MLB WORLD SERIES: MARLINS v YANKEES

October 18, 2003

Jack McKeon

JACK MCKEON: I tell you, he's done a good job. When we went to look to his 9-1 record, he lost a couple. Wanted to send him down the river again, can't do anything. But he's done a decent job for us all along. Tonight, he came out, he pitched like he did early in the year. He's had a lot of confidence. He did a masterful job tonight bailing us out of a couple tough situations. The way he handled those left-handed hitters, he looked like the old Willis of -- or the Willis of old tonight. I think he'll be a big help for us this series.

JACK MCKEON: Should we have been awed? I mean, I don't know. We play them one night at a time whether we're playing in Woodbridge, New Jersey, or, you know, New York City or Chicago. It's one game at a time. They're not awed. These guys are a bunch of professionals that know their job, go out there on a daily basis and do the best they can and have fun.

JACK MCKEON: Tonight?

JACK MCKEON: We told him to go work on the stretch tonight. No particular reason, just work on the stretch. Get used to coming in there with a man on.

JACK MCKEON: Well, it's a seven-game series, this is what these guys work for all year, to get to this point. There's no need saving them for this winter because there would be no games after this. This is all over. So we're gonna use them to -- best we can, if it means using starters, relievers, what have you, it's a seven-game series. After that, they can rest up all winter. But we don't have any special theories. Beckett was available. When you're down to the wire, there's no tomorrow, I mean, you don't save Beckett for next February. Better get him out there today. He had a psychological edge over there in Chicago, and Willis is prime for New York, so we'll use him.

JACK MCKEON: No, I think you got to give the players themselves the credit. They're the guys -- I mean, I just, you know... Maybe I'm too old, I guess, but I can't see why we should be awed. I don't know. Wasn't awed in Chicago. We weren't awed in San Francisco. Why should we be awed in New York? We played here before. But, no, I think it's a credit to the players. They play one game at a time. Really, they're as loose as they can be. They don't worry about where they're playing.

JACK MCKEON: Well, first of all, he had a much better outing. He's pitched extremely well for us all season. And because he had a tough outing in Chicago, I wouldn't, you know, send him to the wood pile because he had a bad outing. But he pitched tonight like he's been pitching most of the year. He had a couple bad outings, sure. But, you know, all guys are entitled to that. Guy won 14 games, was one of our best pitchers at the end of the season. I don't think there's anything different except maybe you look at it, maybe was his first postseason experience, might have been psyched up a little bit to really go out and put on a good show and make everybody realize how good he was, maybe got hyped up. Tonight, he was nice and cool, calm, collective. You could see the difference in his demeanor and the way he pitched.

JACK MCKEON: Well, he's done that all season. He's a remarkable player. He jump starts our offense, no question about that. Bunt single got us the first run. People sometime overlook what kind of a clutch hitter he is. He's a pretty good clutch hitter. I know he hasn't got many RBIs. In his position, he doesn't get that much of a chance. In the past month or so, he's had a number of clutch base hits for us, but you just got to love the guy because you watch the pitchers, they got to keep throwing to first base. They don't know when he's gonna go. I don't know when he's gonna go. They don't know when he's gonna go, I don't know either. Sometimes he doesn't go as soon as I want him to go. But he's quite a kid. I can't say anything but good things for this guy. He just makes us go.

JACK MCKEON: Well, I'm quite sure he'll be in here next if he's not already here. I'm quite sure you'll ask him. I guarantee you he'll tell me he's gonna be ready to pitch tomorrow for an inning or so, which I think he will be too, because he's a very, very tough kid. He realizes he can help this ballclub coming out of the bullpen a couple days. That's all we ask him to do, "Bail us out for a couple days, we'll make a decision how we go the rest of the series depending on how the series goes itself." I'm quite sure he'll be ready to go tomorrow.