NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: MARLINS v CUBS

October 6, 2003

Jack McKeon

JACK MCKEON: I think it's a great tribute to the ownership and the management team of Florida because they realize that they had a pretty good ballclub, and all of the chatter about Mike Lowell, stuff like that, it didn't really come from us because we never threw his name out there that we were trying to move him. Every club figured, this is the past history of the club and this is a guy we could go over to steal. We got tired of hearing the rumors and brought him in and said, hey, you are not going anywhere, we are going to try to mold this club, instead of subtracting, and see if we can find our way, some way, to the playoffs. And thanks to the ownership and the great job that Larry Beinfest did in acquiring a couple of guys right near the trading deadline, improving our ballclub, they were able to be successful in achieving that goal.

JACK MCKEON: We are going to go with the same rotation we had against the Giants. Beckett and Penny and Redman, and Willis and Pavano will stay in the bullpen. We use him in the bullpen because he has pretty good experience in that area in the past and he has done a remarkable job in the Division Series against the Giants and it really was a blessing. So he has made our bullpen much stronger and it was strong to start with, but with the addition of Pavano in the bullpen, it's made us that much stronger.

JACK MCKEON: I really don't think so. I think when the players know what's at stake and you don't let weather or anything else distract you from your goal which is to try to go out there and win. I think for our players, it's probably 57 degrees and the Cubs, they think it's the same. They will come to Florida and think it's Chicago weather. I think both clubs are going to be concerned with winning and not let the elements bother them.

JACK MCKEON: I don't want to take any credit because the ballplayers do the job. We had good ballplayers, ownership and management put good players on this field. It was just a matter of trying to blend them together, push a few guys there, push a few guys there, trying to encourage them. The biggest thing I did was try to emphasize to the players that I want them to come to the ballpark and have fun. And if you come to the ballpark in fun, you're going to be relaxed and have a greater chance of winning and winning is fun and fun is winning. Basically I stressed that. And I asked them to dig a little deeper, work a little harder, play unselfish. They all responded. And to their credit, they are here today.

JACK MCKEON: After they beat us two-out-of-three, a couple of guys with one-hitters, I was very impressed with them.

JACK MCKEON: Pudge Rodriguez has meant a great deal to this ballclub. He 's a veteran, MVP, All-Star for many years. People thought maybe he was on his way down because of an injury last year, he didn't have quite the year that he had. But I think that was because of injuries. He's fully healthy this year. Done a remarkable job with young pitchers and helping develop those pitchers. There's no question about his defensive skill, been outstanding in that area, as usual. His offense, I guess you might say, probably up till three, four weeks in the season, led in run production and getting hits with men in scoring position. In the playoffs, he just took over and took charge, showed the strong leadership that we knew he had.

JACK MCKEON: I have to correct you there. This is my first experience here and it's quite a joy. I spent over 50 years in baseball and when I left Cincinnati after the '99 season when we had the one-game playoff, of course I got fired the next year. But we won 96 games and didn't make the playoffs and we had that special game with the Mets and after I got fired, I figured, well, you know, that's the end of it, no one is going to give me another chance. Sometimes the Lord has ways of working things out. I guess he was thinking of the poor guys here; they needed one more crack to see if they could get in the post-season. Thank God everything worked out well.

JACK MCKEON: I can't pinpoint anything honestly. I've seen enough of this club in 2000. I saw the talent here and to me it was just a question of trying to get it up another level. I think the guys deserve the credit. They worked hard and everything fell into place.

JACK MCKEON: Well, I think we probably are along the same lines. He has his ways of doing it and I have my way of doing. I think we all try to get the players to realize that we have to get the players to believe in themselves, No. 1. Sometimes I personally feel there's something special here. I'm not a preacher, but I like to go to church every day and I know the good Lord, I've asked him to protect my players and guide those players and reward those players for the efforts that they put forth. I have a favorite saint, Theresa, and she in our church is the prodigy of miracles; and I've been praying to her to work on miracles that she, so far, has been delivering.

JACK MCKEON: There's no question about it. I know the Cubs have an advantage here, having all these Cubs fans root for them like they had that full house down in Atlanta, it looked like there was more Cub fans than Brave fans. But I think it will be a little different from when they come to Florida. Unless they are down there early getting their seats, we are going to have a pretty good crowd out there at Pro Player Stadium. I think all three games, if I'm not mistaken, have already been sold out. They have been like our tenth man down in Florida. The fans have been great. This ballclub has been great. This ballclub has energized the area. It has been great for south Florida. They have brought baseball back down there. It's an exciting team and fans have come out and supported us of late, and it seems like every time we get huge crowds, we play some kind of outstanding game or come-from-behind and pull a squeaker out like we did against the Giants. And hopefully the same thing will hold true come this weekend.

JACK MCKEON: I tell you, the Cubs are certainly pleased. They have two outstanding young pitchers and the guy starting tomorrow is no slouch, either, in Zambrano. They have done an excellent job. When you look around baseball and see is how fortunate one club can be to have two outstanding young players, especially pitchers in Woody and Prior like they have, it's exciting. But on the other hand, I look at our staff and say we have Beckett and Penny and Redman and Willis that are pretty much outstanding as far as we are concerned. It should be an interesting series. But I think it's going to come down to pitching. Whoever has got the best pitching is going to win. We all know that pitchers are capable of having an off-night once in awhile.