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MLB WORLD SERIES: RANGERS v CARDINALS

October 28, 2011

Ron Washington

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI: Game Seven

Texas Rangers 2
St. Louis Cardinals 6

Q. Does this feel like something that was in your grasp and got away?
RON WASHINGTON: Well, before I answer that question, I just want to say congratulations to the St. Louis Cardinals, Tony La Russa and his staff, and his players did a get job, and they're truly the world champions. I thought they beat a pretty good team, and they deserve it.
You know, sometimes when opportunity is in your presence, you certainly can't let it get away because sometimes it takes a while before it comes back. You know, if there's one thing that happened in this World Series that I'll look back on is being so close, just having one pitch to be made and one out to be gotten, and it could have been a different story. But you know, when you're a champion, you keep fighting, and St. Louis fought, came back, got us yesterday, and they beat us tonight.
They deserve it. We certainly got our heads high. We're going to walk proud. The Texas Rangers organization have a lot to look forward to, and we are certainly willing and able and have deep plans to meet that challenge.

Q. What did you say to your players after the game?
RON WASHINGTON: That I felt like they are champions, although we didn't get the World Series trophy. Those guys committed themselves to get here this year and win this, and they did it. A lot of times it's nothing but talk, but it wasn't talk in that Texas Rangers clubhouse. We just didn't get it done. We got beat by a good club.

Q. Nelson Cruz was getting scrutinized for last night in the ninth with that catch, now it'll become more after this World Series. What would you say to the people who feel like Nellie Cruz and not making that catch in the ninth helped determine this outcome?
RON WASHINGTON: Well, we've always been a group of guys that win and lose together. The play wasn't made, and Nelson is not the one guy that should be singled out. Every single guy in that clubhouse feels the loss for that. So we win and lose together, and that's the way that is.

Q. After last night's game you guys came out, got two runs. Did it feel like just another blow to the gut when they came right back against you, and no matter what you did you guys just weren't going to be able to get past this team?
RON WASHINGTON: Wasn't thinking like that. We got two runs, Harry got two outs, and then put two guys on, and then got into a 3-2 count with Freese, and he caught a pitch. We wasn't behind. We was still in the ballgame. We just didn't get an opportunity the rest of the day to get that hit to make a difference. They did.
Nope, we wasn't thinking like that. That's the way baseball goes sometimes. But we was still fighting to put runs on the board. And got to tip your hat to Carpenter, too, because after that first inning we pressured him a little bit, but he bent, he didn't break. And they ended up putting some runs on the board and winning the ballgame.

Q. You've been pretty confident with the decisions you've made all through the World Series. One that you may be second-guessed on is whether or not you could have started Holland for this game. Who's to say if things would have been different. But is that going to be something that's in the back of your mind at all?
RON WASHINGTON: No, there's not going to be anything in the back of my mind. I did what I thought was best for us. A lot of people have opinions about things, but as I said, the first time I sat down here when we came down to St. Louis, I know my team better than anybody in this room.

Q. Your bullpen was so dominant, especially against the Tigers, and they ran into problems in this series. Why do you think that is?
RON WASHINGTON: I don't have the answer, because I wish they would have continued to be dominant. I wish I did have the answer. I don't. You know, those are the guys that got us here, and those guys was in position to take us further, and it didn't get done. And that's it.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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