NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: GIANTS v CARDINALS

October 9, 2002

Dusty Baker

Kenny Lofton

Benito Santiago

KENNY LOFTON: Just a pitch that -- first pitch after usually the guy hits the home run and people are upset, they usually throw the first pitch up and in. That's what they did.

KENNY LOFTON: This is the playoffs. You have fun and you enjoy it. No, I don't think I did anything wrong. If I did something wrong -- when Jim Edmonds hit a home run against Randy Johnson, he started pointing in the dugout. That's something that -- I didn't do none of that.

KENNY LOFTON: First of all, this is the playoffs and there's no lead that's comfortable. I've been doing this for a long time, and no lead is comfortable. So, no, I didn't overreact. They probably -- first pitch after the guy hits a home run and the next time they throw inside, you look at that.

DUSTY BAKER: See, I didn't think he overreacted at all. I know -- what are you going to do when a guy throws the ball up around your head? Tony said we hit Renteria and he was hitting .500 and I said in no way in heck were we trying to hit Renteria to load the bases up with a 1-0 lead, especially with Tino Martinez coming up, that didn't make any sense to me. Plus, we were trying to come inside, the ball got away and hit him in the leg; it wasn't like it was up around his head. The thing that I kind of like questioned, to tell you the truth, was, you know, I very rarely have seen a pitcher taken out when another pitcher is up. So, you know, another guy can come in and get him out and can seemingly do what he wants to do with Kenny Lofton. Don't look like Matt Morris was called upon to do it. That's what I took exception to personally. Tony and I discussed it. It's over with and we've got another game tomorrow.

KENNY LOFTON: I just do what I do. I don't expect anything different. I go out there and play the game of baseball and I'm having fun right now. I'm enjoying it.

DUSTY BAKER: Well, No. 1, these guys can hit. This is the top two offensive clubs in our league and any time you get two top offensive clubs on any given night or any given moment, you can have a big offensive game. So, is there any explanation? Only explanation I can give is that they can hit and we can hit.

KENNY LOFTON: Normally, nothing. But I think when people are upset, they do things out of the ordinary, and, you know, we were kicking their butts at the time and they just had to do something to try to upset me or piss me off. But that's what they did.

DUSTY BAKER: I mean, what thing with Tony ? If there had been a thing, somebody would have thrown some blows or something. There was no thing. We had a discussion. Yeah, we're still friends. But on the field, we're competitors. You have a heated discussion with your wife, does that mean you don't love her anymore? That's just part of competition and part of the game.

DUSTY BAKER: Well, yes, I mean, we know Kenny's background. We know that Kenny is a big-time player, big-game player. He's been in the playoffs many, many times and he thrives on being that catalyst. That's why we got Kenny when he did. We got him as soon as possible. Kenny has been great for us, both offensively and defensively.

DUSTY BAKER: Not really. I mean, that's something that happens. I mean, one of the guys in the front out there was Scott Rolen; he's already hurt, you know what I mean? So, no, I'm not concerned about that. What you're concerned about is our team staying together and our team defending each other. That's what you're most concerned about. I mean, certainly, you don't want anybody to get hurt on either side.

KENNY LOFTON: Well, at that point, when I saw Vina, he doesn't have the ball; the pitcher has the ball. So I basically was looking at the pitcher, not at Vina. A lot of times, runners try to make you go back by the second baseman or the shortstop going to the base, but he doesn't have the ball. The pitcher has the ball so I was watching the pitcher. I saw Vina out of the corner of my eye, but at that time he doesn't have the ball; the pitcher has the ball. So I was still doing what I have to do.

BENITO SANTIAGO: Well, let me tell you something, you said 20; I'm 26. That's the way I feel. (Laughter.) This is baseball, and I understand that I've -- and I just try to go out and have some fun. I try to see the ball and make a good swing, and just try to put the ball in play.

BENITO SANTIAGO: No, he didn't fool me. But you've got to understand that most of the time, you hit the ball hard and right at people. I've got to take this one. I just swing on top of the ball and anything you can do to get the RBI in, that's a plus.

BENITO SANTIAGO: Well, it's good to jump on top. The first game, it's always good to win. Talking about Jason, you people know what this guy can do. He's been pitching great for us all year long, and I expect him to be the same way tomorrow. We'll see if we can beat these guys and go home with two wins ahead.

BENITO SANTIAGO: Well, let me tell you something, I've been seeing this for two and a half months, I've been hitting behind this man. That didn't start tonight. At the same time, on the other token, I have a lot of opportunities to make some damage out there at the right time. It seems like since Dusty put me behind this man, the concentration on me is on a high level and I'm really focused on what I'm doing. Like I said before, I don't like to see that guy go to first base like that because this is the best hitter we have. I would like to see him swing the bat so we can put some more RBIs up there.

KENNY LOFTON: Since I got over here, I've been feeling pretty comfortable, and in the last month or so, once we had to focus in and compete with the Dodgers, I think that kind of turned me up a notch because I knew we had to focus. When I go out there and try to focus, I think I play well. I think this is what is going on right now, is my focus is at a high level and once that happens I figure I go out and do my job.

DUSTY BAKER: No, not really. I don't draw lines. I don't knock chips off anybody's shoulder or any of that kind of stuff. We just go out there and just try to play. We are up 1 -0. We still have potentially six games to go and hopefully we can get to four before they get to four. As far as drawing a line in the sand with my team or whatever, our team slogan is we don't start nothing. But we don't take nothing, either. So you can just read into that whatever way you want to.

DUSTY BAKER: Well, you know, we tried various guys in that slot. Number one, he's a right-hand hitter. Number two, he puts the ball in play. He knows how to hit in that situation. He doesn't feel like he really has to hit a home run to get the opposition because he doesn't take it personal when they walk Barry, and that's the thing that -- like I hit behind Hank Aaron for three-and-a-half, four years and that's the first thing he told me, was don't take it personal, number one. And number two, you don't need a home run every time they do that. What you need is some base hits, and eventually you'll have quite a few RBIs and eventually they will start pitching to him.

KENNY LOFTON: First of all, I thought I would be there with the White Sox but that didn't happen. Once I had the opportunity to come over here, I was jumping up and down for it because this is something that I enjoy and something that guys want to play for. You want to get to the playoffs and have a chance to get that ring, and this is what it's all about.

DUSTY BAKER: I'm not really sure if that gives us an edge or not. But what it does, through repetition of playing highly-competitive games, games that are very, very close and to the end, you know, you tend to get used to playing those kind of games, those high-energy kind of games. Like I said, I don't know if that gives us an edge or not, but at the same time, you enjoy playing those kind of games and in those kind of games.

DUSTY BAKER: Well, I think it goes back to scouting. Our Major League scouts that are looking for guys that are winners. You've got to give Brian Sabean a lot of credit for bringing in a certain type of ballplayer and a certain type character. You don't want everybody on your team. You want guys on your team that have that competitive desire, guys that know how to win, guys that come to win and guys that are basically unselfish for the team to win. And that's why I think we've been successful in bringing in guys. A lot of guys say, "hey, man, we want to come play for you," but you can only have 25 and you want to pick the best 25 to play for you that you can.

BENITO SANTIAGO: Well, it was something bad and I went through it. In '98, that car accident put me on the sidelines for a little while, but I never gave up. I never gave up. I understand that the doctors at the hospital told me maybe that I wouldn't come back and play, but I didn't take it that way. I was always positive and I just told them that I'm going to prove you wrong, and I'm going to go home and learn how to do the right things to come back and be where I am right now. It's good to be in the stadium. It's good to be playing baseball, and regardless about what happened, my concentration, I learned how to not take things for granted any more, and just be pleased that I'm playing baseball again. And still talking to my teammates, still bouncing around with them.

DUSTY BAKER: No. Not really. It doesn't mean anything to me actually. I mean, I've been on some World Series teams that won the first two games and ended up losing four in a row. So you've got to win one before you can win two, and then you win two and then three and then four. You've got to take them one win at a time, just like a countdown to the finish line. We haven't won anything yet. We've got a very tough team over there. We've got a team over there that's full of pride, guys that are used to winning just like we are used to winning. It doesn't mean anything. We have a tough battle on our hands tomorrow.