Who Is Mr. Clutch?

After yet another walkoff home run by David Ortiz yesterday, one of the Boston sports anchormen said that he couldn't think of another Boston athlete who performs as well in the clutch. Well, I know that he decided to betray the good folks of New England by running off to play with choker-extraordinare Peyton Manning in Indianapolis, but have we forgotten about Adam Vinatieri so soon?

Let us count the games that Vinatieri's foot has won for the Pats in the final five minutes: Super Bowl XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX, the Snow Bowl, and that's just the postseason. I literally can't remember the last time that Vinatieri missed a last-minute field goal with the Pats losing. Even when he misses a potential game-winner in OT, the Pats always manage to rally to give him one more chance.

Big Papi, though, is equally good in the clutch. I can think of three game-winning hits from the 2004 postseason alone. True, Big Papi regularly comes to the plate with the game on the line and fails to deliver, but we don't really expect miracles every single time he plays. I mean, even the best baseball players are out six of every ten tries, and even juiced-up Barry Bonds only hits homers once every three games. Vinatieri seems to split the uprights every time the game is on the line, but we expect elite kickers to convert eight or nine of every ten tries.

I guess that the bottom line is that it's really hard to pick a clear winner when we have an apples-to-oranges comparison. Let's just agree that David Ortiz is Mr. Clutch when it comes to baseball and Adam Vinatieri, assuming his grace under pressure isn't counteracted by Peyton Manning's tendency to crack under pressure, is Mr. Clutch when it comes to football. There's room enough in this part of the country for two people to come up big when it counts.