Cliff Lee life and biography

Clifton Phifer Lee...married, wife's name is Kristen; one son, Jaxon (4/29/01) and one daughter, Maci (4/5/03)...attended Meridian Community College (MS), 1998- 99, and the University of Arkansas in 2000...had his number retired during the 2008- 09 off-season by Benton High School and was honored with a Cliff Lee Day as well in Benton...2005 John Hancock Roberto Clemente Award nominee for Cleveland...has been involved in several charities during his playing career, including serving as honorary chairs for the Light the Night Walks held at Progressive Field, 2006-08, to raise funds for cancer research and patient services for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society... son, Jaxon, is a children's leukemia survivor...the Lees routinely donate their time and money to the The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society...member of the Mississippi Junior College Sports Hall of Fame.

2008 Highlights

Posted one of the most historic seasons in the history of the American League and one of the best ever turned in by a left-handed pitcher in the club history...Led the AL in wins (22) and ERA (2.54) to become the first Indians pitcher since 1972 to lead the league in wins (G Perry 24) and the first to win 20-game since Perry in 1974...His .880 winning % (22-3) was the 2nd best in Indians franchise history (1901-2008) and tied for 3rd highest in MLB history (1876-2008) by a 20-game winner...First Indians LHP to lead the AL in ERA since Same McDowell in 1965 (2.18)...Lowest ERA by an AL LHP in this decade...His 22 wins are the 2nd most in club history by a LHP (Vean Gregg 23 in 1911)...One of just 7 pitchers since 1920 (STATS LLC) to win 22 of his first 25 decisions...Captured 2008 AL Cy Young (last AL team with consecutive Cy Young winners was Toronto in 1996-97)...In addition to leading the league in wins, ERA and winning %, he also finished 2nd in CG (4), 9th in K (170), 2nd in IP (223.1), 13th in avg all'd (.253), 3rd in slg% all'd (.348), 3rd in on-base % (.285) allowed, 1st in HR all'd/9.0IP (.48, 12HR, 223.1IP), 2nd in baserunners/9.0IP (10.2) & 3rd in SO/BB ratio (5.0)...His 1.37 walks per 9.0IP were lowest in the AL...Was 5th in the league in runs support (6.13), 9th in pitches thrown (3289) and 13th in ground ball/fly ball ratio (1.38) ...Induced 27 GIDPs (T5th in AL)...Tossed the first CG/shutout of his career in start of April 24 at KC (9.0IP, 3H, 0R, 0BB, career-high tying 9K)...Did not allowed a run in Major League/career-high 27.0IP from April 13-30, longest by an Indians pitcher since Dan SPILLNER in 1982 (29.1IP)... Became the 1st 13 game winner in the AL as he tossed his 2nd CG of the year (9.0IP, 11H, 2R/ER, 0BB, 4K) on July 20th, a 6-2 win over the Mariners in Safeco Field... Became the 1st 20-game winner in the majors in his start on Sept. 1, vs. the Chicago White Sox as he tossed his 4th complete game and 2nd shutout of the season as he allowed just five hits... He retired 21 straight batters from the 3rd batter of the 1st inning to the 2nd batter in the 8th inning...Lee is the 25th pitcher in Indians history to record 20 or more wins in a season and the 56th time an Indian has done so...Won a career-high 11 straight decisions from July 11-Sept. 12, the longest in MLB since 2005 (Chris Carpenter 13G) & longest by an Indian since Gaylord Perry 15 in 1974...Posted 11th win and fanned a career-high 11 batters in his start of June 26 vs. San Francisco (8.0IP, 4H, 1R/ER, 11K)... Entered the All-Star break at 12-2 w/a 2.31 ERA in 18 starts and started for the American League team in his 1st career All-Star appearance (2.0IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 3K)...Only Cleveland LHP ever to start an All-Star Game... Won AL pitcher of the Month in April (5-0, 0.96ERA)... ... Went 5-0 w/a 1.86 ERA in 5 August starts (38.2IP, 36H, 8ER) to earn AL PITCHER of the MONTH... First Indians pitcher since CHARLES NAGY (1996) to win two AL Pitcher of the Month Awards within the same season...Went 5-0 in 5GS vs. KC this season...The last Cleveland pitcher to go 5-0 in five starts versus one team in one season was Pat Dobson in 1976 against the Orioles...Became only pitcher since 1956 to go at least 8.0IP in 3 consecutive starts (April 13-24) with less than 3 hits/1 walk allowed while striking out at least 8 batters (retrosheet/baseball-reference.com)...Won his first 6 starts and was the first Indians pitcher since GREG SWINDELL in 1988 to do so...From June 9th-on he went 13-2 w/a 2.59 ERA in his last 20 starts (146.1IP, 146H, 42ER) and from July 11th on he was 11-1 w/a 2.67 ERA over his last 14 starts (104.2IP, 110H, 31ER)... Earned his 21st victory on Sept. 7 @ KC (7.1IP, 7H, 1ER)... Win #22 on 9/12 vs. KC ...According to ELIAS Lee was just the 4th pitcher in ML history to win 22 of his first 24 decisions... Went 10-0 at home, the first pitcher since JOHAN SANTANA (12-0 in 2006) to go w/o a loss in 10+ decisions at home...Was 16-1 at night... His 29GS to earn 22 wins equaled fastest in club history (4th time, last Bob Feller in 1951)...Went at least 5.0IP in all 31 of his starts...Went at least 8.0IP twelve times... He was 3-0 in June w/a 3.41 ERA in 5 starts (31.2IP, 33H, 12ER)... Went 3-1 w/a 3.14 ERA (43.0IP, 44H, 14ER) in 5 July starts as he became MLB's first 14-game winner and struck out 10 batters in start of July 25 vs. Minnesota (8.0IP, 6H, 2R/ER, 0BB, 10K)... ...Did not make his last scheduled start of the season on Sept. 28 at CWS (stiff neck)...Won his first start of the year in Oakland on April 6, a 2-1 win over the A's and Joe Blanton...6.2IP, 4H, 1R/0ER, 1BB, 4K...Was his first win since July 1, 2007 vTB (4GS/8G w/o win)... Went 9.0 scoreless innings in his 7th start vs. Toronto on May 12 (G2) to lower his ERA from 0.81 to 0.67, but did not get a decision as the Indians failed to score during his time on the mound (Indians lost in 10.0IP, 0-3)...s 35.0IP shy of having the top winning % in Club History (Colon .625, Lee .661)... Had an ERA of 1.16 in the first inning (31.0IP, 27H, 4ER)...Batters hit .265 (88-332) with runners on and .273 (45-155) with RISP...Had only 3 at bats w/the bases loaded this year...3SB/0CS... Did not walk a batter over 28.0 innings from April 18 to May 7... Allowed an OPS of .633 for the season (.621 by RHH, .661 by LHH).

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