MLB WORLD SERIES: GIANTS v ANGELS

October 19, 2002

Mike Scioscia

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Needless to stay, Ersty has had a much better year, not only on the field, but I think he's enjoying this season much better. Last year, he had a lot of issues already, we've talked about. I think the most important one was the fact that he had hurt his knee in some winter workouts. Coming into spring training last season, he really -- it affected his swing. I think he tried to compensate for some things and really got out of whack for his swing. He paid a price for that during the season. But he came out and played every day and played hard. This year, he's much, much healthier, and I think mentally, he has that same fire and that same competitive desire he's always had. The two have really melded into a player that's become an incredible leader. He does it by example. He goes out there every day and you know that Ersty is going to be in every play, his head's going to be in every play and he's got one thing on his mind when he's on the field, and that's to help the club win. You might see some guys with better stats around the league, maybe guys with better numbers here and there, but you put the whole package together, there's not a better competitor out there than Ersty and not a bigger part of this club than Darin Erstad.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: They've got some similarities. I think they're both very, very good receivers, they catch and throw very well. I think Bengie's experience puts him a little bit ahead of the game on the offensive end because he's seen the league and he's seen -- here's a guy with over 1,500 plate appearances in the Major Leagues. He's going to have some more insights maybe on the offensive end. But I think they're both very intelligent and they call a very good game. That's the biggest thing we need from a catcher on our club to be in this position. They've both done a great job of that.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: I think we had something really working in our favor when we came in. We had a very, very talented core. We were in a situation where they were deciding, "Are you going to rebuild or go from it?" From day one Bill Stoneman said his plans were to build a championship-caliber organization and become perennial contenders. That was from day one. In 2000, we went about our business trying to make the playoffs. We came close, got within the last four games of the season before we were eliminated. I think it's always been our goal, mostly because we had a talented core here. We didn't come into a situation here where we were totally rebuilding and you're totally going to have to find some pieces to fill in. We had a core to work with that was very, very talented. They'd come close to the playoffs numerous times during this decade of the '90s. So, with that to work with, I think it put us a step ahead of the game and Bill's done a great job of filling in some spots and giving us some depth. These guys, the core unit, has taken it the whole way. They've been incredible. To answer your question, I don't think we've changed anything from day one here about what our approach is. I think we had the ingredients of a championship-caliber club from day one and we've reached it in year three here. But I think you have to look at the core that was here, and I think that's the reason why we're in the World Series.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: As of right now, we're going to line up our first four guys with Jarrod Washburn, Kevin Appier, Ramon Ortiz and John Lackey, then we'll see how the series progresses. If Ramon obviously pitches well in Game 3, I don't see any reason why we're not going to consider to bring him back if there is what would be a final game of the series. So, we're looking for big things from Ramon. He gave us a big start against the Twins, he pitched very well. I think with his talent and his arm, if he can stay focused and execute his pitches, he's going to give us a big lift.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: I don't really think you can force that side of the game. I think there's going to be plenty of opportunities for us to, whether we're putting some guys in motion or the Giants are, or there's little ball involved in this series, there's going to be plenty of opportunities. I don't intend to force anything, I think those opportunities will present themselves and we'll try to take advantage of it. I think if you ask Dusty the same question, I don't really expect him to force that issue. I expect him to take advantage of it when the ingredients are right and I know he certainly will. I think if you start forcing things at this time, you're taking your club out of maybe what has gotten it here. If you are forcing things, then you really -- your offense must really be stuck in the mud. The way both clubs have, I think -- with the potent bats in the line-up, I don't really see that being the case.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Kevin Appier has -- he's a veteran pitcher, he knows what needs to be done. He's got a lot of experience. He's pitched well in the games that we've used him in, in the earlier rounds, kept us in ball games, pitched against some tough clubs. I think we have confidence he can go out there and make his pitches. If he can, then he's going to give us an opportunity to win the ball game. That's really what you're looking for when you come down to this last series. You want your starter to stay in the game, give you an opportunity to win and hopefully you're going to be able to do the things you need to do offensively to score the runs to win. But we have a lot of confidence in Kevin. His last start wasn't really what you call "pretty," his ball-strike ratio wasn't what you would expect. But he gets it done. I think he's going to definitely give us a lift to give us two good starts if we're going to need him.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: I think you look at the bottom line at maybe what a pitcher can do, pitchers reach that bottom line because of experience or because of talent. There's all -- there's going to be a lot of multiples of how you get to that bottom line. Kevin certainly does it with a lot of experience, a lot of savvy. He knows how to pitch. His stuff is maybe a little better than some people give him credit for it, but admittedly, it's not the way it was ten years ago. Kevin's going to compete and go out there, keep us in the game. A big part of his package is experience. But I think the bottom line is we think the way he throws the ball and the way he's pitching, that he's a guy that can give us two good games, and that's what we're going to need.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: They're far apart as two starting pitchers we have on our staff. Jarrod is a guy that's going to come right after hitters. He's got good late life on his fastball. He works up in the zone a lot. He works effectively up in the zone, gets a lot of fly balls. Kevin Appier is really, I think, the opposite of Jarrod where his -- he relies more on location, much more on change of speeds, and has a couple different breaking balls that he'll use, one a little bigger, one a little tighter, to effectively get hitters out. So, I think it's two contrasting looks the first two games. That really wasn't -- that's not really what I think we factor in as one of the main reasons why we line them up one, two, but it is a benefit.