AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: ANGELS v WHITE SOX

October 15, 2005

Ozzie Guillen

OZZIE GUILLEN: Well, I always say pitching, hitting, defense, they're all important, and they showed me today. I went out to the last inning, I went out and talked to Freddy (Garcia) about he's got enough, "I got a lefty ready," and Freddy give me the right answer: "Do not get me out of here." He want to follow his teammates, what they did a couple days before, and he wanted to be part of that, too. When he gave me that answer, it was just walk away and let him pitch. I think it's nice when you have four guys there you can count on.

OZZIE GUILLEN: We are not the type of team that are cocky. I think the cockiest guy is me, and I'm pretty low key in the playoff. I always tell me guys, listen, whatever happened tonight doesn't mean anything tomorrow. It'll be a different ballgame. When you play a short series, anything can happen. Obviously we have the advantage because we have a couple games, but with the kind of ballclub they have, anything can happen. You're playing the best team in the American League and they are here for a reason, and you have to respect those guys because believe me, they have the type of team that can go and win eight games in a row.

OZZIE GUILLEN: Freddy was throwing first pitch strikes, it would be a breaking ball or a fastball for strikes, and when Freddy gets ahead of the hitters, he's going to throw a better game. From the get-go he was aggressive, he was attacking the strike zone, and when Freddy does that, he's going to be more effective, just attacking the strike zone and making the pitches work.

OZZIE GUILLEN: Well, besides the talent because they have pretty good talent, the pitching staff come up big and they have clutch hitting. They always believed in their self. They always believed they could make it, and they did, even when we were facing a pretty good pitching staff. Like I said, they'd take it one day at a time and see what happened, and they come with a victory. Believe in yourself, trust yourself, and that's all you can do with the short series. That's what the Marlins did.

OZZIE GUILLEN: You know, (Juan) Uribe's got one of the best arm in that position, (Tadahito) Iguchi, playing tremendous second base and when Uribe got the ball we got a chance. I always say you have to hit the ball hard, hard enough to do it, you've got to get the right guys on base and you have to get the right feet. That's what we did. That was a big part of the game. That double play there was a big part of why we turned around and won this game because we don't know what could happen after that.

OZZIE GUILLEN: I know it was tough. I didn't see it. I just assumed the ball got hit. I just looked and the guy was making the play. They come out, I saw Finley say something to the home plate umpire, and that particular thing you can't hear because the thing was so loud, and the only thing you can do is hear the contact. I guarantee the umpires don't hear anything about it, and that's why he made the call.

OZZIE GUILLEN: I always say don't let the monster wake up. I said that against Boston, I said that against Cleveland. I think the last two clinchers in a row, we clinched on the road. Hopefully tomorrow we do it or else we have to be prepared for the next day. Tomorrow is a big game for us, maybe the biggest game we're going to play this year, and hopefully we come home with a victory. It's not going to be easy. Those guys are going to show up ready to play, and like I say, you never know what's going to happen. In a short series anything can happen. Hopefully we do it tomorrow, and if not, we go back to Chicago. The win today is only guaranteed a seven-game series. That's all it guarantees for us. It doesn't guarantee a win. Hopefully we do it tomorrow. If not, we'll go back to Chicago and see what happens.