Best Clutch Hitters

A few months ago, a New York writer suggested to Derek Jeter that the term "clutch" was overhyped and that over the course of an entire season, few players could justifiably be called "clutch" based on statistics.

Derek Jeter responded with a friendly chuckle and proceeded to say that whoever believes there's no such thing as a clutch player does not have enough experience as a professional ball player to warrant such an opinion.

Jeter went on to say that among baseball players, the concept of being clutch is very real, and that every professional ball player knows which players stand out as being clutch on each team.

Jim Baumbach, a writer for Newsday, compiled some very interesting statistics that reveal how Yankees batters have performed so far this season in clutch situations.

More specifically, he compiled offensive statistics that show how Yankees hitters have performed in "close and late" situations, defined as at-bats in the seventh inning on when the team is ahead by a run, tied or with the potential tying run on deck.

Here are the numbers:

Derek Jeter .462 (12-for-26), one HR, seven RBIs, eight walks

Johnny Damon .429 (15-for-35), two HRs, eight RBIs

Robinson Cano .343 (12-for-35), two RBIs

Andy Phillips .286 (4-for-14), one HR, two RBIs

Bernie Williams .280 (7-for-25), five RBIs

Melky Cabrera .267 (4-for-15), four walks

Jorge Posada .190 (4-for-21), six RBIs, seven walks, seven strikeouts

Alex Rodriguez .138 (4-for-29), three RBIs, seven strikeouts

Jason Giambi .111 (2-for-18), six RBIs, nine walks, five strikeouts

While these statistics don't represent a true, overall value for each player, they certainly reflect the opinions of many Yankees fans who are not happy with A-Rod's performance thus far.

- Joshua
InsideTheYankees.com