MLB WORLD SERIES: MARLINS v YANKEES

October 25, 2003

Ivan Rodriguez

IVAN RODRIGUEZ: Well, we feel pretty good in the clubhouse; like always, my teammates are playing cards, resting. Right now, they are watching football. We feel okay. I know that it's not going to be easy, we're in Yankee Stadium right now. We still have a game to go to win the World Series. We got to just keep playing the game hard and take one inning at a time and do the best on the field.

IVAN RODRIGUEZ: Well, I think Josh, he feels pretty good, you know, he's a young pitcher and he's going to be exciting. He's going to be fired up out there today. What I need to do with him is just to calm him down a little bit just try to be -- you know, Josh Beckett, good pitcher that he is, and I think that he's ready. He's in the clubhouse right now resting, I think he's ready to go tonight.

IVAN RODRIGUEZ: Well, it probably -- when you got three days' rest, you are still a little tired, that's why every pitcher got five days to recover between starts. In situations like that, in the World Series, I think, you know, he's not thinking about that. He's thinking about doing the good job today. I think Josh is a guy that he works hard, he's preparing himself in the gym. He's doing a lot of exercise with our condition trainer, I think he feels pretty good. What I have seen from him, I talked to him already, he feels pretty good. He feels 100% and that's what we need. He's going to be fine. He's going to be -- one thing here is the weather, I think the weather is going to help him a little bit, try to keep him fresh and we got to do -- what I got to do with him is just to make him throw strikes and use all his pitches.

IVAN RODRIGUEZ: Well, he pitched a great game last night and, you know, like I said, all the starting pitchers that we have, they are all young in age. Those arms, they are very young too. I think if Carl do what he did at the last time, we are going to be fine. Carl is a pitcher that he likes to throw the balls in the corners. He's a pitcher that he's in the 91 mile-an-hour fastball. He needs to hit the corners and I think that's what he's thinking about if we go in a Game 7 tomorrow, just try to hit the corners and get the ball down, but as far as three days' rest, I think probably he's going to be like -- probably going to feel like Josh, just very excited and ready to pitch tomorrow if we go for Game 7.

IVAN RODRIGUEZ: I don't know. Right now, we don't talk about that right now. I am just concentrating on the World Series right now and on winning, and in the off-season, let's see what happens.

IVAN RODRIGUEZ: I feel pretty good on this team. When they give me an opportunity to sign this team for one year, when I came to spring training, they are receiving me very nice, all my teammates receiving me pretty good. And they give me a lot of respect, same way I give the respect to them. Our clubhouse, my teammates, we're very united in the clubhouse, and that's why we are here in the World Series. I always say when you have a good group of guys and you have a good relationship in the clubhouse, that's the attitude that you are taking to the field. That's what happens to us. We started struggling this year and then after the All-Star break, we came back and winning 91 games, you know, and I think if we don't have that team unit that we have, we could have been eliminated this year. But we stayed strong, stayed positive as a team and look where we are, in the World Series. I give them a lot of, you know, a lot of good things, you know, I like to talk to the pitchers, I like to talk to the young players. And we establish a good relationship all together, so that's why we are here in the World Series. All 25 players in the clubhouse, we are all together.

IVAN RODRIGUEZ: Well, believe me, I still need to talk a little bit more with Josh. But what we're going to try to do is what he did last time basically, just that the key of Josh is just make him throw strikes, just keep the fastball down and use both sides of the plate with the fastball, then he got a great changer and good breaker. What I need to do with Josh is just keep talking to him during the game. He's a pitcher that's just fired up too much and that's why we need to calm him down. That's what I am going to try to do. But he's going to be fine. I think he's very -- he's looked forward for tonight's game and I think he's going to do a good job.

IVAN RODRIGUEZ: No, I don't think so. You said -- I didn't get your question.

IVAN RODRIGUEZ: No, I think that's Jack's decision really. That's Jack -- that's one of the good pitchers that we have, you know, and the way that he pitched in the postseason, this is a very good game for him and for us to be, you know, to have him on the mound tonight. But I think it is Jack's and the coaches' decision. That's what we are going to do, go with Beckett.

IVAN RODRIGUEZ: Well, (laughs) they take me 12 years to be here and I have enjoyed every moment of this in the World Series. I think being in the World Series, that's everybody's dream to be here and I am very happy to have been in one. Like said, I am one step away to win it, and believe me, I am going to do my best tonight to win this game and to win the World Series and this is a nice experience and it is a lot better because we played with the Yankees. I think playing here in the Yankee Stadium and playing against the New York Yankees is always nice and I tell you, I am very happy, I am very pleased that I am participating in this World Series.

IVAN RODRIGUEZ: Andy is a great pitcher. He's pretty good pitcher, you know, he use -- he got a good fastball, good cutter and he's very smart when he's pitching. What I see from last time, he was pretty tough, but tonight, you know, what we got to do is just try to make him throw strikes and I know he's going to throw a lot of strikes, but try to put the ball in play, basically. We need Pierre and Castilla to get on bases and getting scoring position. Then probably the situation again might be changed a little bit. We have got to be aggressive and get some good pitches to him and try to put the ball in play hard.

IVAN RODRIGUEZ: Well, you know, nobody knows what is going to happen next year, but I think my point, my personal opinion, I think that this team stay together for many years to come. I think this is a very good -- we have very good players in this clubhouse and I think this team stays together the way it is, I think they can be like the Yankees, they can win probably pretty much every year in the playoffs and win more, you know, World Series. I think this team right now is the thing that a lot of teams want to have, a team that they can do everything; guys that can bunt; good pitching; guys that can move the guy over, power in the middle of the line. I think overall, this team has all that and if you have a team like this, you should keep this team for two or three or four years.

IVAN RODRIGUEZ: He's a fan. He loves baseball. He loves team performing pretty good in the field. I have got a good relationship with him and the same way all my teammates have a good relationship with him because he's always in the clubhouse. He talks to everybody in the clubhouse and when you have an owner that he is always in the clubhouse, supporting you, give you 100% an effort in the field, it's nice and Loria, those kind of owners that he likes to do it. He got mad when we lost, but at the same time, he just go in the clubhouse and say, "Let's go tomorrow, tomorrow is another game," and keep, you know, positive, very high. So he's an owner that a lot of players wants to be in that team.