	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: YANKEES v RANGERS

October 22, 2010

Ron Washington

ARLINGTON, TEXAS: Game Six

YANKEES Â– 1
RANGERS - 6

RON WASHINGTON: Well, I just want to say, first of all, congratulations to the New York Yankees. They have a good club. You know, someone had to win and someone had to lose. But you know, they certainly played with the heart of a champion.
I certainly hope that my club can pull things together for as long a period a time as they have.
Colby Lewis was outstanding. You know, I knew there was some doubters out there, but we watched this guy pitch for us all year and we knew he was capable of throwing that type of game that he went out there and threw tonight, and we certainly needed to.
Our guys came through. I love that team, because all they do is show up and play baseball.

Q. Was there ever any sense through the game that you felt like it was in-hand? It looked like in the fifth inning, the players had a pep to their step, throwing the ball around after they had scored several runs; did you get that sense at all?
RON WASHINGTON: No, we are aware that the game isn't over until you get the 27th out. But they did a lot of good things out there, they should have been happy and full of joy. But their focus never waved.
That's the way we play. We play with a lot of energy. We certainly don't play trying to show anyone up. When we do something good, we appreciate it. We give people accolades for that, but no, my team never once thought that game was in hand, especially when you play a team like the New York Yankees. We knew we had to get 27. We knew we had to keep putting the pressure on. We knew we had to keep playing baseball, and they certainly did that.

Q. Have you had a chance to see any of the National League Championship Series yet, the Phillies and the Giants and who would you like?
RON WASHINGTON: Well, I saw the Giants and Philly last night. The first game I had an opportunity to watch.
It really doesn't matter. You know, we are here, and wherever we have to go, we are going to take our bags, we are going to pack them up and we are just going to go continue to play baseball.

Q. Talk about Vlady, the big hit that he had that broke the game open and what he's meant to the ballclub this year?
RON WASHINGTON: He's meant everything to my club. He's brought presence. He's brought experience.
You know, that was just a matter of time before one of those pitches ended up in the wrong spot, and Vlad was able to do what he did. He's done that his whole career.
So you know, he was struggling, but you keep going to the well, finally, you come through.
He got us going, and once he did that, the guys started locking in and started doing some good things out there. We put enough runs on the board and we was able to hold them off.

Q. Can you talk about Josh and what he was able to do in this series?
RON WASHINGTON: Well, he's a difference-maker, and I always talk to Josh about presence. It's not about the results. It's about his presence. His presence in our lineup makes everyone else better. His presence on the field makes everyone else better.
He did that. He was intentionally walked three times. Now, I don't know -- I know Barry Bonds got walked a lot, but I don't know if that ever happened before. But he was shown a lot of respect, and because he was shown that respect, it sort of brought the level of intensity up on everyone else, because we are a team, and you know, Josh didn't get a chance to swing the bat; Vlad did; Cruz did, and we put some runs on the board.

Q. Conventional wisdom is that this sort of has to be done in stages, but your group went from never winning a Division title to all the way to the World Series. How does that happen?
RON WASHINGTON: It happens by going out there and respecting the game of baseball and coming every day and not caring about the obstacles that's in front of you; knowing that you can; believing that you can; and just going out there respecting the game, respecting your teammates, respecting the organization. All of those type of things is the reason.
These guys came together last year, and they made a commitment in Spring Training. The only thing I've ever told them from that commitment is the only thing that matters is what you believe inside the clubhouse, not what goes on outside the clubhouse. I keep saying the same thing over: It's not the best team that wins, it's the team that plays the best on that day. Well, that was quite a few days that we played better than the teams we played and that's why we are headed to the World Series.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297