NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: DIAMONDBACKS VS PHILLIES

October 24, 2023

Torey Lovullo

Citizens Bank Park

Arizona Diamondbacks

Postgame 7 Press Conference

Diamondbacks 4, Phillies 2

THE MODERATOR: We'll get started with Torey.

Q. I've got a couple for you. Just, first, obviously you've been through it as a bench coach, doing it in Boston. But just take me through those last few moments. That fly ball was hit out to right, what's going through your mind? What were those few moments like for you?

TOREY LOVULLO: First of all, before I answer the question, I just want to say it was an unbelievable NLCS. I want to obviously congratulate the Philadelphia Phillies on their success this season. They have a great general manager. They've got a great manager, and it was our honor to come and compete against them.

But, yeah, there's a lot of emotion. You're trying to compartmentalize things. You don't really know what's happening outside of the thought of getting three outs. That's all that I was focusing on, and we got to two outs. I felt like Paul was in total control of that. That last at-bat, I let my mind wander for about 15 seconds in between pitches and thought, we're really close to doing something really special.

For the entire state of Arizona, for this organization that's had a lot of hardships over the past 36, 48 months for us to be where we are right now, it was a good moment.

I allowed myself to go there. I tried not to because it's a dangerous thought because you can be let down emotionally. But when it finally happened and I saw the fly ball go up, it was a pretty euphoric feeling.

We're adrenaline junkies. It's in and out of that moment. And when it hits a high and you feel it, it's a flush through your body, and it gets no better.

Q. Just related to the win, have you received a phone call from Chris Russo conceding? Does he send you a letter? How does this work?

TOREY LOVULLO: I just talked to JP about that. He said he's a good friend of his, and I told him, you've got to follow through. I know he and Stephen A. Smith go back and forth with all these broken promises. Somebody has to follow through. I know he probably worked his last date at the MLB Network, and we're taking applications over there in Arizona right now to work for the D-backs. We need good people.

It's good fun banter with he and I. He's a good man. I consider him a friend of mine. The last time I spoke to him on the air, he said, I'm coming after you. We're going to keep coming at you and keep coming at you. He said give it back to me when you feel like you can, so I am right now.

Q. A couple of things. Are you going to go from here to Texas or go back to Phoenix?

TOREY LOVULLO: We are going to stay here tonight and then fly straight to Texas. Give the boys a day off tomorrow and then start working out on Thursday, right? Do I have those days right? Today is Tuesday. That's the plan.

Yeah, instead we're going to make a left at Oklahoma and head straight south to Dallas.

Q. During the season, if you and I were sitting here and you had just won the NLCS, your bullpen has been unbelievable. In mid-August would you have thought that this was possible?

TOREY LOVULLO: To be totally honest, no. I thought that was the area of our team that needed a little bit of a bump. And you said mid-August, right? Or mid-July?

Q. Mid-August.

TOREY LOVULLO: A little bit of a bump. We got guys, we got the pieces, but they hadn't yet shaped or formed. And it took a little time for us to understand what the new roles were and how people were going to be used.

I think once they got to that point where Paul was locking down that ninth, and we were filling it in with Kevin, and at the time it was Kyle Nelson because Andrew Saalfrank wasn't here yet, and then we picked up Thompson. It was one thing after another that fell into the right place, and once they got their roles, they took off.

You know, to come into this environment and stand on a 4-2 lead -- and we've done that several times down the stretch, not just in the playoffs -- you know you have a very capable bullpen. So the pieces were in place, and they started taking over from there.

Q. What's it mean to you? This is your second time here, right, or second time in the playoffs.

TOREY LOVULLO: Yeah.

Q. First time to this level. What's it mean to you and compare it to last time around in the playoffs?

TOREY LOVULLO: Yeah, we were in and out of it so quickly in '17. We won that knockout game. I think that was an emotional high.

Then we walked into a very tough Dodger team, and they just washed us out. So it happened so quickly, that I never really had a chance to enjoy the experience.

It's hard to describe what each day brings. There is a newness to each day. There's an excitement to each day, and then there's a curiosity to each day. Then when you walk in today for Game 7, there's an anxiousness and nervousness that takes over. It's unavoidable.

But as I was watching the guys practice and get into their day, I started to feel a little bit more calm about where we were heading. I knew they were in a good spot. But the days are cloudy. It's hard for me to separate days. It's hard for me to remember what happened two days ago versus what happened three days ago.

I just know we've been on this quest as a group to go out and perform at the highest level possible, and we've been doing that with a certain energy.

I know at the end of each day, I am emotionally and physically exhausted because of the investment. And I know that everybody has been sharing that same experience, but somehow, someway the next day we reload it, enjoy it, and get to work.

Q. When you think about your personal journey as a baseball lifer and all the Minor League games and all the teams you played for, all the coaching you've done -- I know this is about the team -- but you think about the scrap that you bring and all the knowledge you've learned along the way, do you think that you're a great fit for them and the players are a great fit for you as far as that relationship?

TOREY LOVULLO: I want to believe so. I just try to be my true authentic self every single day. I have to lead the team and sometimes make some tough decisions and have tough conversations. But I wouldn't trade one single piece of my career for how it went that led me to today.

Trust me when I say there were some real hardships. There were some very dark days in my career. We lost 110 games two years ago. So for me to sit here and tell you that I wouldn't trade that in -- if you told me that I would be coming out the other side of it like this, I would understand why I was having to go through that.

I learned so much about myself and the things that I really believe in and what I have to do every single day, to keep remembering my own personal purpose and the path forward was a challenge. I wouldn't trade it for one thing in the world because I've learned about what it takes to be the manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks, and I couldn't be more proud to be this, what I am.

Q. Two days ago when you got here, you said you didn't come cross-country to get your butts kicked. You must have had some level of confidence when you said that. Why? Why did you believe?

TOREY LOVULLO: You know, I was just trying to recalibrate things and make sure that the team knew that we were coming here to play our best baseball, and that's been the messaging, and it's been very consistent throughout the course of the year.

Today is going to be our finest hour, and I just wanted to make sure that they knew that's how I felt. Because I know when I sit up here, it's out of my mouth and in their hands on their phones, and I believed it. I said it a couple of times as I was kind of getting into the day, and I had a chance to say it in front of you guys because I meant it. I meant that we were going to reload, refocus. And even though it was a tough loss in Game 5, we still had a pulse.

When you stay connected the way we have been, you might need subtle reminders, but there are opportunities to kind of go out and do something and start a new day, and that was my mindset.

Q. Tommy Pham had said something to me one day when I asked him, how do the young players maintain such calm and I guess not being intimidated by the moment. And his comment was, right out of his mouth, they're prepared by the coaches. It's the coaching staff that's gotten them ready with all the information. You have an All-Star coaching staff. I would just like you to kind of talk about how you put that staff together and how that all works.

TOREY LOVULLO: Man, that makes me feel so good when I hear those types of things, because I love my coaches. It's my job to coach the coaches and stay after them, much the same as it's Mike Hazen's job to coach me and keep after me. The way I depend on him, I know they probably depend on me and my messaging.

When you talk about the amount of trust and the faith, blind faith, that they have in me -- because I can say some outlandish things or have some crazy ideas -- they back me no matter what. And that means more to me than anything.

I am of the mindset that everybody needs direction. Everybody needs a push, and everybody wants structure. It's our job as coaches to never, ever come off of wasting a day and making somebody better.

I'm tough on coaches, believe it or not. You don't know that. I have discussions with them about things that I don't like, that we have to get better at. And now it's kind of like clockwork. I give them a certain look or certain stare, and they're on it. It's kind of working so well.

The players deserve the credit for trusting the players. Love, trust, commitment, and effort are the backbone of our culture. So when a coach does that and you build that backbone and you start to gain that trust, players will listen.

It's easy to not listen when you are a player who is frustrated. But at their toughest moments, the coaches go out there and coach their butts off, and that makes me feel good that Tommy acknowledged that.