Superstars Who Struggle in the Post-Season
Clayton Kershaw has rough outings in playoffs.
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Clayton Kershaw Has Rough Outings in Playoffs - Clayton Kershaw was quite simply the best pitcher in Major League Baseball this season. An MLB-best 21-3 record with an ultra-stingy 1.77 ERA is proof of that. However, to say the lefty struggled in the playoffs would be an understatement. Kershaw gave up 12 hits and 11 runs in two games against the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Division Series — both losses. His three-run homer to Matt Adams on Tuesday night proved to be the difference in a 3-2 Cardinals' win and Dodgers' elimination. Kershaw is now 1-5 in eight playoff starts. Ouch. But Kershaw is far from the only sports superstar who struggles in the post-season. BET.com points out other star athletes who haven't performed up to standards in the playoffs.(Photo: Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
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Peyton Manning - Peyton Manning is arguably the greatest quarterback of all time with just about every accolade on his resume: Super Bowl XLI champion and MVP, 13-time Pro Bowler and five-time Associated Press NFL MVP to name a few. Plus, with 503 career passing touchdowns, he's closing in on Brett Favre's mark (508) for the league's all-time career passing TDs list. Yet, Manning hasn't had much fortune in the playoffs. In fact, Manning was a one and done in eight of the 13 playoffs that he led either the Indianapolis Colts or Denver Broncos to and touts an 11-12 overall post-season record, having only won one Super Bowl. Greatness, but playoff struggles.(Photo: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
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Carmelo Anthony - A seven-time NBA All-Star, Carmelo Anthony has proved to be a scoring machine over the course of his 12 years in the league. Although Melo's post-season individual numbers have been great, he has only been in sniffing distance of the NBA Finals once — 2009 Western Conference Finals with the Denver Nuggets. Anthony's 10-career trips to the playoffs have all resulted in a shortcoming. An NBA title is the only thing missing from Melo's resume at this point. (Photo: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
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Andy Dalton - Sure enough, Andy Dalton has the Cincinnati Bengals out to a 3-1 record atop the AFC North division this year. Dalton sports a 33-19 record as the Bengals starting quarterback, but has been unable to lead Cincy to a single playoff win in three straight attempts. If the Bengals are to make the post-season cut this year, Dalton will be counted on to once again deliver a playoff win. He'd better, too, considering he inked a whopping six-year, $115 million contract extension before the season began. (Photo: Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
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Alex Rodriguez - Alex Rodriguez's post-season struggles are well-documented. A-Rod touts a paltry .263 career-playoff batting average and even when he broke out of his post-season slump in 2009 to help lead the New York Yankees to a World Series win, he fell right back to hitting .219, .111 and .120 from 2010-12, respectively.(Photo: AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
Photo By Kathy Willens/AP Photo
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