Cliff Lee shocked the baseball world last October when he pitched in his first ever playoff for the Philadelphia Phillies, going 4-0 in 5 starts with a 1.56 ERA.  This included 2 complete games, 33 strike outs in 40 innings, and 2 wins over the New York Yankees in the World Series.

This after eventful but certainly not fast-tracked to immortality start to his career.  The man had a great run for Cleveland in ’04-’06 that saw him go 46-24, followed by an injury plagued 2007 season in which he was actually sent to the minor leagues.  In 2008, the year Cliff Lee turned 30 years old and held a 54-36 career record, he went 22-3 with a 2.54 ERA and won the AL Cy Young.  2009 started off rough for him, and at 7-9 in July he was traded to the Phillies, where he quickly turned things around.

By the end of the playoffs, it was official, Cliff Lee was a machine.  He had joined what Cole Hamels did in 2008, all of the White Sox did in 2005, and Josh Beckett in 2003, not as the best postseason pitchers ever, but as having thrown some of the best single postseasons in recent memory.

A few weeks later, stupidly, the Phillies traded him to Seattle after they acquired Roy Halladay (a move Philly would come to regret, as is evidenced by their acquiring of Roy Oswalt in July).  In July, Lee was 8-3 with a 2.93 ERA, but Seattle was awful, so they moved him again.  He joined the Texas Rangers, his fourth team in 13 months.  In 15 starts with them, Lee was only 4-6 with a 3.98 ERA.

Little noticed about 2010 Cliff Lee, though, was his incredible SS/BB ratio.  For every walk Cliff Lee threw this season, he threw 10.28 strikeouts.  According to baseball-reference, this is the 2nd highest SS/BB ratio in the history of the game, behind only Bret Saberhagen’s 11.00 in strike-shortened 1994.  To put that in perspective, Curt Schilling had a career high of 9.57 in 2002, Pedro Martinez maxed out at 8.87 in 2000, Cy Young’s career high was 7.00, Sandy Koufax never bested 5.83, and Tom Seaver maxed out at 4.27.

Even with all of that, though, Cliff Lee super quickly had fallen off the map of great pitchers in today’s game.  The Phillies were grabbing all of the headlines with their super trio, and the Giants were grabbing all the leftovers.  In the American League, if you weren’t named CC Sabathia, David Price, or Felix Hernandez, nobody cared.

Then the playoffs started, and in game one Cliff Lee lasted 7 innings, giving up 5 hits and 1 run while striking out 10 in a win over AL East champion Tampa Bay.  He was back on the map!  A few hours later, Roy Halladay pitched a no-hitter in his first ever playoff appearance, and Cliff Lee was 2nd page news again.  The next day, Tim Lincecum made his playoff debut, throwing a 2-hit shutout while striking out 14.  And on Sunday, Cole Hamels struck out 9 in a 5-hit shutout as the Phillies clinched their LDS victory in Cincinnati.

And once again, Cliff Lee was the forgotten man.  Then came last night.  Elimination game.  On the road.  His 7th career playoff start.  Lee throws a 6-hit, complete game, one-run masterpiece, while striking out 14 Rays.  14!  I turn on ESPN this morning and First Take is debating if Lee is the best playoff pitcher of all-time.

Really?  We go from forgetting about this man to proclaiming him the best ever overnight.  That’s something.  I’ll say this, after last night Cliff Lee is on a shortlist of pitchers in my lifetime who are just dominant in the postseason.  Schilling, Rivera, and El Duque immediately come to mind.  There are a few others.  Lee has earned his spot on that list.  7 career playoff starts, 6-0, 3 complete games, 1.44 ERA, 54 K’s in 56 innings.  That’s as good as any player in the game today.  In fact, it’s better.

But best ever?

On Friday, CC Sabathia will probably win game one for the Yankees.  And on Saturday, Tim Lincecum and Roy Halladay will oppose each other in Philadelphia.  Then, on Sunday, Roy Oswalt and Matt Cain will take the mound in that series.  By the time Cliff Lee pitches again on Monday, he may well be the forgotten man again.  So I wouldn’t proclaim him the best ever yet.

But he’s the best pitcher left in the playoffs.  Unfortunately, he’s on the worst team.

When all is said and done, he’ll be a free agent, with a phenomenal playoff resume and no World Series ring; and he’ll join his 5th team in 18 months this November or December.  More than likely, it’ll be the New York Yankees.  And then, finally, in 2011, Cliff Lee will get that World Series ring.  And en route to that, he may throw 5 more masterpieces, and maybe even beat Roy Halladay or Tim Lincecum in some epic World Series game 7, earning him the title of best ever, or at least truly putting him in that conversation.

I can only hope he doesn’t go to New York.  Be your own man.  I know you love CC, and you want to win, but take a chance.  Hell, go to Boston, even, if only so you aren’t another lifeless Yankee.  Or take a gamble and sign with Atlanta or St. Louis.  Or, if you really want to achieve legendary status, go to San Francisco, become part of the greatest pitching rotation of all time, and finally bring a World Series title to the Giants.

Not the Yankees, please Cliff.  Your greatness gets forgotten now because people don’t get to see it, because you play in Texas.  Don’t let your greatness get ignored because you’re an effin’ Yankee, and 95% of America roots against you, and therefore refuses to acknowledge your contribution to baseball.

Cherish Cliff Lee now, America, because you may hate him next season.