after year, not to do cross-office of sports, but year after year, it's a lot of disappointment. but at least you were there. At least you had some, at least at one point you were invested and you weren't Eeyore from, you know, Winnie the Pooh.

And you're just kind of like moping across through life. So that's the place I land in, I think, as of now. We have the answer to the question, what team does Sully hate this week? And it's clearly the Padres. Because, you know, there's so much to hate about the Padres. The, I don't think it's even an issue. I mean, I've said before, I'd rather lose. 23 to nothing on the perfect game on the other side.

As someone who grew up in New England as a big Red Sock fan, you know, obviously I have the memories of 86. I have the memories of, you know, a lot of, you know, crushing, you know, losses that slipped away. And I've also seen my team have the doors blown off the dump. Like in 1990, the A's swept the Red Sox. And even though one of the games was pretty close,

they, by, like then they would have, like a seven run ninth inning or something like that to pull it away and by the time roger clements got ejected in game four i just sat there like well we made the playoffs you know i don't i don't sit around going like in 1990 we had no you didn't the only frustrating thing was in the two times when the a swept the red socks um both times underdogs beat them in the world series i'm like why why couldn't we do that um but there there were two sweeps 88 and 90. And in 88, that was frustrating because the first two games were one-run games.

That, you know, they were within our grasp. And the Red Sox had a four or five run lead in game three. And then the doors fell off and they lost. You know, you could, those close games stay with you. But when you lose 20 to nothing, you know, you don't sit there going, oh, if only what? If only what? The other teams alarm didn't go off? I mean, like, it's like at some point you think, okay, yeah, we just didn't have it today.

It's kind of like, you know, again, I'll very rarely cross-reference on sports, but you think about some of the really, like, tight Super Bowls that we've had where like Atlanta collapsed against New England or the picked-off play at the line of scourge. The last couple of ones, there was the one that was the overtime game between San Francisco and Kansas City. And then you think about those Super Bowls in the 80s that were all awful. Like Niners Chargers.

Like Niners Chargers, right? Niners Chargers. All right. Bears Patriots when they had the doors blown off the dump. There was the Broncos. The Broncos lost to the 49ers one year. I think they're still scoring. I think they're still on the field scoring touchdowns at this point.

But like you don't remember, I'm sure a Bronco fan is like, oh, if only that game, we lost 55 to 10, if only what? What was the key play that would have turned that around? So to me, there's absolutely no comparison. You know, if I look at the, you know, I even said it to Yankee fans last year at the World Series. When they blew the five-nothing lead because of bonehead plays and bad decisions, I said, would you rather have lost a game like that or lost, you know, 10-0?

And everyone that commented said, Oh, 10-0, because then you could say, well, they were the better team. What are you going to do? I almost wonder if, like, you asked the Major League ball player, like, which one's the easiest to forget? I'm guessing they would say the walk-off as well. Like, they had to set through the whole nine inning affair where they lost by 20 or something like that, but they probably reconciled that loss somewhere around the fifth inning.

Like Baltimore, Charlie Morton was getting his brains beat in. And he's been getting his brains beat in all season. And as much as he's had a very nice long career. It kind of feels like this whole beginning of the season is making him wonder exactly, is this his last year? But I think that this is something that the walkoff just sucks your soul out, where, yes, it was a good game. And you can sort of think about it afterward and like, okay, if I wasn't a fan of my team that just got walked off, maybe I do appreciate that game a little bit more, as opposed to a non-fan watching a blowout like that. They're probably not watching it.

But at least you can turn a blow off. I've done that plenty of times as a Reds fan. Like we've seen our fair share of blowouts here in this most recent decade of baseball. And so you kind of just see it happen. But yeah, the walkoff for me, there's something about it where in that moment, there is no chance the game is over. You can't come back. You just got walked off the field.

You can't do anything about it until tomorrow. that it just makes it so hard to stomach. And I almost, I kind of expand on it in season-wide form because I still hate 2021. It was the last year that the Reds ownership really cared about spending on their, on their roster. And they still had holes. They didn't spend on all of the roster, but they spent on enough of it.

And it took the most ridiculous winning streak in St. Louis Cardinals history to get them ahead of the Reds and get them into the playoffs. So it felt like a season walk off where the whole season, the Reds were worth paying attention to until the final week of the season when the Cardinals passed them and it was clear they weren't making the playoffs. That really still sticks with me as opposed to 2022, whereas the last time the Reds lost a hundred games since the 80s. I'm pretty sure J.D. Haffron was sacrificing live chickens during that whole.

I remember that ordeal because the piders were the and I remember texting Jeff a couple times like I love how we're battling with the Cardinals for begging us just take it and they're like all right fine we're just going with 30 games in a row and even their horrid organization

right now like was just like wow I don't know how that happened we didn't keep that manager I don't know what you could say yeah it caused the manager's job that was a good dude that's worked out nice I understood that

It's so weird. Why did that happen? Like, why? Who decided this? I got the opposite take, guys. I think it's harder on a blowout. Let me tell you why. Before you guys jump to conclusions here.

Like Harvey said, at that moment, right, it hurts. At that very moment, it hurts. But when it settles in, you can tell yourself and look at the situation and say, hey, those guys played for each other. They left it out on the field. It didn't work out. The ball didn't roll their way. They're going to get better after this.

They're going to become a better team after this. And a blowout loss like the A's have yesterday. I have, I'm questioning their whole year. I'm questioning the effort they put in. I'm questioning every ball they didn't run out. I'm questioning their chemistry as a team. I'm questioning their togetherness. I'm questioning everything about it.

And for that, it hurts a lot more because I don't know if this is the team I thought they were in a blowout loss. Now, I get it. It's 162 game season, but in the game of baseball, unfortunately, we judge every game on itself. And for me, a blowout hurts a little bit more than a walker. Ed's last point. And maybe it depends on what your situation is, your social situation. most people here have friends, I assume, right? But you know what stinks when your team got blown out?

That jerk friend, we all have them. That they're going to kill you when your team gets swept. You know, you know how I know this? Because of what happened with the charges this past year. You know how I know this? Because it wasn't a blowout in the series, but the Padres, you know how many 22 inning jokes I've heard over the last six months? A lot.

Oh, it's a lot, folks. Let me tell you. So the total, your friends kill you and you hate it. The slanders all over the timeline, which I know that doesn't mean as much. It means more with friends. The timeline you could lose by one to Michael Jordan. And then they're like, wow, you guys blew it. And it's like, well, what are we doing here?

Right. But the friends, they kill you, man. The people who are close to, I know. Jeff Snyder, Lock on Dodgers, kills me all the time. You know what I mean? And I think that there's something about the blowout loss. You can't even say, you can't excuse it because then those losers who didn't even to make it in the first place starts saying, well, we could have done better.

You get a pirates fan, you know what I mean? Who's all like, oh, well, we would have done okay. And we haven't spent money in 13 years, but we would, why, why did we post season? There's something about the Fred Rose that it drives me, it can drive you insane. All right. Well, the word clutch is thrown around a lot in sports, but what does it mean to be clutch? We're going to get some opinions on that next on the Lockdown MLB Squad Show. Thank you again for making Lockdown MLB Squad Show.

You first listen today for your second list. And we want you to check out the all new Lockdown MLB Game Night every game, every night, all season long at local analysis on a national scale. You can find MLB game night on Locked on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast. It is playoff time in the NBA and NHNHL. And if you're going to listen to any of those broadcast, you're going to hear the word clutch. brought up a lot. There's going to be a clutch player. There's going to be a clutch situation. But what does it mean to be clutch? What is that? Who do you think of when you hear the word

clutch when it comes to Major League Baseball? Sully, Clutch. Let's start with you. It's someone who you want to have up there. And not necessarily you had the best regular season because we saw that, you know, I mean, it's is really unfair to this guy who's had a wonderful career so far, but Aaron Judge's postseason legacy is dropping a fly ball in the center field. That's not fair, but that's the case. Barry Bonds may have been the most talented player I've ever seen in my life when he was skinny and not, but he had a bunch of very bad post seasons in his career. It's the people who, I mean, of current, I mean, I could go old school and take care about people like, you know, Reggie Jackson or Willie Starder when I was a kid, or, you know,

obviously Kirk Gibson came up huge, not just in the 88 World Series, but in the 84 World Series. They don't want to walk you. But you take a look at some players now, people who you'd want to be up there at a big moment, I would say Corey Seeger, who, you know, who's been come up huge. He is the only person along with Reggie Jackson to win World Series MVP's with two different franchises. Freddie Freeman came up huge in the World Series with both Atlanta and. Los Angeles. I think about people who have had big post seasons with multiple teams.

You know, in the late 80s, early 90s, Dave Stewart, you hand him the ball with the exception of the Eric Davis home run in 1990. He won three postseason MVs as a pitcher. Kurt Schilling was the same way. And of the great brave staff, their biggest big game pitcher was not Maddox. It was Smoltz. You hand the ball to. of Smolz and he was the one who came up huge and also ironically he was their best closer if they it was kind of a strange situation there um we're starting to see that with soto we're starting to see that maybe you know we saw he came up huge for washington when they won the world series and he had a bunch of big hits with the yankees last year uh the one again i like to take that player

who isn't the huge superstar but for whatever reason came up gigantic I'll just throw one other name because this is the ultimate person who came up big in the big games while being in the regular season. Someone like El Duque Hernandez, who was an okay pitcher and just you hit him in the ball in the postseason and he had ice water in his veins. I don't know how it happened, but, you know, that's just the case. So that's, it's a hard thing to quantify, which is why the statistical folks hate it because it's narrative driven. and emotions and they don't like narratives and they don't like emotions. It's the last eye test that baseball still has out there that hasn't been taken over by a stat, right? Sometimes you can just feel it around a guy.

And it's not necessarily always the postseason, Sully, but it's like it's the reason that I still to this day just hate Derek Jeter because you knew that that guy with all of the lights of ESPN shining upon him was going to do something. And you were going to have to watch him for four more weeks because that's all they were going to put on TV. There's other guys that have those moments. Anytime that Kristen Yelich sees a dude on a mound wearing a red hat, that dude's going to go off. He's going to be clutch in that moment. Anytime, you know, you can look at the playoff dudes, you know, Reggie, you know, Reggie Jackson, Mr. October, right?

You know, that was a playoff guy. But there's these guys that just, just find a way to take the energy of a moment and deliver. And, you know, Jeter was one of the biggest examples for me of a guy that was able to do that, who most of the other time was, listen, don't tell Stacey. I said this, but most of the other time was just like an average to below average shortstop. But he would have those moments and fall four rows into the stands. And we'd have to watch him for four more weeks because of ESPN. So I mean, there's guys that just rise to the moment.

You mean defensively. I'm not going to, I'm a native New Englander who rooted for the Diamondbacks in the 2001 World Series. But don't have me defend Derek Jeter. No, I think I think you should have to. I really feel like. Give you a palli cleanser reset. But I'm not going to, you're not like, you know, you're not going to be, oh, I'm so cool.

I'm going to call him blue. No, he's one of the, he's a 3,000. He's the all-time hit leader in Yankee history and was put up MVP numbers for a bunch of years. I'm defending Derek Cheever. Are you going to record your show in, are you recording your show in Pinstripes now? Is that what we're doing? I now hate the Padres and I'm now a Yankee fan. My God.

Lifetime slash 310, 377, 440 at a lifetime OPS of 817 and 3,465 hits. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, come on. Let's, I know it's cool. I know it's cool. I know it's cool to be the contrarian, but hey, he should have moved a third when Arod showed up. I will that I will grant you because defensively, defensively he was not there, but I'm,

I'm not saying, I'm just saying that in case there's any Reds fans that love the Big Reds machine out there. We're talking about clutch. So Tony Perez, he was clutch. Anyway, had to just get that out there. Obligatory Tony Perez reference. RBI machine. Outside of, outside of Tony Gwen, who's your Padres most clutch guy, hobby?

Is it too early, say, for that you, shoot? I know this is like the most boring answer I've probably ever given to any question in my life, but this guy's got like a 1,300 career OPS of the postseason and at one point last year he had four home runs in five games and didn't strike out once and the only other player

in Major League history to do that was Lou Gehrig from 1928 to 1932 like what? Like it doesn't And he's only favorite team. He has the aura. That's what you guys want to say. Let's just use it. I know that's the asterisk also.

No, he doesn't. He has the aura, right? Like, I'm not playing this nonsense aster's thing. I've had enough of all of this. But like, it's this thing that it can't be described. It's why people will pick Bryce Harper over Yordaun Alvarez. Who's technically better lately? Yornaz. But Bryce Harper, we've seen come up big. Who's technically better? Kyle Schwerber or Christian Yelich? But every time Kyle Schwerver is up in the postseason, I'm like, like this guy's going to hit something 490 feet and you just feel like you see it coming. And especially in the month of June, Kyle Schwerver. Yeah, seriously, the month of June. And the other thing, though, is it is harder in baseball. I think, you know, Stephen kind of mentioned this. Like, it's the one thing in the sport that like you, you kind of just have to watch it a little bit more. And I think that it's kind of cool that baseball is a little bit immune from the like really tired legacy,

clutch, choke conversations compared to other sports. because it's more about like teams a little bit. While in football, you'll have the Philadelphia Eagles who have the best receivers, best defense, best defense with the line, best running back, best everything. And then they're like, wow, our quarterback's the best ever. It's like actually, it's a good team. And I kind of like that baseball is a little immune from that. But it's, it's tough because I think that the numbers can't always get it,

but there are some players who have not performed as much. And there are some players who are just, they've been in the postseason a lot. Aaron Judge, go look at the playoffs. earlier in his career. He was great. He's basically just had two recent postseason that were bad. And he's been awesome before that. And like to not go against Tatis, but Tatis has only been in the playoffs twice. So it's this really tough thing. But at the same time also with the Jeter thing, like, I also love like the only people who called Jeter overrated are non-red Sox

fans. It's one of my favorite little like subplots about this. Red Sox fans do. They're like, we know. And I think that that's a part of it too is what series do you feel like matter more, right? Like, it's just, there's too many variables to it, but it certainly exists. When you're looking at clutch performances, there's, as far as pitchers, there's two pitching performances that moved me, that absolutely moved me. And that was game six, oh four, Kurt Schilling, the bloody side. I was there.

You already really coming, what made that so special was, I believe it was in game two when he got banged around in Yankee Stadium. Just absolutely got, it was game one. sorry, got shelled in Yankee Stadium. I mean, for him to come back in game six the way he did was just nutty. And the other one's Madison Bumgartner in 2014 against the Royals game seven was ridiculous. As far as hitters, David Ortiz has to be in the conversation. And for me, the most clutch player over 162 game season for what he brings off the field and on the field is Freddie Freeman.

No question about it. If I was to pick one guy on my team that I know that would make it better today, it would be Freddie Free. You know, when we talk about the, you know, I'm here living in Los Angeles County, and there's been a lot of guff given to the man who has the highest war in Dodger history, and that is Clayton Kershaw. And there have been, he has had some not good, but great postseason performances in his career. he's had 32 postseason starts in his career. But the interesting is, and of course, one of the things that makes the 2017 scandal so awful is that that was going to be his John Elway moment because he was brilliant in game one.

And he came out of the bullpen was brilliant in game seven. But the one game in Houston, the place where Chris Sale got shelled, C.C. Sabathia got shelled. David Price got shelled and Clayton Kershaw got shelled. Hmm. And had he pitched the way he was pitching, he probably would have been the World Series MVP. And there have been, he has had some great performance. And he won two of the games in the COVID series.

But he's also had some bombastically, 2014, here he won the Cy Young and the MVP. He got shelled by St. Louis. And of course, I was actually living in the Bay Area then. and all the giant fans are going, yeah, you have all your postseason awards. Give us Bob Garner any day of the week as he threw shut, complete game shutouts and then came out of the bullpen, and he's amazing. The thing that's interesting, the win and loss record I don't really care about

because you could pitch great and lose. It is interesting. His win-loss record, he has thrown another season in the postseason. He's thrown 194 in a third post-season innings, and his record is 13 and 13. his ERA is 4.49. So it's almost the definition of mediocre, mediocre record, mediocre, mediocre, mediocre It's a quality start every time. Quality start.

But you look at his lifetime, what an average season would be was 217 innings, a 2.5 ERA, and a 17 and 7 record. Again, less emphasis on the win-loss record and more on an average. season of his, he's, you know, he's dominant. And so he did pitch worse in the postseason. It's demonstrable. And there have been a couple of years where he was the reason why they fell apart. And I can, and I know that Dodger fans get frustrated by his legacy because his legacy on the field is astonishing. And he did win a ring. It was in the COVID year, which counts. And he did pitch well in that World Series.

He was on the team last year, so we picked up another ring for himself. He was shirtless. I know he won. I saw it. But that's a, it's a, he has a complicated legacy because his, he was the best pitcher of the 2010s and I don't even think it's close. But I, and I think that's why Clayton Kirschall and Harvey's point are, is why it's so great to talk about clutch in baseball because we just have to kind of feel it.

Because in other sports, there are numbers for it, right? Quarterbacks have completion percentages. In basketball, it's the guys that drain a certain percentage of shots. Like, basketball players that shoot 30% aren't really that great. And quarterbacks that complete 30% aren't in the NFL. Like, hitters that hit 30% of the time are great. And that's why it's so hard to quantify clutch in baseball. You just have to kind of know.

and the whole aura argument and the whole like you see it like in the biggest moments the jeter argument all that other stuff that's what you have to talk about and it makes it almost a unfinished argument but we kind of know who wins and who loses it yeah i mean you said it right i just think that like other sports there are some guys that you it feels like they change like there's an actual added quality to them where I'm like, I know James Hardin that they're going to lose. We literally see him become a worst player. With Clayton Kershaw, it's tough. But like, if I'm having that, I mean, the Padres fan, whatever, but you have that like, you know, bar room conversation with your friends. If someone's like, I think not by skill, but I'm taking

mad max because Clayton Kershaw, this guy won an MVP as a pitcher, which is like impossible to do, basically. He went triple crown, all these things. And at the peak of his powers, he has had way too many blowups in the postseason. Like, he's not, you know, a Michael King, like a really good pitcher, you know, a U. Darvish, a really good pitcher. But I'm just, I look at that. I'm like, that's what he's going to be remembered for, unfortunately. You know what I mean? And that's just what happens. And while, yes, he got the COVID ring and all that stuff, what was his last outing? He got one out. You know what I mean? Like that is, he couldn't even bookended on a way. So I just think

in one of those in this weird way Kershaw's it's like maybe the question of most talented versus like greatest career. And I think some people might be like, is it Scherzer? Is it someone like that? Who you knew was always nails in the postseason? And then Kershaw

at his best. I mean, I remember some of those Cardinals games, man. I remember the freakouts. I remember seeing him in that dugout. You expect more from the best picture of the generation, I think. Well, as the Locked-on Cardinals host, I apologize for ruining Clayton Kirshall and his entire legacy. It's sad that he gave up big-time dongs to guys like Matt Adams. Like, hey, you know, things happen.

Things happen. Matt Adams, more clutch than Clayton Kirschaw. Write it down. All right, guys. Well, we want to hear from you guys in the comments below. Actually, who do you guys think clutch? Do you agree with the discussion we're having here today as far as whose clutch, what makes a person clutch? How are you guys feeling about that?

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