The last day of the LDS brought some history with the Texas Rangers winning their first postseason series in franchise history and doing it with pitching savant Cliff Lee. The man is a beast. And the Rangers now take on the Yankees starting on Friday. Coming up, I’ll have the League Championship Series schedule plus announcing assignments, but let’s wrap up the League Division Series quotage.
Notes from MLB Postseason on TBS – October 12, 2010The MLB Postseason on TBS continues on Friday, October 15 beginning at 7:30 p.m. (ET) with TBS MLB on Deck followed TBS exclusive coverage of the American League Championship Series featuring the New York Yankees @ Texas Rangers (Game #1) at 8 p.m. (ET). The night will conclude with the post-game show Inside MLB.
QUOTE OF THE DAY:“I think he’s still pretty intimidating because no one dared to come up with a bottle of champagne and dump it on him. He was dry as a bone (after the game).”— TBS MLB analyst Cal Ripken on Texas Rangers team president Nolan Ryan still being able to intimidateCLIP OF THE DAY:***** ***** ***** ***** *****TBS MLB On-DeckMatt Winer (host), Dennis Eckersley, Cal Ripken and David Wells (analysts)Wells on the impact of pressure on the players in Game #5: “They are all going to be pressurized tonight. Butterflies are going to be flying. They’ll settle down after a few pitchers or an at bat. The younger guys are going to deal with that longer.”Ripken giving Tampa the edge in Game #5 due to their confidence: “I find that confidence can sometime carry you through those pressure situations and Tampa has a little more of that right now.”Wells on Evan Longoria: “This is the one guy that scares me in the lineup because he expands that strike zone so well he can go out and reach anything. For me personally, I would take away his power pitching him in…Don’t make a mistake on Evan Longoria, because he’s a ‘wristy’ guy and he’ll wrist the ball right out on you.”Eckersley on Carlos Pena: “He really is scary. He can look ugly on one pitch and go way back on the next one.”Ripken on Pena: Some people may thing he is all or nothing, I wouldn’t think that. He is streaky, and he is streaky hot right now.”Wells on Rangers starter Cliff Lee: “This dude’s ability to throw strikes with fastballs, curveball, cutter change up is unbelievable. He’s a smart pitcher. What I like about him is he can strike you out in a jam (and) he never cracks under pressure as well.”Ripken on Rangers starter Cliff Lee: “He certainly is the type of pitcher that learns from the hitters reactions. You take a good swing on it, he’ll learn from it and react to it. He’s a very smart pitcher.”Eckersley on Rays starter David Price: “This guy is Gas Masterson. He throws 20 pieces of cheese right from jump street, no breaking balls. This is a guy who hasn’t lost two games in a row all year long. He may make an adjustment but he is going to bring it all night long.”Eckersley on the pressure of Game #5: “Does experience matter, maybe a little bit, but even the guys who are experienced are scared.”***** ***** ***** ***** *****Game 1: Tampa Bay Rays (1) @ Texas Rangers (5) – Texas wins the series 3-2, advances to the ALCSAnnouncers: Don Orsillo (play-by-play), Buck Martinez (analyst) and Ron Darling (analyst) with Marc Fein reportingMartinez on Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus scoring from second on a ground out by Josh Hamilton: “This was the last piece of the puzzle for Ron Washington, the base running. He feels they can win a baseball game any way. Andrus just keep running, watching Price, and the hesitation from him allowed Andrus to score. He was running until David Price stopped him and he never stopped him.”Martinez on how enthusiastic Rangers manager Ron Washington was prior to Game #5: “I have been involved in Game fives before and Washington was right there. He could’ve started the game tonight.”Martinez on Cliff Lee: “I asked (Tampa Bay hitting coach) Derek Shelton how do you beat Cliff Lee? He said ‘you pitch good.’”Darling on Lee: “The hitters DNA in the AL East is to take a lot of pitches. You can’t always do that against Lee.”Martinez on the Rays manager Joe Maddon trying to be aggressive with his lineup: “Joe Maddon knows he has to do something to ignite the offense, you can’t sit back and wait for a three run home run against Cliff Lee.”Darling on the over throw to home by Josh Hamilton that allowed to Rays Sean Rodriquez to tie the score 1-1: “The more judicious play was to hit the cut off man and still give Cliff Lee a chance to get the double play and get out of the evening.”Orsillo on Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz not running hard on a double off the wall: “One thing Ron Washington always asks his players to do is treat the game right. Cruz didn’t there.”Darling on the aggressive approach at the plate by Rangers outfielder Jeff Francour: “If it’s white and has some stitches on it he’s swinging.”In between innings Orsillo, Martinez and Darling interviewed Texas Rangers manager Ron WashingtonRon Washington on the Rangers taking advantage of the Rays mistakes: “It’s a tough fought game and we’re taking advantage of some things. We’re getting a chance to run the bases and we’re trying to force the action.”Darling on the Rays lineup being unsure of how aggressive to be with Lee: “When you watch this Tampa Bay offense it’s almost like they are in between. They don’t know whether to be real aggressive or take a few pitches and try and get one down the middle.”Darling on Cliff Lee’s ability to spot his pitches: “He just becomes so effective and efficient. He can throw any pitch to any spot at any speed.”Darling on Lee getting many of his strikeouts looking: “When hitters at this level are taking pitches they are set up.”Martinez on the impending free agency of some key members of the Tampa Bay Rays: “Obviously Tampa has a deep hole to dig out of and the prospects of losing (Rafael) Soriano, Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena to free agency. There is some doom and gloom floating around in that Tampa dugout right now.”Martinez on how the acquisition of Cliff Lee impacted the Rangers: “This is why you make the trade, to acquire a guy like Cliff Lee; a guy who can set the tone for the entire postseason.”TBS’ Marc Fein interviewed Rangers slugger Josh HamiltonHamilton on the Rangers winning their first postseason series in team history: “It’s unbelievable. Obviously it is something we’re proud of as it is something that’s never happened in Texas before. I’m privlidged to be a part of this team and like you said the chemistry is awesome, we love each other and hopefully we can take it to the next level.”***** ***** ***** ***** *****Inside MLBWiner, Eckersley, Ripken and WellsEckersley on the dominance of Rangers starting pitcher Cliff Lee in the Postseason: “Talk about dominance, but it’s a different (kind of) dominance. Dominance to me is like when we talk about (Rays starting pitcher David) Price and his gas. This is totally different. (Lee) cut and carved (the Rays) apart because he threw half fastballs and half curveballs that were in the dirt when they swung. He’ll back-door you, he’ll paint you. He’s incredible. He does whatever he wants to do. The way you see him on the mound, he expects this to happen. To be a hired gun like that, think about the expectations for this guy coming over (in a mid-season trade). He did exactly what they wanted him to do and he’s going to do more.”Ripken on never picking against Cliff Lee again: “You think (Lee is) going to falter. He can’t be that good for that long. When we were making our predictions earlier, we were thinking, ‘No, we can’t go with him. Something has to happen with him.’ But I’ll never go against him again.”Ripken on the Rangers aggressiveness in Game #5: “I’ll give credit to (Rangers manager) Ron Washington. He let his team swing 3-0 (count), he let his team run the bases and they made it happen.”TBS’ Marc Fein interviewed Rangers team president Nolan Ryan following the gameRyan on the Rangers winning Game #5: “It’s exciting and it feels great. To see what Cliff Lee did tonight is just one of those special games that you’ll always remember. The way we won it with our base-running and it was totally a different game. We went in hanging our hopes on Cliff and he stepped up and did what everybody hoped he would do.”Ryan on how Rangers manager Ron Washington battled adversity early in the season and turned it into a positive: “I couldn’t be any happier with (manager) Ron (Washington). I think that he took adversity and turned it into a positive. Our guys rallied behind him, they played hard for him and he stayed focused on what we had to do as a team. He appreciated the position that he was in and we couldn’t be happier with him. It’s exciting to see Ron in that position.”Ripken on Nolan Ryan still being able to intimidate: “I think (Ryan is) still pretty intimidating because no one dared to come up with a bottle of champagne and dumped it on him. He was dry as a bone (after the game).”Wells on the importance of catcher Bengie Molina to the Rangers: “One key to (the Rangers) pitching staff is Bengie Molina, the veteran catcher that he is. He knows how to handle pitchers and make them even better pitchers.”Wells on Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Roy Halladay: “We just saw Picasso (Cliff Lee) and now we’re going up to Monet (Halladay), the impressionist because he impresses the heck out of everyone with the stuff he features. Being an ex-teammate of his and watching him grow up to (become) the best pitcher in baseball. Nothing is straight, he’s got movement, he’s got everything that you can imagine. He’s above and beyond the rest.”Eckersley on San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Tim Lincecum: “This is who I wanted to be when I was a kid. When I grow up, I want to be ‘The Freak.’ We’re talking swing-and-miss. We’re talking about ultra-cheese although his gas hasn’t been what it once was. He’s punching everyone out. It’s a different style of pitching. If he does get in trouble he can (strike) out the side. I just like the flair. He’s so small and so skinny and he gets so much out of that little body of his. When you first look at him you think, ‘When is he going to break his arm? How long is he going to last?’ He doesn’t even put ice on (after games)…he’s a freak.”Ripken on the Rays not being able to re-sign free agent outfielder Carl Crawford: “It seems inevitable that (the Rays) can’t keep Carl Crawford. He’s going to be out there and he’s going to get a lot of attention on the free agent market. What can’t he do out (on the field)? He’s a great defensive outfielder, he’s got power, he drives in runs, he steals bases and he does everything on the baseball field. He’s going to be a hot commodity and I don’t think Tampa is going to be able to keep him.”
LCS schedules and announcing assignments will be posted later.
