AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: ANGELS v WHITE SOX

October 14, 2005

Ozzie Guillen

OZZIE GUILLEN: Well, I think when you play in the playoffs you expect everything to be cold. Going to the West Coast, it's to the advantage of the players. I think it's more fun watching games when it's warmer. Hopefully that will work out for us.

OZZIE GUILLEN: Well, Bobby threw the ball well real for us. We got him in the big league -- this kid, I saw him throw early spring training. I like what I saw and talked to him about it. I said, "You stay healthy and you keep yourself off the field and on the field together, you've got a chance to be in the big leagues." We bring him up, and right away I give him the chance to close a couple of games. I liked the way he did it, and that's why I kept him to be the closer.

OZZIE GUILLEN: We should. We better. The last games is nothing. I'm not going to take anything away from the pitching staff. I think they have one of the best bullpens in baseball right now. But I think our approach is not the one we like to have. I don't say this is an excuse, but maybe the couple days off we have, we were out of timing a little bit, but hopefully we get back together in a groove like we was against Boston and against Cleveland at the end of the season.

OZZIE GUILLEN: We're going to stay aggressive. I think that's the way we play. We're not going to take anything for granted, but I think right now we play against one of the best catchers in baseball, the best throwing catcher, one of the smartest managers I've ever competed against, and I think those guys really try to keep you off the base. I think they know we're going to be running. They know we're going to be aggressive on the basepaths. Hopefully we get better the next couple of games.

OZZIE GUILLEN: I don't know the shadows. I know in Chicago it's kind of tough. But we practiced yesterday, and I think everybody was hitting the ball well. When you come to the playoffs most times you do not play night games. Most of the way the shadows would be on the way because it's not summer anymore and we've got to deal with it. Hopefully it's not there -- hopefully when we score first, the shadows come out.

OZZIE GUILLEN: Well, I don't want to throw Freddy under the bus, but that's a pretty good excuse. You know, hey, when you have the type of job we have, as a manager and the coaching staff and the general manager, man, you've got to make decisions, any decision is not an easy one. It's not easy for us to do that because (Jon) Garland not pitching for 11 days or I don't even remember the last time he pitched, and for us to have an idea to put Freddy fourth because of the amount of innings he was throwing. He threw a lot of innings, and it gave me a chance to give him another day of rest, and I think you've got to give him one day before the start. He starts tomorrow, that means he's going to start so many days. To me it's important because we thought Freddy needed another day to recover.

OZZIE GUILLEN: I don't want to say anything about Vlad because I don't want to wake him up. I think our pitching staff is doing a tremendous job all year long against him. I think Vlad is the type of guy, he's the type of guy that's got to hit three homes runs and RBIs and that type of thing, we keep making good pitches to him. I think right now they're doing it, and the honesty we have he just keeps trying to hit the ball out of the ballpark. I think the key for them is just to try to get Figgy and Cabrera out there because I think Vlad is a better hitter when he's got people on base.

OZZIE GUILLEN: Well, I just -- hopefully we keep the little monkey in the cage. That little monkey drives people crazy. It's not easy to come here and see the little monkey jump up and down. Hopefully we keep him in the cage and not wake him up. I think the crowd in Chicago was outstanding. I was talking with a couple media and they said they've never seen so many people excited about the last game. The crowd here will be really loud. We expect that. It's a big ballpark, and hopefully we make those guys stay quiet. We know it's going to be loud.

OZZIE GUILLEN: Vlad is a quiet guy when he's around people he doesn't know. Besides I was his coach, I was his interpreter and I was helping him off the field, and we pretty much hung around a lot when we were playing. I think Vlad got a lot of sense of humor, and he's just shy around people. But then when you get together with him and talk to him about -- when you have dinner and around his family, this kid likes to talk and it's a matter of time when he's going to talk. When he sees people around him, he's just kind of shy.

OZZIE GUILLEN: Well, I think so. I think A.J., he just did what not too many people would do. A.J. had his head up in the play, and I don't think it's A.J.'s fault. I don't see why they're going to boo him. It's not his fault. I think he did what he was supposed to do. If they're going to boo him, I think A.J. would be the perfect guy. Everybody boos A.J. wherever he goes. He loves that. I think he loves that because it pumps him up, and I think every time they boo this kid, it makes him a better player.