NL DIVISION SERIES: CUBS v BRAVES

October 1, 2003

Bobby Cox

BOBBY COX: We thought he might miss the rest of the series to be honest with you after looking at him last night. He jammed his elbow at first base down into his quad and he's bouncing around real good right now in the club house. He's going to take batting practice and field some balls. If he feels good enough, he will be in the lineup. He wasn't in the original one when I got here, but subject to change.

BOBBY COX: Just a little bit. I moved Javy Lopez into the fifth spot and moved everybody else down one.

BOBBY COX: He's one of the hot test hitters in baseball. Just playing hunch. That's all.

BOBBY COX: For me after having him for these 10, 11 years whatever's it's been, he still looks the same. He's the same pitcher. He's consistent and he had a couple bad games early in the year and that's about it. He's really pitched well. He's exactly the same.

BOBBY COX: I think a little bit probably. Yeah, that's reasonable to think that, and Greg's one of the guys that can really pitch well in cold weather. He's always been that way.

BOBBY COX: There was two factors really, Castilla's finger. He took a shot off his finger not too many days ago and DeRo got hit in the side of the hand here. Both of them are pretty good right now honestly. We need a guy that can run, and Garcia, another infielder just in case.

BOBBY COX: I think it's on the left side.

BOBBY COX: Hitters don't hit home runs. Pitchers throw them. If we get mistakes, we'll hit some. I don't think there is any particular kind of pitcher.

BOBBY COX: I think at that time is the key. I don't think experience has that much to do with it. If you have talent. I can remember Steve Avery pitching one of the greatest games in postseason, and I think he was only 20 years old and his first experience with it.

BOBBY COX: We talked about situations like that with the hitters, sure. We've gone over that. You try to have some type of game plan.

BOBBY COX: I don't know Zambrano that much and I haven't watched him pitch. I didn't see his last start. I really, you know, I'm sure he's -- Dusty's right there and Larry Rothschild and Dick Pole too. I'm sure they can handle him.

BOBBY COX: I think we've got great fans here. You know, I know there was a lot of Cubs fans here last night and always are here even during the season. They have a good following. We have the same thing on the road going to certain cities too, but I think we have tremendous fans and I thought last night was recommend nice entry of 1991 with the tomahawks and chants they were doing. They were into it, high energy. It's a city right now that expects us to be in the playoffs every year. With the economy the way it is, it makes sense sometimes to save your money until the second round. Anyway, the previous question, talk about a hyper pitcher. We had one, John Walker. That kind of escaped my mind. We tried to handle it as best we could which was difficult.

BOBBY COX: The name of the game is pick each other up. When injuries hit we have been able to pick each other up. We have a great back up in DeRosa. He's a great player in my eyes. He's a hit guy too. He can hit the ball and he can also field it. So, we'll be fine if he's in here.