AL DIVISION SERIES: RED SOX v WHITE SOX

October 4, 2005

Terry Francona

TERRY FRANCONA: He has very good numbers against Contreras -- not just good numbers. We certainly try to get as much information as we can to put our ball club in a best situation to win. He's done some damage against him. We're trying to get the most production out of that position as much as we can.

TERRY FRANCONA: If we lose tonight I'll come in and try to tell you that we're going to try to win tomorrow. If we win tonight, I'm going to come in and tell you we'll try to win tomorrow. Hopefully we can win 3 before we lose 3. That would be my perspective. You know, we have been through enough of this where regardless of what happens today, I'll probably be a little bit loose if we win, but regardless what happens, we'll try to win the next game ahead of us. That's the best way to look at it. I think sometimes keeping it simple is probably the best way to go.

TERRY FRANCONA: Well, the first one would be to keep them off base. That's the easiest way. No, we're very aware of what some of their guys can do on the bases and there's many teams in the league that's one of their strengths. If you are able to keep it under control, you know, if the ball ends up where it's supposed to when it's hit or pitched, we'll be okay. If they are able to use it where they get extra opportunities, it will be definitely be their advantage. It's our responsibility not to let that happen.

TERRY FRANCONA: I know that. I realize that. That didn't sound like a question. I missed something there.

TERRY FRANCONA: Wow, I'll take a deep breath. What's going to happen is I'll look like a dumb ass. I do that good enough on my own. We're going to try to win today. If -- when tomorrow comes, we'll talk about it and everything, but trying to win two before you can win one doesn't really help. I think I have been pretty consistent in how I feel about this. We have today right in front of us, and it's a really important game, we'll go out and try to win it. When this game is over, regardless of what happens tomorrow's game will be the next important game. We'll tackle that one as appropriate. That's the best way to do it.

TERRY FRANCONA: We decided to go to ten in this five-game series. We have a day off in between and we have Bronson in the bullpen, which gives you the 11-man staff. Doing that, we were able to carry the extra-position player, and we have been in a situation where we have been constantly running for our first baseman possibly hitting for them. This gives a chance for Adam to play any position in the outfield and run a little bit and keep Machado to play in an outfield position and run. I think we viewed it as potentially helping us more than the extra arm. Lenny DiNardo was certainly a candidate to make this club, and will be if we advance. He did so well he pitched himself into our plans. It was kind of a tough decision.

TERRY FRANCONA: I think to be a big game pitcher you have to, first of all, be a good pitcher. It's sort of the same thing as Ortiz in the club situation. Boomer is a good pitcher and the stage doesn't -- you know, you see how he can pitch. It doesn't affect him at all. He's done it enough that I think he really enjoys it, and he's really good. At this point in his career, I think some of the aches and pains go away because of the situation, which can only help.

TERRY FRANCONA: Okay. He made -- I believe he made 32 starts. Does that sound right? 30, pretty good. Not 36, but again, it's a significant amount of starts. We knew going in, I think the way his contract was structured it probably indicates if he can stay out there and pitch, we felt he was a really good pitcher. That's the way it worked. There's always going to be some health issues. He's got some creaky joints. If we had to ask him to run a marathon tomorrow, I wouldn't feel too good. We're asking him to pitch, and because of that, I really feel good. His knee has responded very well to the treatments. I think he can go out there and pitch and not worry about his knee. I think if they get hits, it's because he didn't make pitches, not because of an achy knee.

TERRY FRANCONA: I think what it's going to come down to is we need to be one run better than the White Sox. How we get to that, however it breaks down, we have to have one better. When you get to this point of the year there's not too many, 10, 9 games. Generally good teams have good pitching. This is no different. They have very good pitching. But, some of the problems that we ran into during the course of the season we're going to hopefully stay away from because we're not a tired staff. Over the course of 162 games, sometimes you get put in situations where you have to win 10 to 9. Hopefully we won't be put into those positions right now.

TERRY FRANCONA: I don't think we did. I hope they do. I don't think that has as much to do with the outcomes of games as maybe it's talked about. I certainly heard of the curse, you know, and I think these are things that happen in baseball probably more than other sports because of the way the game is played, the nostalgia and all the stories. I think that's part of baseball. I don't think it has a whole lot to do with the outcome. I think some of those reasons were maybe lack of pitching, not so much a curse.

TERRY FRANCONA: No. 3:09 as opposed to 3:07 or 3:02. Let me tell you something. Let me explain this to you. With the program I'm on with the Metamucil, no time affects me. As long as it's not 7:30 in the morning, I'm cool. After that first cup of coffee, we can start that game any time we want.

TERRY FRANCONA: That sort of makes it different because the guys that came up with me in the minor leagues aren't here anymore. That was the Camerons and Baldwins and they're not here. The guys I know are maybe the trainers or the clubhouse guys, so it's not maybe the emotional ties that maybe I would feel if there was a lot of kids I was there with the minor leagues.

TERRY FRANCONA: Yeah, I don't know the availability. Are you able to walk back in when this is over? The music will be playing. It will be the same. Again, we have been through this and we try to have an atmosphere where they play the game as well as they can and we know this is important. It is very important to all of us. We care about what we're doing, but I don't think the way to go about that is by being tight. We want our talent to come out and we play the way we play, and I think our behavior and the way we address it and go about it is to our advantage. That's all we're trying to do. I think our guys have a very good grasp of that.