Let’s provide your quotage from last night’s destruction of the Yankees at the hand of the Texas Rangers.
TBS provided some excellent pictures last night from the interference in right field that was not reviewed, to the home run hit by Nick Swisher that was reviewed and called foul, to the reaction by Alex Rodriguez to Bengie Molina’s backbreaking home run. In addition, TBS showed a montage of Molina’s home runs against the Yankees from the 2005 ALCS when he was a member of the Anaheim Angels and then on the next pitch, BOOM! Home run. TBS definitely majored in good timing last night.
And you had the excellent analysis by Ron Darling and John Smoltz and you had a very good production by TBS last night. While I do hope for a Rangers win today, I am enjoying TBS’ coverage during the ALCS.
Here’s your quotage.
Notes from MLB Postseason on TBS – ALCS Game #4 – October 19, 2010 TBS’ exclusive coverage of the ALCS continues on Wed., October 20 beginning at 3:30 p.m. (ET) with TBS MLB on Deck followed by the Texas Rangers @ New York Yankees (Game #5) at 4 p.m. (ET). The night will conclude with the post-game show Inside MLB.***** ***** ***** ***** *****TBS MLB On-DeckMatt Winer (host), Dennis Eckersley, Cal Ripken and David Wells (analysts) from Yankee StadiumWells on players dealing with negative press: “This means absolutely nothing. It’s all eyewash to me. If you’re a player and you get caught up in any of this whatsoever and you see a guy get emotional over this. You go over, talk to him and defuse it right away. You don’t want any part of this because you’ve got a job to do out on the field. You’re not concerned about what is written in the paper or what is said about you. If you are, then you don’t need to be on the field.”Eckersley on Yankees Game #4 starting pitcher A.J. Burnett: “(Burnett) is capable of anything. (Yankees manager Joe) Girardi said, ‘he can dial one up’ and he can but if he doesn’t get his breaking ball over (he’s in trouble). This guy is a stone thrower and if he’s on top of his game, he paints and he gets his breaking ball over. What do we expect out of him on 16 days rest? You tell me, I have no idea.”Wells on A.J. Burnett being a great pitcher when his mentality is right: “It’s all between his ears right now. When he’s good, he’s great. He’s got unbelievable stuff. He’s got stuff that guys wish they could have. When he’s on, he’s got no-hit stuff.”Wells on overcoming the fear of pitching at Yankee Stadium: “These fans can get to you. My first time coming in here, I was scared to death. I was afraid but once you get into the game, you realize what your capabilities are. But if you get some joker out there in the stands and he’s that one guy that really ticks you off, then your night is done.”TBS’ reporter Craig Sager interviewed Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter prior to the gameJeter on if the Yankees are in panic-mode: “It’s a seven game series the last time I checked, so there’s no need to panic.”Jeter on the Yankees approach to every game: “We’ve played a lot of games this year and our goal is to win a game. That’s the bottom line. So if you have that approach all along and every game is important, there isn’t anything different tonight (in Game #4).”Ripken on how the Yankees need to get a lead early in the ALCS: “(The Yankees) are the comeback kids and they’ve earned that reputation by coming back from behind and winning. But in the majority of their games, they’re not coming from behind. In the playoffs, you cannot afford to be behind this much. So they need to get out and get a lead, it would do wonders for A.J. Burnett.”***** ***** ***** ***** *****Game #4: New York Yankees (3) @ Texas Rangers (10) – Rangers lead the series 3-1Announcers: Ernie Johnson (play-by-play), Ron Darling (analyst) and John Smoltz (analyst) with Craig Sager reportingDarling on the size of Rangers starting pitcher Tommy Hunter: “The Cowboys are struggling, are you sure they couldn’t use (Hunter) on their offensive line?”Smoltz on A.J. Burnett needing to keep his release point the same: “One of the things that’s interesting about pitching is you don’t forget how to pitch but you lose your release point. That’s the thing you have to look for with A.J., can he continue to find his release point for all of his pitches.”Darling on how playing in New York can affect a pitcher’s mentality: “In (New York) more than any baseball town, confidence goes quickly. (The fans) will let you know it. That is always a big problem for pitchers that are struggling. You lose your confidence, you lose your rhythm and you become a pitcher who doesn’t want to throw strikes and doesn’t want to throw it in the strike zone.”Darling on the Rangers being able to manufacture offense: “These aren’t your parents’ Rangers. These are the Rangers who can steal bases, take extra bases, sacrifice hits, do all of the little things that (manager) Ron Washington wants them to do to execute offensively.”Smoltz on how to combat fan interference with home runs: “You have to set back the walls in the outfield so the fans can be a part of (the play). I know we’re in the day and age where everyone wants to be in on the action and a part of the action. We’ve seen that play a million times when the (outfielder) has robbed the home run. I agree that they made the right call but it’s a shame that (Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz) didn’t get a chance to rob that home run.”TBS’ Johnson, Darling and Smoltz interviewed Rangers manager Ron Washington during the gameWashington on if he felt there was fan interference involved with Robinson Cano’s second inning home run: “The ball clearly went out of the ballpark but we didn’t feel that the fans came on the field and impeded (outfielder Nelson Cruz) from getting to it.”Darling on young pitchers trying to power their way through difficult situations: “Sometimes in these situations (when the pitcher) has a lack of experience, you want to power your way through the inning. The execution should be and the only thought should be something down in the strike zone and get a ground ball.”Darling on how the injury to Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira affects his team’s defense: “With the two defensive replacements: (Nick) Swisher moving (from right field to first base) and (Marcus) Thames in the game (in right field), you can talk about (Mark) Teixeira struggling at the plate but two beautiful plays tonight (in the field). He’s given them so much stability at first base. Both positions, first base and right field, are now compromised defensively.”Smoltz on Mark Teixeira’s work ethic: “Having played with Mark (Teixeira with the Braves), I know that he takes care of himself better than anybody. He is so disciplined in his workout and his stretching. When he comes to the ballpark, he is prepared. He might not always execute but he is prepared and that (injury) is a shame to see.”Smoltz on the Rangers not letting up on the Yankees after losing Game #1: “One of the things that could end up being a blessing in disguise is the way the Rangers got beat in the first game. I mean not that you want that to happen but everyone has been on edge and everyone has come in (for the Rangers) and done a nice job since then. You never feel like you’re going to have a big enough lead against this Yankees team. From that point on, you’re always going to be stepping on the gas trying to make it (a bigger lead).”Darling on the Yankees not getting enough from their starting pitchers: “Other than Andy Pettitte, they have not gotten the kind of performances from their starting pitching that you would think (they would get). Until they get those kinds of efforts, this could be very difficult to (compete) with this Texas Rangers team.”***** ***** ***** ***** *****Inside MLBWiner, Eckersley, Ripken and Wells from Yankee StadiumRipken on the impact of Mark Teixeira’s injury on the Yankees: “(Teixeira) hasn’t gotten things going with his bat but you know it was coming. I think we take for granted how great he is at first base. He makes everybody else better. All the throws come over there and he makes his plays. I think that (injury is) a devastating loss. Not just defensively but stability in the middle of that order. Even when he’s not hitting, he provides a nice balance in the middle of that lineup. I think it’s huge for the Yankees to lose him.”Ripken on the Yankees decision to walk Rangers’ David Murphy in the sixth inning to face Bengie Molina who hit a go-ahead three-run home run: “There is a little rule as a player that if you’re in command of the game and you’re winning, let’s not give them a free pass to go ahead. That’s really what happened. I know that happens all the time in baseball but that (rule) is something that always stuck with me. If you’re in charge and they come back to score that run, they’ve earned it. But if you give them that free pass on and then they hit a double, then you’ve given them the go-ahead run.”SI.com and TBS reporter Tom Verducci interviewed San Francisco Giants outfielder Aubrey Huff following NLCS Game #3Huff on Giants starting pitcher Matt Cain: “He’s been unbelievable all year. It’s how our whole pitching staff has been. They keep us in the game and we scratch and claw out a few runs. We aren’t going to bomb anybody out (and score) ten runs. (Cain) kept us in all game and the bullpen has been exceptional. (Outfielder) Cody Ross got us started once again and he’s sparking us. You just can’t say enough about Cain keeping us in there.”Ripken on if there was fan interference with Yankees’ Robinson Cano’s second inning home run: “That (home run) was clearly over the fence. But if (the fan) interferes with (Cruz’s) glove and they reach out (onto the field)…I can understand if the ball is in (the stands) and you’re trying to fight the fans with your glove. Any contact and it’s almost fair game. But if you’re trying to make a play and they reach out then they are interfering with you. Either (the umpire) is thinking it’s non-catchable or they should look at it anyway (via replay) and that would put everything to rest.”Wells on how he would adjust the stadium fences to avoid fan interference on home runs: “I think they should put a fence up where no one can interfere and a home run is definitely a home run. Just raise the fences so we don’t have to have these questions.”Ripken: “If you were a fan, would you like (raised fences)?”Wells: “Yeah but I don’t like it as a player because you’ve had this happen a couple of times in the last ten-plus years. But still, get a fence high enough that no one can interfere and everything would be a legitimate home run or now.”Wells on Yankees starting pitcher A.J. Burnett: “What baffles me is (Burnett) can’t command any one pitch for a strike. He’s all over the strike zone. He made some great pitches tonight but to go out there and get ahead and be successful in the strike zone without giving up the home runs, you have to go out there and make pitches. You can’t be erratic like that and then expect something to happen. It looked like a grind through the whole game (for Burnett) with him making his pitches. But when he does have to through a 3-0 or 2-0 pitch, he’d throw a curveball and it looks like the best curveball you’ve ever seen. But then he can’t repeat it and that’s the thing with him, he can’t repeat certain pitches.”
Back later.
