MLB WORLD SERIES: MARLINS v YANKEES

October 25, 2003

Jack McKeon

JACK MCKEON: Who is going to be the first question if Beckett can pitch on three days' rest? I don't hear anything about it. I guess you will believe me now anything can happen.

JACK MCKEON: That's a nice gift.

JACK MCKEON: I don't know. I predicted to somebody tonight that the score would be 6-0, but it was only 2-0. I guess I was little bit off. Anyway, I just can't say enough about my players. I thank the Lord each night; he's been very, very good to me. Saint Theresa has been looking after me. I really appreciate it. I will make sure she gets a payback. These guys are a wonderful bunch of guys, and I couldn't be happier for these guys. They have worked hard all season and nobody gave us a chance and here they are, the World Champs. Tremendous story. My hat is off to the players and the coaches and the organization.

JACK MCKEON: Now you say "most pitchers." That's your opinion.

JACK MCKEON: I don't believe in -- a guy said yesterday to me, historically, the guy can't win on three days. That's in the past. We got guys that are dealing in the future. Sure, whether it's three days or four days, guys have a tendency to lose a little. But this guy is special, I told you that. You all questioned why I would start him on three days. I told you he's a special individual. This guy has got the guts of a burglar. He's mentally tough. And I knew that he had the confidence to go out there and do the job that he did tonight. I was not about to take him out. He went into the ninth inning with only 99 pitches. Spectacular job for a 23-year-old kid that has come on and matured in the postseason and you are looking at a possible All-Star next year and a 20-game winner. This guy is going to be something special.

JACK MCKEON: Well, I am elated. I hadn't even had time to think about being in the World Series. Now you got, you know, the other flag to go with you the World Championship. It happened so quick, I don't know. I took this job with the idea that I can turn this club around and put -- make a winner. I didn't have any idea that we would win the Playoffs or win the wildcard. I had no idea we would get to the World Series and I had no idea that we would win the World Series. But being with these guys and seeing the attitude and the determination, the desire, we were on a mission. We were on a mission since, I would say, the Philadelphia series when we were trying to qualify for the wildcard. From that day on, we believed we could go to the World Series. And you know, here we are. It hasn't even sunk in yet that we won it.

JACK MCKEON: My first speech with them. I told them, "Let's have fun. Do the best you can, relax and have fun. Pressure is on everybody else because we are not supposed to win. Let's show we can fool the baseball world and show them that we are a hell of lot better than everybody else predicted us to be."

JACK MCKEON: Well, this is a young fellow that's got tremendous abilities and we just had normal conversations I would with my own kids about how you if you want to get to the golden ring, you want to hit the jackpot at the end of the rainbow, then you are going to have to work hard, you are going to have to do some extra things; stay focused, work a little bit harder. To his credit, he has been great. This guy has matured in the one month. I can't believe the progress that he's made. But it was a simple sacrifice that he made. I don't take any credit and I don't because he's the one. I just encouraged him to do some things and he's done it and I think he's on the right track to stardom.

JACK MCKEON: Well, if you were here the other day, I told you how special I think the Yankees and Joe Torre have done a tremendous job. They scared the hell out of us, no question about it. We didn't come in here taking this for granted. We knew that they had a good ballclub. As I said earlier, when we were sitting in Chicago watching the final game of the American League Championship Series, and everybody saying we'll play the Red Sox, play the Yankees, and you know, I didn't care really, but deep down in my heart, I was wanting to play the Yankees because Yankee Stadium, it's symbolic with the World Series. Seems like the World Series is played in Yankee Stadium every year. Since I lived across the river in New Jersey, I wanted to be have my first World Series in Yankee Stadium; win or lose I wanted to play it in Yankee Stadium. I grew up coming to Yankee Stadium many, many times. They have a wonderful tradition, and they always seem, like I said, to be associated with the World Series, so what finer presence could I have than get the opportunity to manage my first World Series team and in Yankee Stadium. So it's like a dream come true.

JACK MCKEON: Got to give Larry Beinfest and the ownership of the Marlins for putting the team together. I just took over what they gave me and tried to make it work and do the things that, you know, is necessary to pull a club together. Basically, the players deserve the credit and the organization, Larry Beinfest did a tremendous job as general manager, assembling this club in the winter. All I tried to do, just mold it together and get it, you know, get it going in the right direction and stay out of the way.

JACK MCKEON: There's no question Brad Penny, Pavano, the whole team -- I mean, Brad Penny, especially, he got roughed up the first time here, everybody wanted to -- well, I guess against the Cubs, he didn't get -- against the Cubs, everybody was wanting to send him out to pasture, and that's not going to happen because he's too good a talent. This young man is going to have a bad game now and then but he certainly did his share against the Yankees when it really counted. We have tremendous confidence in Brad Penny along with Josh Beckett and Pavano and Pavano did an excellent job to get us here and an excellent job the other day to keep us rolling. So all those guys are young guys and got tremendous futures and it's going to be a nice staff in the future.

JACK MCKEON: I think it's a case of being unselfish. We preached that all the time these players are very unselfish, they know how to get the runs in, know how to get them in, get them over. The type of ball we play, we don't have the big power of the Yankees or some other clubs in this league, we don't have that kind of a firepower. You catch us down 5 runs, it's pretty tough for us to catch up. You keep the game close for us, we are going to give you some trouble because you have the first two guys being the catalyst, and what has happened with us in the postseason has been when one of our big guns goes south, somebody unexpected takes over. Now Cabrera has been a big-game player, he didn't do anything. Castillo, who is struggling bad, he gets a key hit to put us out in front. Lee makes a good bunt. Then the sacrifice fly to get a two-run lead. Josh Beckett took care of it. The small ball has been part of our arsenal all year.

JACK MCKEON: That was a very key play. He did an excellent job, good throw, catcher tried to do the best he could to block the plate, but he just slid around him. You know you got to give -- once again, another unsung hero coming through with a tremendous slide to put us out in front.

JACK MCKEON: I came in May 11, I didn't feel like I needed to change anything. I just needed to get the guys to believe in that they can have fun coming to the ballpark and go out there and play relaxed baseball and just focus a little better and play a little smarter and work a little harder. That was about the essence of my meeting with them. Pretty soon they started to do all those things and started winning. Fellows, thanks a lot for your hospitality and your questions and answers. I certainly enjoyed it. I know it's the first time I have been here and I'd like to come back, but I want to say thanks for most of you guys being so nice to me and I hope enlivened some of these meetings up. Thank you.