AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: ANGELS v TWINS

October 12, 2002

Mike Scioscia

MIKE SCIOSCIA: I think our club has the attitude that any championship-caliber club has to, that you're never out of a game. If it's early in the game and you're behind, you definitely want to keep focused. One at-bat, one hit, one walk at a time, build a rally to get back into it. They don't panic. They have the right framework of any championship club. Some of that means you're going to maybe win some games late. It doesn't always happen, obviously, against some of the premiere closers in the league or setup men. But it will happen. It will happen enough. And you'll get the victories, your share of the victories you should get, with that attitude. Our guys have been great.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, Frankie is available tonight. His pitch count was down yesterday. I think, during the season, it might be something to be concerned with if your starters weren't pitching deep enough for a stretch. I think with the playoffs and natural break you get on days off, we should be able to keep everyone available for every game, we hope. So, we'll look at it as we move on, but I expect that we're going to have the arms we need and we can call upon them for the matchups virtually every game.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: I definitely think these guys are enjoying it. I think when you've worked as hard to get somewhere as not only these guys have this year, but for their whole career, if you look at where Garret and Troy Percival and Tim Salmon, Ersty and Troy Glaus, these guys have been here, the couple guys that I've talked to before, they've been through some wars and been through some tough finishes. Never reached the goal of the playoffs. Well, now, as we keep moving forward, they get excited about it. I think that they're enjoying it, they're enjoying the opportunity to play in an atmosphere that is everybody's dream. So, I think they're having fun with it. I think the guys are loose, I think they're playing well. I think, hopefully, that will be one big reason or one big advantage we can have, is that our guys are staying loose. Not that the other club isn't, but I think you have to approach this like any other game, and our guys have been good at that.