Ortiz = Clutch / A-Rod = Springy

In Bill Simmons' latest mailbag offering - one of his readers asked him to come up with a word that would be the opposite of "clutch". You have players who hit in "clutch" situations and you have players who don't. Simmons really didn't come up with a word.

I would suggest "springy".

Follow me on this. You always here people say that spring baseball games don't really count and "lets see what these teams/players are doing in the heat of the playoff race." The inference is that spring games in baseball don't count as much as fall games. Just as hits in blow out games don't mean as much as hits in the late innings of close games.

A player who gets hits when the game is on the line would be "clutch". A player who gets hits when the game has long been decided would be a "springy" player. David Ortiz would be clutch and A-Rod would be springy.

Speaking of A-Rod - I got a chuckle from this email exchange to the Sports Guy:

Q: What was [Terry] Francona thinking on Monday night? How can you pitch to Mr. March in an eight-run game? Doesn't he know that A-Job bats like .900 in six-to-10 run games? You HAVE to walk him in that situation.
-- Chris, Cincinnati

SG: (Giggling.)

Anytime you have a nickname like Mr. March or Mr. May - you are a springy player.