Cliff Lee ESPN Interview

For all you Cliff Lee fans out there,

(I used to love watching him play in Cleveland. I’m sad that I wont get to see him much this season, but I’m glad he has a good oppurtunity in Seattle.) he was interviewed in the current ESPN Magazine. I thought it was a cute interview so I typed it out.

Kenny Mayne waxes lyrical about the Pacific Northwest with Cliff Lee

KM: Now, have you found a place to live out in Seattle yet?

CL: O’m actually going to rent Jamie Moyer’s house from him.

KM: I’d like to undercut Moyer: I have a rental property that might interest you more than Jamie’s. Mine’s probally smaller, but it’s on a lake. I’ll even offer two months for free.

CL: Wait, you serious?

KM: Sure am. If the Moyer deal falls through or he comes sort of a tyrant as a landlord, get back to me. Our last renter sucked. His Dogs trashed the place.

CL: Well, Jamie’s house is pretty nice. He’s got lke, 50 Kids, so it has to be pretty big.

KM: How much of a shock was the trade? Your comments suggested you weren’t thrilled.

CL: I enjoyed my time in Philadelphia, and I thought we were working out an extension. So the trade was a suprise. But as time passed and I thought about Seattle, I realized it’s not a bad situation. They have an unbelieveable defense and a pitcher’s park, and they made solid moves during the offseason. It’s going to work out. It’s going to be good for my career.

KM: There’s a certain amount of pride in being called the ace. But Felix Hernadez damn near won the CY Young last year. Does it matter to you who’s the ace and who’s no 2?

CL: That word is used to loosely in the big leagues. Just because someone in the No. 1 starter doesn’t mean he’s an ace. Not every team has an ace. So for people to suggest that we could be co-aces, that’s an honor. But really, I hope we have five aces.

KM: This baffles me: How do you pack for a 12 day road trip? Wear the same stuff twice?

CL: No, I make it a point to wear something different every day. If I can’t stuff it all into one suitcase, I’ll take two. The more you do it, the easier it gets. But I deffinitely don’t repeat.

KM: I hear you’re an acid outdoorsman, as many Arkansas guys should be. Did Moyer put in his rental package, as I would, a pheasant hunting trip to Montana?

CL: [Laughter] No, he didn’t. He just took my wife and me out to dinner.

KM: I once hit a deer with my car driving home from work. Does that count as hunting?

CL: No quite. But that’s why hunting is important- to keep the population in check. There are so many deer now that you can run over them in your car in the neighboorhood.

KM: It’s sad. They’re running out of space. I live in a little town in Connecticut, and people keep building homes in the hills. So now we have deer, foxes, wild turkeys..I even saw a bear. It scared the hell out of me, but he was just looking for food. I didn’t know what to do.

CL: You run the other way.

KM: I called the police. They said, “Did he do anything menacing?” And I said, “His presence is menacing.” and they said, “If he’s not doing anything wrong, oh well, you have bears.”

CL: Right. They wait for him to eat somebody before they do something about it.

KM: Have you hear the full history of baseball in Seattle?

CL: No, I haven’t.

KM: Well [deep inhale] We had a team in 1969: The seattle pilots. They lasted one season, and then Bud Selig bought them and turned them into the Milwaukee Brewers. In the following years, our then-state attourney General, Slade Gorton, sued the American League to get another team. That’s how the Mariners were born. And now that the Sonics have been stolen and the Huskies and Seahawks hit rough patches, it’s up to you guys to turn the city’s spirits around.

CL: I’m more than willing to do my part.