Lee on Phillies: 'You kind of like seeing them lose a little bit'
SAN FRANCISCO -- Ah yes, baseball is not over. They will play the World Series without the Phillies for the first time in three years.
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?
absolutely cheering for Lee. He SHOULD hate the Phillies front office for trading him. I hate their front office for trading him too. Imagine a big four pitching against the Giants instead of Blanton. Cole pitching game 4. Yeah, I like my chances there. Also, I'm not cheering for the hippy team that beat the Phillies. How about the Phils send Rub Amaro away somewhere in exchange for Cliff Lee.— cnova000- Part of me was glad they lost, too, for dumping him and spinning it the way they did. Restocked the farm system my rear end!— dasher
- Glad he liked watching the Phillies lose because nobody is going to watch him win.— Greg V.
- Absolutely!!!!! He is the best big money pitcher in baseball. He loves the pressure. It's a damn shame that he isn't in Phila. However, Oswalt showed me that he is also a money pitcher. They should have kept Lee and traded Blanton.— clanceysclan
- I like Cliff Lee and I LOVED what he did for our team when he was here. I don't like either team in the WS, but I'll still root for Cliff.
- No matter how you look at it, getting rid of Lee was just plain stupid. Amaro is a very good GM but that move was stupid. Were all rooting for Lee especially against the Giants.— JACK V
"So, Phillies fans, are you still rooting for Cliff Lee?" Is this a rhetorical question? Do you read the comments at all in this paper of record website? The Cliff Lee fanboys haven't left their mothers' basements since the trade and have been madly typing away to whine, whine, WHINE away the time.- "Of course, had this happened in Philly, it would be splashed in every major newspaper and discussed non-stop on every sports talk show." It would be 24/7 talk on ESPN. Seeing that they are all Yankees fans, it's no wonder that their bad deeds get short shrift.
- "No matter how you look at it, getting rid of Lee was just plain stupid. Amaro is a very good GM but that move was stupid." So it was better to keep Lee for one year rather than sign Halladay for a multi-year contract? Because that was the choice. Phillies fans seem to think they could have afforded to keep both. We don't have the bucks the Yankees got, but 4th highest payroll in baseball is nothing to sneer at.
- Cliff Lee had a great postseason last year for the Phils. But we all need to get over it. He obviously feels bitter about being dealt to Seattle, but wouldn't anyone of us feel the same way? That said, I would take Doc Halladay ANYDAY of the century over Cliff Lee. Doc is a true competitor and one of the most classiest professionals I have ever seen. Plus, Halladay brings it every game. Does anyone remember when Cliff Lee lost 4-5 games in a row last season? There is NO WAY that ever happens to Doc. There may be something to the belief that Cliff Lee only tries his best when the the spotlight is on him. Doc tries his best whether its April or October! Would we really have done any better with Cliff Lee this past postseason? No, because the bats would have done the same. Phillie nation be thankful for what you have - a starting rotation second to none going into next year. Let's just hope that the front office and the big bats do what they need to do to get us back to the World Series in 2011. And why would Cliff Lee make those comments when he should be focused on game 1 of the World Series? I guarantee that H2O would never have made those selfish comments...— tytler
- Absolutely!— philpa
- I have no problem with what he said and I agree completely. I'm still rooting for Texas and Cliff Lee!— tas1869
- Of course I love Lee and hope he gets a ring. Think of the insult. The Phillies paid J.R. Romero $4.25 million and Jamie Moyer $8 million to do whatever it is that they do in the last year of their contract. But they decided they couldn't afford to pay Lee $9 million to be Cliff Lee in the last year of his contract.— jtj06
- BillHicks, I love reading your posts but you and a few others continue to put this Lee thing in an incorrect light...the deal was most certainly NOT to have either Halladay OR Lee for 2010. We traded for Halladay with Toronto. We signed him. We had Lee under contract for just $9MM for 2010. For almost two days, they were both on the Phils (pending the completion of physicals for all involved). Then, under the guise of Amaro selling this as a 3-team deal, we sent Lee to Seattle for next to nothing.
Why do you persist in always saying that we are stupid for wanting Lee for one year INSTEAD OF Halladay for 3? No one is saying that. But all of us are saying that for this past year, they were both ours to keep and Amaro and the ownership chose not to.
To make it go down, Amaro knew he needed to defraud the fans with his "3-team deal" thing which Conlin and Hagen and Donnellon dutifully helped him sell. It was complete nonsense, and so was the "need to re-stock the farm system thing. It was as simple as this: when we landed Halladay, we thought we had enough to win it all even without Lee. The cockiness that ownership and the boy wonder GM displayed then turned out to be our undoing. We remained cocky throughout most of the season, turned it on in September and then just faded in October.
The whole thing was a sham. It was never Lee OR Halladay !!!— advantasux - @advantasux, well said! And don't forget, it was not coincidental that we sent Lee as far away as possible in the process.— dasher
