Does Clutch Hitting Exist?

Some hits are more clutch than others. However, do some hitters have a clutch ability that shows up year after year?

In his 1984 Baseball Abstract, Bill James asks, “How is it that a player who possesses the reflexes and the batting stroke and the knowledge and the experience to be a .260 hitter in other circumstances magically becomes a .300 hitter when the game is on the line? How does that happen? What is the process? What are the effects? Until we can answer those questions, I see little point in talking about clutch ability.” 

I can’t answer his question, because I’m not a clutch hitter.  

However, when you look at a player who is known for his lack of clutch ability, it becomes apparent that players react differently according to pressure, even if we don’t know why. 

Rick Ankiel was 11-7 with a 3.50 ERA and 190 Ks in 175 innings in 2000. That’s a very good season by any standard. In the postseason that year, he went 1-1 with an ERA just shy of 16, walking 11 of the 28 batters he faced in four innings.  

These numbers aren’t skewed because of sample size; they’re like this because Rick Ankiel was the opposite of a clutch pitcher. 

On the other hand, Tiger Woods has come through in meaningful situations. It’s well-known that he’s never lost a tournament in which he’s led by at least one shot going into the final round. 

How is that not clutch? 

When we look at these extreme examples, it seems obvious not only that there are clutch moments, but that some athletes repeatedly come through, or fail to, in those situations.  

Since there are only so many "game sevens" out there, we can’t really draw conclusions about who is and isn’t clutch. Regardless of our ability to measure them, though, clutch hitters do exist.

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