"Big Game James" ... Please, Spare Me

I am sick and tired of hearing about "Big Game James" when his past start was his 4th postseason start. It made him 2-2 lifetime in the postseason with an ERA of 2.88 (good), a WHIP of 1.44 (bad) and Opp BA of .289 (very bad). In fact, he's gotten lucky with the number of hits and walks he has given up in the playoffs that none of the teams he's faced ever got the big blow he's flirted with. We might as well start calling Dice-K "Big Game Matsuzaka" if we're going to be handing out the "Big Game" moniker so freely. Call me when one of these Devil Ray starters have postseason numbers similar to Bob Gibson, Whitey Ford, Sandy Koufax, Curt Schilling or Josh Beckett.

John Maine was "Big Game Maine" last year. James Shields this year. Unreal. It could easily be Big Game Beckett or Big Game Garza .... Is alliteration not as cool as rhyming?!? We might as well call Matt Cain "Big Game Cain" or Chien-Ming Wang "Big Game Wang" while we're at it, because even though they have no "big game" experience, at least it sounds good.

And WHY is it so okay to steal nicknames, like Tomlinson stealing "LT" from the original LT?!? James Worthy is the original Big Game James and no one should ever be called that again, especially since Worthy would step up his game in big games - and Worthy had to EARN that nickname. It wasn't until he had several years of good playoff performances until he was anointed "Big Game James." Unlike Shields, who's being lauded as this accomplished postseason starter after his 1st trip to the playoffs and 4th postseason start, just because he got the most recent win while not allowing a run (but being swept under the rub is that he only went 5 2/3 innings and allowed 7 hits and 2 walks). He relied on Phillies hitting abnormally poorly in situations with runners in scoring position. One or two big hits and he's not getting to the fifth inning, not getting the the win and certianly not getting the credit. "We have to play small ball," said the Game 2 winning pitcher, James Shields. "It's the World Series. That's the way you play the game. That's the way you win championships." What the F does this guy know about winning championships?!? The entire Rays squad are acting like their entitled to something and it's driving me mad. I say they only win 75-80 games next year and are looking up in the standings at the Sox and Yankees at season's end.

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