NLCS Notes: Crowd noise, Harper's growth, Strahm's hair and more
NLCS Notes: Crowd noise, Harper's growth, Strahm's hair and more originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The pregame interview room will never be mistaken for a comedy cabaret, but Tuesday’s sessions in the basement of Citizens Bank Park yielded a handful of humorous moments, insights and observations worth repeating.
Phillies shortstop Trea Turner, on comments made by Diamondbacks Game 2 starter Merrill Kelly that he couldn’t imagine the crowd being louder than it was when both played for Team USA against Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic:
“I think domes (such as Miami’s Marlins Park where Turner’s game-winning grand slam sent the United States to the semifinals) are a little different. Sometimes they’re pretty loud just because of the roof being closed.
“But as far as atmospheres, I think this one is just different. Our fans have been unbelievable. I don’t know what decibels are, but I guess we did something cool. AC/DC concert level decibel the other night.”
Turner seemed to smirk just a little. “I would just wait and see what he says after,” he added.
There are reports that the noise level CBP spiked at 111 decibels during Game 1 Monday night. That’s considered dangerous for exposure of more than 30 minutes.
Lefthander Matt Strahm on his long, stringy hair: “It actually all started in ’17 when I blew my knee out. I got a haircut that day and then jokingly said I wasn’t going to cut my hair again. After spending three months on crutches and in a brace, it kind of got through the awkward stage and I let it go.
“My younger brother has always told me I should grow it out. It was kind of like, all right, let’s see. Honestly, I don’t know when I’m going to cut it. When I FaceTime with my daughter, if I have my hair up in a bun, she’ll look in the camera like, ‘Who’s that?’ When I take it down, she knows who it is. So it’s going to be here for awhile, I think, until her and my wife tell me to cut it.”
Manager Rob Thomson on one of the things that he believes makes Kevin Long a successful hitting coach: “There’s a roomful of information that we get now. And I think the greatest coaches, what they do, is they take this roomful of information, they put it in a little thimble and they hand it to the player. Just keep it as simple as possible so they go to the plate they can put their body on autopilot and just hit.”
Turner on how Bryce Harper has changed since they were Nationals teammates: “The voice to the front office is one thing that I think sticks out. “That’s something you gain as you get older and you get that experience and you can communicate with (president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and managing general partner John Middleton) to advocate for things.
Harper openly campaigned for the Phillies to re-sign catcher J.T. Realmuto when he was about to become a free agent and also pushed to bring in Nick Castellanos, Kyle Schwarber and Turner.
Strahm, resident of West Fargo, North Dakota and an avid baseball card collector, on what he’d like to add to his collection: “I have one of them, but I don’t have it the way I want it. I have a 1961 Roger Maris. It’s a PSA 4 (quality). I’d like to get a 10. But Roger Maris, North Dakota guy, 61 homers on ’61. So I think having his ’61 card would be cool in a PSA 10.
“There are a few out there, but they’re an arm and a leg. And I’m kind of cheap.”
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo on playing pickup basketball with his coaches: “We actually played (Tuesday) morning at the Palestra and the Palestra is probably my favorite venue of all that we play in. There’s something special about it. There’s so much history there. I spent time walking around, learning about the building. It’s just a lot of fun.”
