Lee on Phillies: 'You kind of like seeing them lose a little bit'
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Lee on Phillies: 'You kind of like seeing them lose a little bit'
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
SAN FRANCISCO -- Ah yes, baseball is not over. They will play the World Series without the Phillies for the first time in three years.
That doesn't mean this series between the Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants fails to offer intrigue for those back in Philadelphia. You know, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is starting Game 1 for the Rangers.
Some Phillies, Jayson Werth included, will be watching Cliff Lee on TV.
"I'm interested to see Cliff pitch Game 1," Werth said Monday.
Well, Lee was interested in the Phillies too. He was watching the National League Championship Series. Oh, he was watching closely.
"Kind of mixed emotions, to be honest with you," Lee said of how he watched the games. "I pulled for a lot of those guys, but it's weird, when a team gets rid of you, you kind of like seeing them lose a little bit."
Hoo boy.
"I know that's weird," Lee continued, "but part of me wanted them to win where I could face them in the World Series, too. It would have been a lot of fun."
No doubt, it would have. Instead of Lee-Tim Lincecum, it could have been Lee-Roy Halladay in Game 1 at Citizens Bank Park, with Lee -- a beloved figure in Philadelphia -- on the mound for the opposing team.
Lee said he would have enjoyed that.
"When a team gets rid of you, it's funny how you have a knack for stepping up a little more when you face them," he said. "There's a little more incentive to beat them, and that's definitely the case with me watching the game.
"I was in between. I didn't want to have to face them or want to have to face the Giants. I let that series play out, and I pulled for those guys individually, but I didn't mind seeing them get beat, either, just because they got rid of me. That is what it is."
So, Phillies fans, are you still rooting for Cliff Lee?
who cares about these hired guns. look for other angles to write about. Why keep giving us the same trite nonsense. I thought creativity was a facet of journalism. I'll root for Texas because of Josh Hamilton, who played for a high school in my neighborhood.— retzlaff- He's a competitor, what's he supposed to say? I have no problem with his statement. Sounded a little torn, like he wanted the players to do well, but on the other hand if the team went further last year, that was good too. As much as I'd like him back, the Phils need to concentrate on a right-handed bat for the line-up and some bullpen help. We don't want the team getting old all at once, and the bullpen could use a little assistance.— kmon
- Let's go Giants...— Philly Fan in Kuwait
- Cliff the competitor, direct and honest, nothing wrong with that!— JBP
- Oh Lord. Here we go. This thread will probably have over 100 comments by morning.
@ GA in Blue Bell: GREAT analogy. That's how I feel about Cliff Lee. I like the guy, I like and appreciate what he did for us the back-half of 2009 and in the 2009 postseason (even got to see him pitch at CBP in Game 3 of the NLCS last year). But, I'd do what Amaro did again in a heartbeat. He got Halladay for 3 years/$60 million. Using your analogy -- I'd have walked-away from the one-night stand for a steady relationship, too.— AmyC822 - Heck yes i'll root for Lee, I'd have said about the same.
- if i was at the game i'd spit on his old lady too,he talks junk and he'll still sign with the yanks and say b/c he has the best chance to win with them even though he just beat them with his current team.— bdawkisgod
- i'm certainly not pulling for the team that knocked us out!— phillyinnyc
I like the Phillies. I hate the teflonics ownership, as Conlin calls them. Ownership by a faceless group of bean counters. So, I don't take Lee's comments personally, but I hope Montgomery and Company are offended. They are offensive to me. P.S. I hate the Giants, so I'm rooting for Texas anyway.- yes, i hope he throws three shutouts and RAJ gets an ulcer watching it...
Trading Cliff Lee is still one of the worse moves in Philly sports history!— ej610- This probably is off-base but ...
Lee has been traded 3 times in a year. Even factoring in different economics for different teams, it's rare a Cy Young winner gets moved that much, and for so little—I mean, Jason Donald's role in the perfect game that wasn't maybe the biggest impact the other teams recv'd for Lee. I suspect there is something more about lee and why teams give up on him. I get the feeling he's a little TOO honest (or self-interested). I think (I have no insight, just gut reaction) that he tried to play hardball with he Phils, and it backfired, and then he got mad. Colin Cowherd, who I sometimes enjoy and sometime not so much) said he thinks Lee tries harder against the better teams and when the limelight it on him. I don't know if that's true. But I think the Phils didn't really want Cole Hamels and the other youngsters around Lee's attitude. I mean Ruben loves his extra draft picks when you lose a FA. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong. But I think Lee may have overplayed his hand and knows it and wants it to seem like it was the Phils, not him, who may have been to blame. Like I said, it's just a lingering gut feeling. Now, I must go linger with my gut ...— Horst Muhlman lives on in all of us 
I can't wait to watch Lee pitch and I'll always root for him. When people wave off Lee's short stint here, I wonder if they realize how good he really is in the postseason? Like, we're talking Sandy Kofax, Tom Glavin, and Whitey Ford good. At a point sometime in the future, Phillies fans will be able to talk about how we traded away a HALL OF FAME pitcher for two rosin bags and a bag of chew. News to those who want it to go away-- it will NEVER go away, just like '5 for 1' and the Ryne Sandberg trades have never gone away.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=schoenfield/101026&sportCat=mlb— Sam Crow- Lee's comments only make me miss him more! Ruben Amaro's an idiot. Amaro's comments about Werth are far worse than Cliff Lee's. Amaro never shows any respect for his team.— ej610
- Honest answer! Now I believe what he said about the trade ever more. He wanted to be here. You can do without a piece of the offense like Werth for 18 mil if you have a pitcher like Lee for 20-22 mil.— Seed
