NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: MARLINS v CUBS

October 14, 2003

Jack McKeon

JACK McKEON: Well, I think it's an example of what this club is made of. They've got a lot of character, and not taking anything away from the Cubs, it was a heck of a ballgame out there tonight. And these guys come in here, and we were supposed to just fall over and play dead. I told you, these guys, they're tough. They're going to battle you all the way. We didn't come in to play one game. We came in to make it the seven-game series, and thank God we're going to do that. Our guys are resilient, they don't quit. They battle all the way, and you've got to love them for that. We're playing a pretty good ballclub with the Cubs, and pretty good pitchers out there.

JACK McKEON: Well, I don't know about momentum. I think it's when you get good pitching, you've got a chance. Our pitching did good. Our guys are full of confidence. We came in here, we started this playoff series against the Giants with a lot of confidence. We knew that everybody picked us not to be there. So we're going to go out there and play nice and loose, we don't care who we play. We think we can compete with anybody. And we're going to go out and give it our best shot and hope everything works out. Things have been going pretty good so far, and hope they continue for one more day.

JACK McKEON: Well, we had so many guys contributing during the season. When you saw Mike Mordecai hit the triple, I go back to Atlanta and the extra inning game he hits a home run, wins the game. I go back against the Dodgers, and he hits a home run to win the game. Everybody has been picking up each other. We weren't hitting very well the first couple of games, the pitching stopped us pretty good. We happened to break loose in that 8th inning, and everything fell into place. It was nice to see the guys that haven't been contributing, Derrek Lee didn't have a hit in a long time and he comes up with a key base hit. So it's nice when everything falls into place. But I haven't saw anything in the playoffs like that.

JACK McKEON: What was the problem with that? No, the ball was in the stands. The umpire saw that. He was right there. The ball was in the stands. Whether Alou could have caught it or not is questionable, but the ball was in the stands. And when the ball is in the stands, the fans have a right to catch it. I didn't think there was any interference, from our angle. We had a pretty good angle. But the umpire, you have to give him credit, he was standing right there, and he called it into the stands immediately. So I don't think that was the turning point of the game.

Pavano. You must be pleased with the performance he gave you.

JACK McKEON: Pavano did an outstanding job keeping us in the ballgame. He's done that most of the year. Today is the day he had to step up and really be counted upon, and he did the job. He kept the Cubs at bay for a good portion of the ballgame, enabled us to keep the score down, so we had a chance to come back and score some runs. And I can't say enough about the job that he did. The relievers came in and did a good job. They scored a couple of runs, but that's going to happen once in a while.

JACK McKEON: We're going to go with Mark Redman, the left-hander.

JACK McKEON: It makes you think a little bit. You guys keep talking, I think it might happen. I don't know about the fan robbing them. I wasn't that close, all I can go is with the umpire, and what appeared to us. But maybe everybody else got a different angle.

JACK McKEON: Well, I think really when the ball is hit in the stands, the fan has the right to catch it. Now what you're trying to say is everybody should get out of the way and let Moises catch the ball.

JACK McKEON: That's something you'll have to discuss with them, whether that had an effect on them, I don't know. How about my guy coming in and throwing a wild pitch? That had an effect on the game, too, when he threw the wild pitch when he walked the guy, and the second run scored.

JACK McKEON: Well, that's a good ballclub out there, and that's a pretty good pitcher out there. And I think you ought to give our guys a credit, too, to say they collapsed. We've got Major League players competing very well. And they're all capable of doing the job. I don't know whether you'd say the guy collapsed or the Cubs collapsed. I think the Cubs are a very good ballclub, and it's one of those things that happen in the game of baseball. But I wouldn't term it as a collapse.

JACK McKEON: No, I've never seen 8 runs in an inning in a playoff game. But it's baseball and things like that happen once in a while. And you'll probably see it again in your lifetime.

JACK McKEON: Really, you're right. When that happened you could see the opening that we've talked about all year. Give us an opening and we'll come through. When that happened, you just had the feeling on the bench that we finally got a break. And we cashed in. Taking nothing away from their shortstop, who's a fine shortstop. This is the tough part of this game. Someone is going to boot one now and then. And you look back, and of course when you get into the postseason everything is magnified. But he's a fine shortstop, along with my guy, and he's booted some balls, too. It's all part of the game of baseball.

JACK McKEON: They've been doing that all year. Many times the good Lord is looking over us, and I hope he keeps going for a couple more weeks. But we're very grateful to be in this position, really. And these guys, most of them have never been in this position, and they've come in very loose with a lot of confidence. That doesn't guarantee us any wins, but it guarantees us one thing, they're not going to quit and they're going to battle all the way, despite the odds. And you've just got to root for them. I'm so proud of them. I can't tell you how proud I am of these guys, because they don't quit.

JACK McKEON: Well, Pudge has been tremendous in the playoffs, really, in fact, all season. But especially he's been the leader in the playoffs, him, Mike Lowell, a few other guys, Cabrera. But Pudge has set the example there. He's knocked in the key runs. And he always seems to be tough in the clutch. I can see why in certain situations you'd want to walk him and not pitch to him, because he seems to be on a pretty good roll right now. He's seeing the ball very well. And he's been very productive. He's been a very, very important part of this club during the playoffs.

JACK McKEON: Well, great. We don't mind being the underdogs at all. I don't want to belittle the Cubs, because I think they're a heck of a ballclub, really. But some of you guys here wrote like we shouldn't have even showed up. Couldn't beat Prior, couldn't beat Wood, couldn't beat anybody. And we may not beat them. But we're going to battle them and give them their money's worth and make them earn it. It's a good ballclub, it's a club that doesn't know how to throw the towel in. It's going to battle you all the way. And hopefully you come out with the most runs. But we're not taking anything for granted. We're coming out here playing nice and loosey -goosey, and whatever happens tomorrow night happens. We're not putting any pressure on ourselves.