We have the notes and quotes from Game 5 of the National League Championship Series involving Milwaukee and St. Louis. Lots of talk about the Rally Squirrel in Busch Stadium. Let’s take a look.
Notes from NLCS on TBS – October 12, 2011
The National League Championship Series continues on TBS on Thursday, October 13 at 7:30 p.m. ET with TBS MLB on Deck followed by Game 4 of the NLCS featuring the Milwaukee Brewers @ St. Louis Cardinals (8 p.m. ET). The night will conclude with the post-game show Inside MLB.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
TBS MLB on Deck
Matt Winer (host) and Dennis Eckersley, Cal Ripken and David Wells (analysts)Wells on St. Louis Cardinals’ first baseman Albert Pujols: “He is a dangerous threat at all times. For a guy to go out there and be effective with him you’ve got to pound him in and get him out with the nice little slider or cutter that’s down and away. Anything off the plate. He is hot right now and he is the guy you want to avoid now at all costs.”
Winer following a report on the St. Louis “Rally Squirrel”: “If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a million times; no one delivers a squirrel update like Craig Sager.”
Eckersley on St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter: “He is a highly emotional person. He’s all about his curve ball. He is a big time competitor and if he holds his emotions in check and throws the way he did against Philadelphia you will see the emotion and I love that emotion. If you can just channel it. He throws everything up there; everything moves. He is one of the best in the game.”
Ripken on Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks: “What makes him tough is he doesn’t swing at the ball inside and he has power to the opposite field. Rickie is starting to swing the bat really well. He sees the ball very well.”
Wells on Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Yovani Gallardo: “In this postseason, he is dominating right now. He is keeping hitters on their toes and runners off base. That’s his MO right there.”
Eckersley on Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Mark Kotsay: “He’s just a veteran batter. I would have a tougher time facing him than (Nyjer) Morgan. He can eyeball you and hit the ball the other way. He is a good center fielder and he can handle the pressure.”
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Milwaukee Brewers (3) @ St. Louis Cardinals (4) – Cardinals lead the series 2-1
Announcers: Brian Anderson (play-by-play), Ron Darling, John Smoltz (analysts) and Craig Sager (reporter)>Darling on the St. Louis Cardinals play during the postseason: “Just another part of the aggressive nature of this St. Louis ball club. It doesn’t just apply to base running but also at the plate. The team is being aggressive on first pitches and 3-0 counts.”
Smoltz on St. Louis pitcher Chris Carpenter: “It’s controlled aggression. He’s a different person when he is in the dugout; he’s rooting for all his players, leading a lot of charges and pulling for everybody. When he’s on the mound it’s like he’s waited all day to throw that emotion and work ethic and all that he has, and he does it. He pitches with emotion but he knows how to control it.”
Smoltz on St. Louis pitcher Carpenter: “All the young pitchers that come to St. Louis learn how to be a pro from him. You do sit on the bench. You do root for your teammates. You root for the other starters. It’s karma and you are going to get some good luck your way if you are a team player.”
Anderson on St. Louis Cardinals third baseman David Freese: “David Freese is a doubles machine. What a force he has been in this postseason.”
Smoltz on Freese’s performance in the regular season: “He’s had so many injuries it’s hard to gauge what kind of player he could have been this season. But he (La Russa) sees him as a big run producer in the future.”
TBS interviewed Milwaukee Brewers manager Ron Roenicke in between innings
Roenicke on the risks of putting Mark Kotsay in the line-up: “He usually has some good things happen to him and the homer was nice and the walk early to get on base in the first inning was good.”Anderson on the Milwaukee Brewers regular season: “Roenicke has seen his Milwaukee club win in a lot of ways. They won 96 games and set a franchise record for victories in the regular season and they outlasted the Cardinals in the NL Central by six games this year. These two central division rivals ended up as the last two teams in the NL playing all out for a trip to the World Series.”
TBS interviewed St. Louis Cardinals Manager Tony La Russa in between innings:
La Russa on the two aces on the mound: “They (Cardinals Chris Carpenter and Milwaukee’s Yovani Gallardo) are just not sharp tonight. Gallardo is getting sharper; he’s made some strong pitches. And Carp started out not so sharp and he’s getting better. They have a tendency to get better throughout the game.”La Russa on David Freese and his performance in this series: “He just gets better and better. He’s got a great career ahead of him doing exactly what you’ve seen here. He’s getting a lot of big hits.”
Anderson on youth baseball programs today: “Youth baseball, they play year-round and the kids get burned out so easily. Freese stepped aside from baseball for awhile after high school and that was one of the reasons he was rejuvenated and came back to the sport.”
Ron Darling’s on youth baseball players: “You don’t find professional baseball, professional baseball finds you.”
Darling on the pressure St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday to protect Albert Pujols: “There is going to be a lot of pressure on Holliday for the rest of this series if he can’t come up with a big hit.”
Smoltz on Holliday’s success against Brewers pitching: “You can’t flirt with a guy (Holliday) who has torn you up for the last few games.”
Darling on the Brewers and Cardinals bullpen: “The bullpen for Milwaukee in this series so far has struggled a little bit while the Cardinals bullpen has been great.”
Smoltz on St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jason Motte: “If you think he throws like a catcher, that’s because he was one! His delivery is pretty interesting as he gets the ball from the rubber to home plate quickly.
Anderson on the Cardinals bullpen: “A bullpen that has been much maligned all season might have been the reason the Cardinals had to fight for the wildcard but they came up as good as you can do it tonight.”
TBS reporter Craig Sager interviewed Cardinals’ Jason Motte and David Freese after the game
Motte on the Cardinals bullpen: “When that phone rings we are ready to go. When the phone rings we are going to get our arms ready and battle our butts off. The bullpen was able to shut it down tonight.”David Freese on the game and his injuries: “First inning was huge. Tonight was a big game and our bullpen; what a job they did tonight. I have had a rough time with injuries but it’s all about dedication and I’m trying to do my part and stick with this ball club.”
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Inside MLB
Matt Winer (host) and Dennis Eckersley, Cal Ripken and David Wells (analysts)Ripken on St Louis Cardinals third baseman David Freese’s batting: “David Freese is swinging a hot bat. He’s even hotter than Pujols.”
Eckersley on St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jason Motte: “This guy is my closer! Are you kidding me? He has hair on his face and hair on his head.”
Eckersley on the St. Louis Cardinals bullpen: “This whole postseason has been about Bullpen. But they (Cardinals pitchers) are not well known. This bullpen is a makeshift bullpen and they seem to get it done.”
Wells on Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Yovani Gallardo: “He was off tonight. You think you would see a closer game with these two pitchers (Gallardo and Carpenter) but he (Gallardo) battled back and pitched a few good innings.”
Eckersley on Boston Red Sox GM Theo Epstein moving to the Chicago Cubs: “Everything is exploding in Boston. Francona left and all these things are coming out about what is going on in the clubhouse. It’s an absolute mess. Theo did a nice job in Boston and brought two world championships to the Red Sox and if he can bring a world championship to the Cubs, it would be a beautiful thing. He did a nice job with the Red Sox, he was well thought of and everyone wanted him. And the Cubs finally got him. I think it’s a good move by the Cubs.”
Eckersley on Epstein: “He’s had a beautiful thing in Boston. They did make a lot of mistakes and if you want to fault him for anything it should be on the free agency, it cost them a lot of money. But he moves on now and he has more money to play with in Chicago.”
Ripken on the Brewers decision to walk St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols: “He can do damage no matter what. You can’t put him on every night, but in the playoffs there are times when the other team says “Ok, Albert, we are not going to let you beat us”.
And that will do it.
