Cliff Lee Might Need Surgery — Which Could Mean the End of His Career

Among the great one-game feats by Philadelphia athletes, a few recent ones stand out. Allen Iverson‘s 48 points in Game 1 of the 2001 NBA Finals. Keith Primeau going around the net and tying Game 6 of the 2004 Eastern Conference Finals with two minutes left. Terrell Owens‘ 122 yards in the Super Bowl on one leg. Ryan Howard‘s 3-homer game against the Braves in his MVP year. Roy Halladay‘s perfect game, followed by his playoff-opening no-hitter.

But one might stand above them all. It was 2009, and Cliff Lee dominated the Yankees in Game 1 of the World Series.

The game was a joke. Lee struck out four of the first seven batters. In the fourth inning, he struck out the side: Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada. He struck out 10 for the game. He didn’t give up a run until the ninth inning, when the Phillies had already scored six runs. He only allowed six hits. The run he gave up was unearned. It was incredible. The Phillies, already the reigning World Series champions, had embarrassed the mighty Yankees in that first game. Cliff Lee was on the sandlot, joking around, catching a pop-up without moving off the mound to show how much he was in control.

Cliff Lee not only beat the Yankees, he taunted them while doing it. That game, more than any other, was how Lee became such a huge fan favorite in Philadelphia. Hardcore fans were watching. Casual fans were watching. And although it was the World Series, once the game started fans were no longer nervous. It was clear from the start the Phillies wouldn’t be losing.

That was about four and a half years ago. In early 2015, the Phillies are coming off consecutive 73-89 seasons. They might be worse this year. Lee, now 36, is coming off a season in which he started just 13 games due to injury. And just a few days after a promising spring training debut, the Phillies temporarily shut down Lee due to elbow soreness. He returned to throw today and said he is going to try to pitch through the small tear in the common flexor tendon of his throwing arm. Ruben Amaro told the Daily News he was “not terribly optimistic.”

If Lee can’t pitch through it and has to get surgery, he might never pitch again.

“It would be 6-8 months out,” Lee told reporters yesterday in Clearwater, Fla. “So basically if I have the surgery this season will be done. Possibly my career I guess. I don’t know. We’ll have to see.” Cliff Lee turned over a magic 8-ball, only to see the message: “OUTLOOK NOT SO GOOD.” (He threw this morning, but they’re still waiting for the second opinion.)

Lee only pitched two more postseason games for the Phillies. After three straight losses for the Phillies, Lee won Game 5 against the Yankees — but gave up 5 runs. In Game 2 of the 2011 National League Division Series, the Phillies spotted Lee a 4-0 lead. He gave up another five runs and the Phillies lost. They’d lose the series in five. They haven’t been back to the postseason since.

Though he didn’t have any more postseason success with the Phillies after the 2009 World Series, he obviously did share in the Phillies’ great teams. He was traded after that 2009 postseason at the same time the Phillies traded for Halladay. But he would not be a half-year wonder for the Phils; they stunningly re-signed Lee a few days before Christmas in 2010. Ruben Amaro Jr. was hailed as a genius as the Phillies rode Lee, Halladay, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt to a 102-60 record in one of the most memorable regular seasons in Philadelphia sports history.

He gave us more memorable moments than just that Yankees game. In the 2013 season, Lee started 31 games with a 2.87 ERA — and went 14-8 despite the Phillies’ anemic offense. In a meaningless September game against the Marlins that year, Lee went 8 innings and struck out 14 batters. He threw 113 pitches, 84 for strikes. He led the league in strikeout-to-walk ratio in both 2012 and 2013. Even as the team declined, there was a constant the past few seasons with Cliff Lee. If he was starting, you wanted to watch. You knew you’d see a lot of strikeouts. You’d likely get a great pitching performance. For Phillies fans raised on diet of journeyman pitchers, Lee — along with the other great starters the Phillies have had the past decade — was a welcome treat.

Now, it may be over. It’s okay to be disappointed. Phillies fans got by without Lee before, when he was traded after that amazing 2009 performance. They may have to do it again — only without a 90-plus win team to ease their pain. But despair is the equilibrium state of Philadelphia sports fans; surely, fans can handle it.

And Philly fans will always have Game 1 of that World Series to remember: A night when Cliff Lee was the best pitcher in the world, when the Phillies were the best team in baseball.

Follow @dhm on Twitter.