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MLB WORLD SERIES: RANGERS v CARDINALS

October 24, 2011

Roger Staubach

ARLINGTON, TEXAS: Game Five

Q. How is your arm?
ROGER STAUBACH: My arm really feels good. I just threw it a little bit low. I threw it hard. I was up on the rubber, so when I came off the rubber, I kind of threw it like that instead of like that (downhill motion).

Q. Did you practice?
ROGER STAUBACH: I did, yeah. I was throwing really good in practice, you know. But it's a little different on that rubber. It's a downhill slant. I played baseball, so I should have -- I threw it really hard. That was my problem. I probably should have just -- it was a little low. I mean, it wasn't a strike.

Q. But it didn't bounce?
ROGER STAUBACH: Kenny kind of -- he kind of scooped it right away, yeah. I would say it bounced right in his glove real quick. Was it better than Dirk's throw the other night? Didn't his bounce a little bit?

Q. I think it was better than the President's last night.
ROGER STAUBACH: Yeah, I saw that one, yeah. Did you see mine, though? Mine was kind of low, though.

Q. We haven't seen it on the TV yet. We're from St. Louis. You have some memories from playing football in that city, always as the enemy. What are your recollections of St. Louis baseball, football, Cardinals?
ROGER STAUBACH: Well, I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. I actually played baseball through college, so I was a big baseball fan growing up, Cincinnati Reds, the Cardinals. You go way back to Gibson and all that. I was into baseball, so it was kind of a thrill. We used to stay at the Marriott there in St. Louis, walk across into the stadium and Stan the Man was there with the statue. Being a big baseball fan, it was a neat deal. We played them every year, so it was a good rivalry. The Cardinals and Redskins, the Eagles and the Giants in the '70s, we kind of took care of them, but the Redskins were good and so were the Cardinals. In baseball, Cardinals, through the years they've always had good baseball teams.

Q. What does it mean to throw out the first pitch?
ROGER STAUBACH: Well, it was a thrill to be asked to do it. When Nolan called me, I was in Washington, actually, getting -- I was there for a Naval Academy Foundation meeting and I was going to stay for the Navy game, and he said -- I said, I'm coming back on Sunday. He said, "Could you throw out the pitch on Monday?" And I said, "Gee, yeah, that would be great."

Q. Is this the first time you've done it in the World Series?
ROGER STAUBACH: Oh, yeah, yeah, first time.

Q. Does this bring back any memories from you guys being on the cusp of your first one? Can you go back to what it was like right before you finally win that championship.
ROGER STAUBACH: Yeah, I think that's a really good -- the feeling, because we were a team that could not win the big game. So we kind of had a buildup of winning the first -- the year before, I didn't get a chance to play in that game against Baltimore, and I started the next year in '71, and we lost in the Super Bowl. Then we came back and won. And then we actually won a few years later and came back and lost, so we had a couple back to backs.
And you know, for the Rangers, it's really -- after last year, I think they really feel more confident. It's 2-2. This is a big series, so anything can happen. But it's a big deal to -- first of all, when you get there the first time, it's a thrill, and you can handle the -- you don't like to lose, period, but when you get there the second time, it's a heck of a lot more difficult to handle it, I'm sure, and I'm pulling hard that they win. This game is kind of a biggie tonight.
But it's a feeling you have as an athlete that no matter what, you want to eventually win the big game.

Q. This is very much Dallas Cowboys country. What would it mean to the city of Dallas to have their first World Series title, especially on the heels of the Mavericks winning their first NBA Championship?
ROGER STAUBACH: Well, Dallas, this whole Metroplex, North Texas, it's been a sports area. They like winners. When we were winning in the '70s, if we didn't get to the Super Bowl -- but they still came out because we were winning. When they ran into a little bit of a dry spell in the '80s, late '80s, the fans still like a winner, but they're good fans. So overall the Mavericks -- I was at the game last night here, and it was unbelievable. These fans are -- it was big time as far as celebrations, as far as fans.
Everybody likes a winner. Attendance is better when you're winning. So it's kind of a neat deal for North Texas to have the Mavericks, and I think the Cowboys are coming back, too, by the way. We're 3-3 and we're hanging in there. With the Rangers and the Mavericks, it's really -- I've got a bunch of kids and grandkids and I've got a grandson with me, he's a baseball player, and the Rangers are really taking over.

Q. Many years after your career ended, you're now a sports icon here, and I'm wondering if you think maybe somebody like Dirk Nowitzki now that he has a title, could he someday be in that same vein?
ROGER STAUBACH: Oh, I think so. First of all, Dirk is really -- I've only said hi to him, I don't know him. I know his coach has played basketball at my house, from Germany, and gave me a Dirk basketball. He said Dirk is really -- I think the fans really like him. He seems like a good guy. The whole Maverick team -- it's nice to see teams, too, like the Rangers and the Mavericks that have class players, and Dirk -- I think Dirk is right up there with anybody in Dallas sports history as far as winning, and the way he did it, too, winning an NBA Championship.

Q. Apart from yourself, who would be on your Dallas area Mount Rushmore of sports figures?
ROGER STAUBACH: Well, of course I'm a big Aikman fan. Troy Aikman is -- it's nice to have -- it helped me I think a couple years after Calvin Hill and Duane Thomas, I think I was the leading rusher for a few years. So getting to Tony Dorset, is kind of nice in your life, just like Emmitt Smith was for Troy. So you've got Troy up there, you've got to have Dirk Nowitzki up there, and if you're a hockey fan you've got Modano. There's a history of football players and now baseball and basketball. Nolan Ryan is up there, and Kenny Rogers pitched his perfect game here with us. There's a good list. There's only four people up there on Mount Rushmore, isn't there?

Q. On the current team who's your favorite Ranger?
ROGER STAUBACH: On the current team, you know, I have never seen a lineup where you can say that -- from the leadership of Michael Young to just the enthusiasm of Nelson Cruz to watch Murphy have his moments, to see Kinsler, I mean, I just -- Hamilton, who doesn't like Hamilton? Who is there not to like on the Rangers? Really it's a likable team, isn't it? I'm just a fan, so I don't know anybody that -- Andrus, they're all -- look at Beltre, what he's done this year. That guy has been unbelievable. He just makes those plays at third base, and he's come through. Then I don't know if we'd be here without Napoli. That guy is unbelievable.
I think they're all really likable. I don't know them. I just think as a fan this team has really got a class -- what does Dirk call it now, "The Wash"? Washington, man, he's there -- he's developed not only as a manager that's made some good decisions, he's developed -- it seems like he's the team's get-guys-fired-up guy, too.

Q. Along those lines, you played for one of the most famously stoic coaches of all time. What do you make of the exuberance and the emotion that Ron Washington --
ROGER STAUBACH: Well, Coach Landry, he was an engineer, so we were very goal-oriented, outstanding, believable, achievable, measured. So preparation was phenomenal. You've got to have preparation. You can't just be a cheerleader coach, you've got to have -- Coach Landry wasn't a cheerleader coach, but he had everything else going, and he had the players' total confidence. Whether you do it through different -- you've got to have the players' confidence in what you're doing, and it's really critical. And I would -- again, if I asked the players, I don't know, Washington seems like he's got the players.
You know, Coach Carlisle with the Mavericks, that guy made some great decisions in the playoffs. They could have folded at times. They kept coming back. You know, Landry, through his own way of doing things got our total respect, and so everybody is a little different. But at the end of the day, it's preparation and making -- and the players believe in you.

Q. You mentioned Emmitt and Dorset. You saw what DeMarco did yesterday?
ROGER STAUBACH: Yeah, it's amazing, isn't it?

Q. I know it's early, but could he be the missing piece?
ROGER STAUBACH: Well, in the NFL today with the passing rules obviously they still throw a lot, but if you look at it, the running game still is critical. And so Dallas has got a young line, and if Murray keeps -- the guy could fill the gap that they need right now -- Felix Jones is a heck of a player. He's been injured. He's injured now. So they really -- I think Tony has got the receivers. They do need a running game, and I'm hoping that this is a good sign. They've got a young offensive line, but they need a running game, and there's definitely hope that they have it now, and Murray -- I couldn't believe it yesterday. I wonder what happened to him that one run? He didn't pull anything.

Q. He said he ran out of gas.
ROGER STAUBACH: That's what I heard, yeah. I'm glad he didn't pull anything.

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