AL DIVISION SERIES: RED SOX v ATHLETICS

October 2, 2003

Grady Little

GRADY LITTLE: I think our ball club has shown all season long what they're made of in situations like this. I'm kind of sorry to tell you we've had plenty of opportunities for this to come about, and today is just another one of those days. Our club has shown all year long what they're capable of doing after a tough loss the night before. They come out the next day, they turn the page and they swing that bat. That's what this team is all about.

GRADY LITTLE: This press conference isn't long enough to tell you about all of those. They started opening day and continued on periodically throughout the year, maybe 15, 18 times. I can't sit here and itemize any of them in particular, because it's just a few more than I want to talk about.

GRADY LITTLE: He will start Game 3 and he will be ready for that.

GRADY LITTLE: Kapler in right field and Mirabelli will catch Wakefield, the rest of the lineup is the same.

GRADY LITTLE: At this point in time, I haven't heard any differently, but everyone should be available today.

GRADY LITTLE: We scheduled him the last couple of days to be able to pitch an inning or two last night, and fortunately it came at a night when we needed a couple of good innings from a pitcher like Derek Lowe. He went out and did the best he could. It's been seven days since he's pitched, and this is a tune-up for him to go on Saturday. He's feeling good, he's doing a good job of pitching for us, and we'll look forward to him being out there Saturday.

GRADY LITTLE: We don't like to see guys happy if they don't get good results out there. And he's been in this position before this season, and he'll rebound today and give us a good outing.

GRADY LITTLE: That's good for character right there. He's responded well and done a good job for us, he understands when Grady makes a move in the game, that's for one reason, to try and win the game.

GRADY LITTLE: It's normal practice today and getting ready to play this game at 1:00.

GRADY LITTLE: Yes, it is. We'll make that decision later on. We'll see how Pedro reacts to his start last night, just as we always do and make that determination later.