AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: ANGELS v WHITE SOX

October 14, 2005

Mike Scioscia

MIKE SCIOSCIA: There isn't at all. Our guys have moved on. I feel the same way. We didn't play the game we needed to play to win the other night, and you can't hang your hat on one call to say you're going to win or lose. We just didn't play on a high enough level to get it done, and that's the bottom line. We've moved on. We lost the ballgame.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, all year our starting pitchers have pitched deep into the game and have kept our bullpen where it needed to be. So we feel that with the pitchers we have down there, we have the experience, we have the talent to be able to shorten game where we have to if we're going to get by the White Sox. We have to pitch well in this series. They have a terrific pitching staff. So when you look at Brendan Donnelly, Kelvim Escobar, Scottie Shields and Frankie Rodriguez, our bullpen has the length and has the depth to get it done; Now, on the starting side, Jarrod Washburn pitched his heart out to get into the 5th. We're going to need a little more length than that from some of our guys just to get us to a point where we're not having these guys pitch on fumes as we get deeper into the series. It all works together, it's all important, but I'll put our bullpen up against anybody in our league.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Let's enjoy the ballgame. I think Doug has given his explanation, we've given our explanation of what happened. Let's enjoy the ballgame. You've got too much good baseball that's going to be played out there, and that's what we're here to do. You know, let's enjoy the ballgame.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Not at all, not at all. After the game, as we were coming off the field, we were picking guys up and letting them know, "Hey, we've got to move on from this." Our guys are going to be ready to play tonight.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: The last game in Chicago, right? Because here it would be 120 degrees from the last game here. I think the shadows are somewhat of an issue early on, maybe in right field. Right fielder has a little bit of a sun problem. But the shadows are over most of the field. It's a little tougher earlier in the year if we play when the shadow is kind of split between the pitcher's mound and home plate. The shadows shouldn't be that much of an issue as we move forward.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: It was well needed and well deserved for our guys. I think the fact of just not going to come in and put a uniform on and be able to relax and clear your minds after the whirlwind four days that these guys had was needed. Guys came in and they're refreshed and they're ready to go.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: There's no schedule for Bartolo to start throwing as of yet. As this moves on, obviously it doesn't bode well for the chance of him pitching if we're fortunate enough to move on. At some point you're going to have to pick up a baseball within the next three or four days to see how you feel. That's not in the plans right now, so we're going to take it one step at a time with Bart.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, I think the first game he hit some bullets that Uribe made some terrific plays on at short. Vlad has been as consistent as a hitter can be for maybe all but -- this is his second full season with us, maybe all but one month, which happened this summer, where hits didn't fall in for him as much as he spoils us and you're accustomed to see. He's fine. His bat speed is fine. Bart is a special player, and the thing about -- excuse me, Vlad is a special player, and the thing about Vlad is he can have six bad at-bats and all of a sudden come up and hit the toughest pitch you've ever seen and win a ballgame for you as he hits it 500 feet, so he'll be fine.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: I thought it was déjà-vu all over again. We heard about it probably four years ago. Kenny is a fine manager. He's got a great baseball mind and I know that he was comfortable there with that group of guys, and he had those guys playing at a very high level. He was my vote for Manager of the Year, just from seeing them firsthand and seeing the injuries they went through, the start that they had and the guys out of the lineup, for them to come up and play the type of baseball where it was nip and tuck the whole season until the last week and we had our hands full to get through our division and I think Kenny was a big reason for that.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: I'm not sure of the stats, but I just know that both teams, we played an unusual amount of close games, I think within two runs. I think the White Sox led our league; I think we were like second. So two runs one way or the other, games were decided. It has a lot to do with both teams are pitching driven. We both have terrific bullpens, and I think that we're able to get some power arms in late in the game as they are, and sometimes you're going to be able to muffle an offensive attack, and I think not so much that their bullpen has done it because they've gotten some terrific starting pitching the first two games, but our bullpen certainly has done it. I think you're going to be in for one of those, and I don't think it's a reflection on the offenses of either clubs because both offenses are going to scratch and claw and do what they need to do to score runs, but I think it's a reflection of the pitching in the series.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, I'm still kind of -- American League style-National League style, it's baseball. I think you have to -- in the American League with the DH, I think this is the first time in a while that I've noticed that there hasn't been the true DH's throughout any club, Edgar Martinez or Ellis Burks or guys that have been incredible offensive players for a long time in a DH role that you can build around. A lot of teams are kind of mixing and matching more, so maybe the depth of some line-ups as a whole, the American League aren't as deep, and I don't think a lot of teams have had to create like we've had to. That's a style that we have to play because we don't have the six or seven or eight deep in the line-up of guys who are all going to drive the ball. Some offenses were built around that for a long time, in the American League with the designated hitter being usually the focal point of that. So I think it's just really a product of what teams have. We've had to play this style. I know that the White Sox have had to play this style. Tampa Bay certainly played this style. There's a lot of clubs that have had to adopt the so-called National League style. I don't put that term on it. It's baseball. It's using whatever tools you have to to manufacture, and we've had to do our share of it.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Santana has been just what we needed when he came up and filled the spot in our rotation early on when Kelvim was down. We kept waiting for Santana to show some signs of wear and tear. He threw only 40-some innings last year in the minor leagues. This is by far his highest workload that he's had in his career, and he hasn't lost a step. We watched him very closely down the stretch, a lot of questions from the media that followed our club was "How is this guy going to hold up?" Well, we didn't know. No one had a crystal ball. He's been incredible, and the games he pitched down the stretch for us to get into the playoffs, obviously the job he did against the Yankees in the Division Series was noted and was incredible. He just keeps going.