标题: Yankees Birthday of the Day: Jon Lieber [打印本页] 作者: Culberson 时间: 6 小时前 标题: Yankees Birthday of the Day: Jon Lieber
NEW YORK OCTOBER 19: Pitcher Jon Lieber 22 of the New York Yankees throws a pitch against the Boston Red Sox in the first inning during game six of the American League Championship Series on October 19, 2004 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York by Al Bello Nick Power is a Bronx native living in California who relishes the chance to stay connected to his hometown also operates the baseballfocused PowerBall on Substack and social 's hard to make your mark on a franchise in a single Soto is one of the Yankees' most prominent oneanddone players, finishing third in 2024 AL MVP voting and helping lead his team to the pennant in his sole year in pinstripes, but he's a notable Lieber spent 14 years in the big leagues, quietly establishing himself as one of the game's most reliable righthanded , in an era that saw the Yankees take fliers on many flashier veteran hurlers, his single year in the Bronx was an unqualified Ray LieberBorn: April 2, 1970 Council Bluffs, IAYankees Tenure: 2004An Iowa native, Lieber was taken by the Royals out of the University of South Alabama as a secondrounder in only spent a year and a half in Kansas City's system, showing enough to make himself a trade chip that brought back Pirates closer Stan reached the Show at the age of 24 in '94, spending three seasons as a swingman before settling into a fulltime starting role for his final two years in Pittsburgh, even earning an Opening Day nod in ' the 1999 season, the righthander was shipped off again, this time to Chicago for outfielder Brant Brown fresh off an error that nearly cost them a Wild Card berth in ' would find his greatest success on the North Side, making his sole AllStar team in 2001 while winning 20 games and finishing fourth in NL Cy Young Award voting for a Cubs team that fell just a few games shy of the 's next season was derailed by a UCL injury that required Tommy John surgery in August and would keep him out for all of 2003 as well.He was hurt from Day 1, Joe Girardi, his catcher with the Cubs, later said of that fateful season.But he tried to suck it up and pitch, because the thing about Jon is he really thinks about the team kept telling me he didn't want to let the team down.I kept telling him: Liebs, if you're hurt https://www.newyorkfanoutlet.com/Elmer_Rodriguez_Jersey, you're 've got to get it taken care of.'With an aging 2003 rotation that featured a 41yearold Roger Clemens and 40yearold David Wells, the Yankees were a logical fit to sign the relatively youthful 33yearold Lieber to a twoyear, $3.5 million deal, content with the knowledge that he would not be able to contribute until '04.I could have cussed the world out, but I totally believe everything happens for a reason, Lieber said, looking back on his careeraltering injury.That's why I'm here in New York.With Clemens, Wells, and Andy Pettitte all departing to free agency after the 2003 campaign, Lieber had a spot in the rotation waiting for him upon his Yankees' brain trust said everything you would expect them to about their onthemend starter.From everybody I've talked to, he has absolutely no ifs on his rsum at this point, said manager Joe Torre said.He's 100 percent, added GM Brian , given his age and long layoff from pitching, Lieber had to be considered something of a question mark entering the '04 by a groin injury suffered during spring training, the veteran did not make his Yankees debut until May, when he went eight innings and earned the victory against the team that drafted him, Kansas would go on to have the kind of sturdy season the Yankees would have hoped for, tossing 1quality starts in 27 outings and pitching to a slightlyaboveaverage 104 ERA+ in 176.2 wasn't blowing anyone anyway, but he didn't waste anyone's time with walks, leading the majors with a 0.9 slotting near the middle or back end of a starstudded staff for most of the season https://www.newyorkfanoutlet.com/Custom_Jersey, Lieber cracked the playoff rotation after the Yankees won nine of his final 10 was a workhorse too, pitching into the eighth on five different occasions most impressively firing eight innings of twohit, onerun ball on 93 pitches in a win against the future playoff opponent Red Sox on September 18th before faltering in the even held that formidable lineup hitless until David Ortiz broke it up two outs into the 's rocksolid reliability stood in contrast to the likes of Kevin Brown, who broke his hand punching a clubhouse wall; Javier Vzquez, who collapsed after an AllStar first half; and Esteban Loaiza, whose 8.50 ERA made him one of the worst Trade Deadline acquisitions in franchise skipper Joe Torre would have to dabble in postseason starts for Brown and Vzquez, but he felt much more confortable deploying the likes of Lieber and Mike Mussina in the opening , after toiling for a decade on subpar teams, 2004 would be the firstand https://www.newyorkfanoutlet.com/Oswaldo_Cabrera_Jersey, ultimately, onlyplayoff action of the 34yearold's 's first postseason start came with the Yankees down 10 to the Twins in the ALDS following a Johan Santana gem in the staked Minnesota to a 31 lead by the second inning, but he settled in with the Yankees' season beginning to approach the brink, holding the Twins there until the seventh inning, when he departed with two outs and a 43 Mariano Rivera uncharacteristically blew the lead in the eighth, Lieber would not factor into the decision, though his gutty performance played a key role in an eventual 12inning York won the next two games at the Metrodome to advance to the ALCS for the sixth time in seven it was in Game 2 of the ALCS when the veteran would turn in the performance of a his team up 10 in the series, Lieber was tasked with opposing Pedro Martnez, the longtime Yankee foil who had just earned his seventh topfive Cy Young finish in eight journeyman would outduel the future Hall of Famer, holding Boston to two hits and no runs through seven allowed a single to lead off the eighth who would eventually come around to score, ending his his part, Pedro allowed a pedestrian three runs in six innings as the Yankees squeaked out a 31 victory with the help of a long ball from fellow 2004 newcomer John the time Lieber came back around to pitch in Game 6, of course, the series had taken a turn for the kept the Yankees in the game, allowing four runs in 7.1 innings, but Curt Schilling and his bloody sock would carry the ignominy of the Yankees' historic collapse in that series effectively wiped the first three games from the collective memory of the Yankees faithful, an unfortunate fate for Lieber, whose dethroning of Martnez would likely occupy a place in the team's lore had they gone on to win the were multiple reasons why that series went awry; Lieber wasn't really one of the strength of his comeback campaign, Lieber signed a threeyear, $21 million deal with the Phillies that there was some interest in a Yankees reunion, New York opted to let him walk as part of another rotation remodel that saw them trade for Randy Johnson and bring aboard free agents Carl Pavano and Jaret results were decidedly mixed to be kind, and there's a fair argument thateven putting Pavano aside since his reputation was better at the timethe Yanks should have at least resigned Lieber over adding the inconsistent Wright on an identical latter's 2004 in Atlanta was better than Lieber's by some numbers, but it was also such an outlier compared to his ineffective and injuryravaged 1999.