MLB WORLD SERIES: INDIANS v MARLINS

October 19, 1997

Sandy Alomar

SANDY ALOMAR: When he located the fastball leaning out, keep his change-up down, that was the key of Chad Ogea. When he keeps the fast balls high, he's going to be in trouble. And that's why a couple of times I kept telling him to keep the ball low. Because he gets in a big deal of trouble when he keeps the ball high.

SANDY ALOMAR: Well, the ball -- it was in front of me, it wasn't that far from me, I saw Moises peak a little bit, he had a bad jump and decided to go on to third base. I was lucky enough to make a low throw to Matt Williams, and he was able to make a good tag. I took a chance but I thought we were going to have him anyway.

SANDY ALOMAR: I was going to run over Chad Ogea if I didn't, might as well just throw the ball from my knees and try to prevent a collision with Chad.

SANDY ALOMAR: I've done a lot of dumb things, believe me. I can't remember what one. Sometimes when I'm not very aggressive behind the plate, I make some mistakes. And I learned that through the years in baseball. I think that's the dumbest part in baseball. You've got to be aggressive.

SANDY ALOMAR: It's my dad's birthday. I think he called me this morning and he was talking to me. And I had forgotten to tell him Happy Birthday. But after I had the homerun I talked to Keith Oberman, I told him, be sure you say on TV it's my dad's birthday, and then I got that homerun. I'm not trying to be cheap, and not buy him a present. I gave him a watch last week, so he already got a gift.

SANDY ALOMAR: He's 54.

SANDY ALOMAR: He didn't change much, he was just throwing more fast balls in different locations. I think the ball that Alou hit was a pretty good pitch. He's hot right now, I guess he's locked in. So sometimes you've got to give credit to the hitters. Not always the hitters get a bad pitch, sometimes they get a good pitch. He kept his composure and kept pitching the way he wanted to pitch.

SANDY ALOMAR: Well, in 1990 when I was Rookie of the Year, I thought I had the whole world in front of me. And '91, '92, 93 -- I can keep going -- I was very disappointed because I was plagued with many injuries and it was kind of frustrating. I kept asking God to give me the health. And I'm glad I'm healthy right now. I thought it was unfair that every year I had injuries and I couldn't improve my talent. I came through the San Diego Minor league system, and everybody thought it was going to be great behind the plate, but I didn't have a chance to perform. I'm glad that I'm healthy now, I can show the whole world that I can play baseball and I'm a good catcher.

SANDY ALOMAR: I don't feel like the All-Star Game, because it's an exhibition game, it's fun to be in front of your home fans, but at Camden Yards, the homerun against Rivera, gave us a chance to stay in postseason an extra day. The base hit, the win against Baltimore. And to clinch the division against New York, those are the three biggest hits I had this year.

SANDY ALOMAR: I can only speak for myself. The one I hit, I was middle-in. I was lucky enough to get a be looking inside, he threw the ball where I was looking and I put good wood on it. The other guys I felt they were having good sinkers, the ball that Brown hit he chopped it into the ground, so it went over the pitcher's head.

SANDY ALOMAR: To be honest with you, I was looking for a high pitch, because if I try to swing low pitches against Kevin, I don't think a right hander has a good chance to hit against Kevin Brown if you're looking low. You have to make him bring the ball up. I got a high ball, I don't know if it was a sinker or slider, I know I hit it, but I don't know if it was a little cutter or a sinker, but it was a pitch high strike.

SANDY ALOMAR: Well, I didn't want to fall in the pattern. I wanted to give the hitters a different view every single at bat. I wanted -- I didn't want the hitters to hit the same pitch over and over. I wanted them to have something in their mind that these. I think it put a thought to the hitters. We tried to get a little more speed, finish up with more fast balls.

SANDY ALOMAR: If he keeps the ball low and hits the corner, he's very effective. He has a good chance to be like Greg Maddox. He hits the corners very well.

SANDY ALOMAR: Well, let me tell you this, if I was healthy and -- I already have six knee surgeries in my left knee. When I came up, when I was 22, 24 years old I used to throw from my knees, had a great arm. Many injuries has slowed me down. I think Charlie Johnson is the best throwing catcher that I've seen. I'm impressed with him because he's a tall guy, and getting off the ground so quick, and making such accurate throws. He's probably the best throwing catcher I've seen, him and Rodriguez.

SANDY ALOMAR: I try to be patient. I try to be patient, because something that I had in the past, when I'm impatient I either swing at a bad pitch or only see one pitch. So I just try to be patient, make sure that I get the pitch that I want to and just relax. This is a fun game. This is just a game, this is not something else, you know. It's not like the world is ending tonight. You go out there and have fun. And I think the best thing happenings with the players have fun, and go out there and enjoy yourself.

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