Texas A&M Baseball
Key quotes from Cliff Pennington interview
“(The Blue Jays’ playoff run) was a blast. As a player, that’s what you play for – a chance to go to the postseason, a chance to go to the World Series. That’s the second time I’ve made it to the postseason in my career, and both of those experiences have been the best ones I’ve had at the Major League level. It was an awesome thing to be a part of. I wish we could have gone farther, but it was pretty cool.”
“(Getting traded) is crazy. Arizona had a great team, but there are still some pieces they’re putting some pieces together to make that team what I think it’s going to be pretty soon. Like I said, over in Toronto you walk into that clubhouse and it was like, ‘Hey, guys. We’re not going to lose – ever. Just come join in, and let’s go.’ That’s what it felt like. That line-up that we were running out there every day was unbelievable. The starting pitching – from the time I got there to the end of the season – was excellent. They always talked about the line-up, but that starting pitching and the bullpen were pretty good in their own right. It was a lot of fun.”
“I don’t think any of us had ever really been part of an inning (like the 7th frame of game five against the Rangers), especially in the postseason. Everything on the line for both teams – to have kind of a bizarre play score a run for the Rangers just didn’t feel right. It was the right call. Don’t get me wrong, but I think the Rangers and the Blue Jays were just like, ‘No. That’s not the way we want this to end.’ We came to the dugout after that inning – it was obviously a long inning – and we had a lot of time to think about it. The coaching staff, the players on the bench and they guys on the field were like, ‘Hey, that’s not the way this season’s going to end. One way or another, we’re going to make sure that’s not the run that ends it. If they score more, that’s fine, but that’s not going to be the run that ends this thing.’ Then we go out there, and one of the best shortstops in the game has a rough inning and a couple crazy plays. It just set up for the grand finale of Joey Bautista hitting one of the biggest homeruns of his career and in Blue Jays history, really.”
“When you put that uniform on and run out there to play every day, there’s a chance that you can (make an error). As a player, you’re not harboring on it and worrying about it a bunch, but you have the opportunity to go out there and do something like that. That’s part of the risk and reward of playing. You could make the greatest play of your life in the biggest moment and be remembered for something awesome or you could have a regular, routine play be something you mess up and get remembered for that. (Bill Buckner) was a great player for a long time. He’s only remembered for one thing, and that dude was awesome. It’s part of the game when you get out there. That can happen, and that’s what you’re putting on the line, I guess.”
“Obviously, the game wasn’t going the way we wanted. The postseason is different from the regular season. You never think of turning a game in in the postseason. At the same time, we had one of our bullpen relievers who had a baby come early. He was actually gone, so we were short one man in the pen. We had a short start from R.A. Dickey. A couple relievers had to come in, and they didn’t go as long as they wanted to go. All of a sudden, we were in the eighth inning, and I saw Mark Lowe warming up. He’s our seventh inning guy. He’s a stud. He’s not a guy we’re throwing in a game down ten runs. We needed him to win the next day. I see him warming up, and he comes into the game in the eighth inning. I’m like, ‘We’ve got a game tomorrow.’ So I just went up to the manager and the pitching coach and said, ‘We need this guy tomorrow. We don’t need my arm tomorrow, so if you want me to throw and save some bullets for him, I can do it.’ They just kind of brushed it off. They said, ‘Just be moving around.’ But their body language said that it wasn’t going to happen."
"So I started moving around and threw a couple of balls into the net, because we don’t have a place to throw in Toronto. I was just kind of staying loose, and we came in to hit. They didn’t say a word to me. I was just sitting there. All of a sudden when we make the third out, the pitching coach walks by me and is like, ‘By the way, if a guy gets on, we’re going to need you to start throwing.’ I was like, ‘Alright.’ I ran down to the bullpen and started getting to the next level of getting loose. I still really didn’t think it was going to happen. For the most part, it was still way out there in terms of possibilities. But a couple things happened, and a couple guys got on. Lowe had Gordon down 0-2 in the count. He had him 0-2, and we’re talking about a guy that can hit 97 and has a nasty slider. I’m like, ‘Okay, you need to get this guys out.’ He ended up walking him, I think. I saw the manager walk out, and I was like, ‘Alright, here we go.’”
“Texas A&M was the number one choice for me all the way. It was just a matter of getting a chance to go there. When you’re in high school you don’t know exactly how the recruiting process can go. I didn’t know if I was good enough to go to A&M or go to a Big XII school at the time. I was definitely being recruited by most of the schools in Texas by the time I started my junior year and a few out of state schools, but A&M was where I ultimately wanted to end up. When Mark Johnson started the recruiting process, we had to push a little bit for scholarships and stuff like that. Everyone has to do that, but for the most part, that was where I was going to go. We were obviously super excited when I got to sign my letter of intent there.”
“When you look back at (your college career) most of the stuff is off-the-field – the memories and the guys and all that – but that 2007 regional against Rice is memorable. They had an unbelievable starting rotation. They lost to Texas Southern, I believe, in their first game, which was unthinkable at the time. It kind of opened up the door for us a bit. It still took everything we had -- Justin Ruggiano hit a grand slam – to make everything come to fruition, but it was definitely one of the best memories I had as an Aggie.”
“(Ruggiano) and I don’t talk on a daily basis, but when we see each other, we catch up – in the offseason or when we run into each other at football games and stuff like that. We keep in touch a little bit for sure. The baseball circle gets pretty small, and you want to keep up with the guys that you know.”
“My last win as an Aggie was against Texas in 2005 at Olsen. We won on (my walk-off steal of home plate). Obviously, the year hadn’t gone the way we wanted. We weren’t as successful as we thought we were going to be. We started out the year 22-2 or 18-2 or something really crazy. You’re playing the University of Texas, and you’re in an Aggie uniform. That game is everything to you at that moment. I was on third base, and one of their lights-out guys was throwing at the end of the game. He was a slider guy for the most part, and so we knew a wild pitch was a possibility. I just said, ‘Hey, if this thing gets away even by a foot, I’m going to try to go.’ He threw a ball in the dirt, and it bounced more up than it did out. I just went, and it turned into probably one of the better memories I’ve had in an Aggie uniform for sure.”
Aggie Flashback with former A&M shortstop Cliff Pennington
Key quotes from Cliff Pennington interview
“(The Blue Jays’ playoff run) was a blast. As a player, that’s what you play for – a chance to go to the postseason, a chance to go to the World Series. That’s the second time I’ve made it to the postseason in my career, and both of those experiences have been the best ones I’ve had at the Major League level. It was an awesome thing to be a part of. I wish we could have gone farther, but it was pretty cool.”“(Getting traded) is crazy. Arizona had a great team, but there are still some pieces they’re putting some pieces together to make that team what I think it’s going to be pretty soon. Like I said, over in Toronto you walk into that clubhouse and it was like, ‘Hey, guys. We’re not going to lose – ever. Just come join in, and let’s go.’ That’s what it felt like. That line-up that we were running out there every day was unbelievable. The starting pitching – from the time I got there to the end of the season – was excellent. They always talked about the line-up, but that starting pitching and the bullpen were pretty good in their own right. It was a lot of fun.”
“I don’t think any of us had ever really been part of an inning (like the 7th frame of game five against the Rangers), especially in the postseason. Everything on the line for both teams – to have kind of a bizarre play score a run for the Rangers just didn’t feel right. It was the right call. Don’t get me wrong, but I think the Rangers and the Blue Jays were just like, ‘No. That’s not the way we want this to end.’ We came to the dugout after that inning – it was obviously a long inning – and we had a lot of time to think about it. The coaching staff, the players on the bench and they guys on the field were like, ‘Hey, that’s not the way this season’s going to end. One way or another, we’re going to make sure that’s not the run that ends it. If they score more, that’s fine, but that’s not going to be the run that ends this thing.’ Then we go out there, and one of the best shortstops in the game has a rough inning and a couple crazy plays. It just set up for the grand finale of Joey Bautista hitting one of the biggest homeruns of his career and in Blue Jays history, really.”
“When you put that uniform on and run out there to play every day, there’s a chance that you can (make an error). As a player, you’re not harboring on it and worrying about it a bunch, but you have the opportunity to go out there and do something like that. That’s part of the risk and reward of playing. You could make the greatest play of your life in the biggest moment and be remembered for something awesome or you could have a regular, routine play be something you mess up and get remembered for that. (Bill Buckner) was a great player for a long time. He’s only remembered for one thing, and that dude was awesome. It’s part of the game when you get out there. That can happen, and that’s what you’re putting on the line, I guess.”
“Obviously, the game wasn’t going the way we wanted. The postseason is different from the regular season. You never think of turning a game in in the postseason. At the same time, we had one of our bullpen relievers who had a baby come early. He was actually gone, so we were short one man in the pen. We had a short start from R.A. Dickey. A couple relievers had to come in, and they didn’t go as long as they wanted to go. All of a sudden, we were in the eighth inning, and I saw Mark Lowe warming up. He’s our seventh inning guy. He’s a stud. He’s not a guy we’re throwing in a game down ten runs. We needed him to win the next day. I see him warming up, and he comes into the game in the eighth inning. I’m like, ‘We’ve got a game tomorrow.’ So I just went up to the manager and the pitching coach and said, ‘We need this guy tomorrow. We don’t need my arm tomorrow, so if you want me to throw and save some bullets for him, I can do it.’ They just kind of brushed it off. They said, ‘Just be moving around.’ But their body language said that it wasn’t going to happen."
"So I started moving around and threw a couple of balls into the net, because we don’t have a place to throw in Toronto. I was just kind of staying loose, and we came in to hit. They didn’t say a word to me. I was just sitting there. All of a sudden when we make the third out, the pitching coach walks by me and is like, ‘By the way, if a guy gets on, we’re going to need you to start throwing.’ I was like, ‘Alright.’ I ran down to the bullpen and started getting to the next level of getting loose. I still really didn’t think it was going to happen. For the most part, it was still way out there in terms of possibilities. But a couple things happened, and a couple guys got on. Lowe had Gordon down 0-2 in the count. He had him 0-2, and we’re talking about a guy that can hit 97 and has a nasty slider. I’m like, ‘Okay, you need to get this guys out.’ He ended up walking him, I think. I saw the manager walk out, and I was like, ‘Alright, here we go.’”
“Texas A&M was the number one choice for me all the way. It was just a matter of getting a chance to go there. When you’re in high school you don’t know exactly how the recruiting process can go. I didn’t know if I was good enough to go to A&M or go to a Big XII school at the time. I was definitely being recruited by most of the schools in Texas by the time I started my junior year and a few out of state schools, but A&M was where I ultimately wanted to end up. When Mark Johnson started the recruiting process, we had to push a little bit for scholarships and stuff like that. Everyone has to do that, but for the most part, that was where I was going to go. We were obviously super excited when I got to sign my letter of intent there.”
“When you look back at (your college career) most of the stuff is off-the-field – the memories and the guys and all that – but that 2007 regional against Rice is memorable. They had an unbelievable starting rotation. They lost to Texas Southern, I believe, in their first game, which was unthinkable at the time. It kind of opened up the door for us a bit. It still took everything we had -- Justin Ruggiano hit a grand slam – to make everything come to fruition, but it was definitely one of the best memories I had as an Aggie.”
“(Ruggiano) and I don’t talk on a daily basis, but when we see each other, we catch up – in the offseason or when we run into each other at football games and stuff like that. We keep in touch a little bit for sure. The baseball circle gets pretty small, and you want to keep up with the guys that you know.”
“My last win as an Aggie was against Texas in 2005 at Olsen. We won on (my walk-off steal of home plate). Obviously, the year hadn’t gone the way we wanted. We weren’t as successful as we thought we were going to be. We started out the year 22-2 or 18-2 or something really crazy. You’re playing the University of Texas, and you’re in an Aggie uniform. That game is everything to you at that moment. I was on third base, and one of their lights-out guys was throwing at the end of the game. He was a slider guy for the most part, and so we knew a wild pitch was a possibility. I just said, ‘Hey, if this thing gets away even by a foot, I’m going to try to go.’ He threw a ball in the dirt, and it bounced more up than it did out. I just went, and it turned into probably one of the better memories I’ve had in an Aggie uniform for sure.”
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