When you are talking about major league players, they are ALL good enough that there is little variation in their performances in different situations, therefore no easily identified clutch performance for hitters. Another way to look at it is this. Major league talent does not fall along a bell curve. It is ALL on the top part of the curve. If you looked at clutch hitting for high schoolers or little leaguers you might find a huge disparity.

Also, I agree that clutch performance for pitchers may be an entirely different thing. Especially for power/strikeout pitchers where the defense and element of chance for balls put in play do not have as significant a role.

Maybe 1% less famous than that. I saw that game, but my brain has obviously calcified because I don’t remember the miraculous defensive play in the slightest. Details?

Of course, I also had a great time in KC the one time I was there for a conference. The fountains are great fun in the summer heat.

but as for baseball?

well, i would guess that what is happens is that in the postseason they do what crash davis said not to – don’t think, it can only hurt the ballclub. or they get nervous and the nervousness does not help them focus. or the pitcher looks at who is hitting and not at the mitt.

i also think you have a VERY good point about the 6th and 8th inning. i know all about all the old timers complaining endlessly that modern pitchers, uh, have, uh, small male organs or something like that, but the fact is that times have changed and your middle relievers are really really important especially in close games. my astros had something like 27 games lost by relievers who took over when the starter was winning.

and by the way, you sure are a good writer. in case you never heard it before…

I think your comparison of athletes to writers or other non-athletic disciplines as a way to argue against clutch hitting is not quite right.

Athletes spend so many practices developing ‘muscle memory’ skills that ideally come to the fore in situations where one’s internal thoughts and stresses can become a hindrance. Thus, I believe there are athletes who perform better under higher-stress situations than they would under low-stress situations, because, unlike a writer’s deadline, the activity in question is essentially the same.

You continue to swing a bat or throw a ball in the same time-space, under similar constraints. Meanwhile, a writer under tight deadline must alter his/her writing process to the final product’s detriment — it’s just a matter of level of detriment.

A better writer analogy would be one whose work improves when the moment to be chronicled has higher stakes. Like, say, a columnist whose story about a Super Bowl is far stronger than his/her work covering a regular season game. I believe for many writers, those higher stakes and pressures can improve their work — provided the time-frame for the product is the same.