Ripken analyzes role as TBS analyst

The Kickoff

Courtesy of the folks from TBS, here are some highlights of what Cal Ripken Jr. had to say in a teleconference last week as he begins his commentator role for TBS' baseball playoffs coverage:

On how he will approach being an analyst during the postseason: "I always try to keep in mind that my job as an analyst is to have the background and understanding of what is going on and really to be able to give insight as to what happened in a particular game. A lot of that is drawing on your experiences and watching the game develop and giving insight that few people can give. We'll have Frank Thomas in the studio, who can actually give some feeling about what it's like to stand at the plate against some of these pitchers. Hopefully, I will be able to give a perspective about all the experiences and the things I'm able to identify during ... these series."

On how the short Division Series affect the outcome of the postseason: "My view is that certainly during the course of a long season, 162 games will decide who has the best team and who has the best depth when you go through that long of a schedule. All of that doesn't matter very much when you go to the next round, because you have a short series [of five games] and the momentum is sometimes achieved by the wild-card team that comes running in. If you have a great staff of five that will carry you through the 162 games, you eliminate that and cut down to three or sometimes four pitchers ... you lose your depth and your pitching staff, you minimize your bullpen. One call, one shift of the momentum can favor a team. ..."

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