AL DIVISION SERIES: ANGELS v YANKEES

October 1, 2002

Mike Scioscia

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Kevin has been -- he's been an incredible addition. I think, first and foremost, is the production he's given us. He's pitched very, very consistent baseball through the whole season. With his experience, I think the way that he goes about his business has definitely affected some of the younger pitchers on our staff to understand the professionalism needed to reach a level right now that we've reached. He's been just a great influence. But I think the bottom line is the production. He pitched a ton of games for us, a lot of key games down the stretch, pitched very well. That was something that our staff desperately needed.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: You know, I think there's a lot been made about catchers and managers. The, you know, reality of it is, there's more managers around that are not catchers. I think whatever insights you might gain from playing that position and understanding the pitcher-catcher relationship, how important it is with a championship-caliber club, a lot of managers, Dusty Baker, Lou Piniella, guys that maybe haven't played catcher in their career, it's nothing they don't understand and have a grasp of. I think there are some insights you get, maybe as a player, maybe a little quicker, but it certainly doesn't put you ahead of the game; I don't think so anyway. Certainly, there's guys that understand, you know, every bit as much or if not more the pitcher-catcher relationship than I do that were not catchers.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: I think Kevin will pitch well here in Yankee Stadium. I think that that did go somewhat into our determination, but it wasn't the sole reason. I think right now if you look at how our guys are throwing, I think we can line up our one, two and three guys, Washburn, Appier and Ortiz, in any rotation and we would be successful. The obvious choice is obviously Washburn to go No. 1. The other two guys, you know, you could really have been a toss up. I think they're both going to perform well. Ape might have a little edge just because of the experience in pitching here on the road, might be in his favor.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, I think the bottom line is winning. I think we all -- I think anyone that is in this position understands you have to be accountable for ultimately how your team performs and if you're -- if you have a championship-caliber club, you know, there's obviously -- obviously, the bottom line is winning. I think we all accept that. That's the nature of the game. And I don't anticipate that's ever going to change.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, Andy's a tremendous pitcher. He's one of the toughest left-handers in baseball. One of the toughest pitchers in baseball. He's been through the playoffs. I think he knows how to bring his game into a playoff environment. It's going to be a challenge. We've been -- we've had some success off of some left-handed pitching this year. I think we have some right-handed batters that are hopefully going to be able to give us the production we need. It's a challenge, no doubt about it. Every day we go out here it's going to be a challenge. They have a tremendous pitching staff. Andy's a guy that, you know, I think he knows how to make pitches in key situations, how to get out of those positions, maybe bending a little without breaking. But he's certainly been, not only this year, but through his career, been a pitcher that's pitched very well in big games. I think, you know, it's a challenge.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, as soon as that first pitch is thrown, I think they have playoff experience. So I'm really hoping that once you get out there on the field, you go through your pregame, the routine's the same, I think the system, routine, really alleviates a lot of the pressure that might build in a situation. We're doing everything the same we did from day one, to spring training. The guys are comfortable with that. Once they get on the field, the first pitch is thrown, I think the butterflies are gone, they're playing baseball. We just want to make sure we bring our game to the park every night and play our game and these guys will be fine.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: No, I don't think there was a lot of adjustment. I don't think there's differences as maybe -- or the, you know, the -- you know, the separation of two leagues, I don't think it's as great as a lot of people speculate it is. I think you try to look at the talents of your club and use all the assets you have. There are certainly clubs in our league that play even more of a -- what would be called a "National style" than we do. There's certainly clubs in the National League that sit back and play more of an American League style. The one thing at first I was very, very anti designated hitter, you know, coming from the National League. The one thing I found after working with it for three years is not only the offense opens up on another bat, but the little ball opens up. That's really almost contradictory to a designated hitter philosophy, where you think you have a big bat in the line-up. We can do more things in the American League, particularly as you approach the bottom third or bottom half of your order than you can in the National League because of the pitcher's spot. It creates more little ball in the American League than maybe might be on the surface and I think our club has, you know, been an indication of that.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: I think the Yankees have done a much better job this year. I know Posada is throwing the ball as well as he ever has as far as his times, arm strength, much better than he did last year from the games we've seen him. We've seen him seven games or whatever, as many games it's been. But I do feel that when the opportunity presents itself we have to stay as aggressive as we have all year. Pettitte's a challenge. He's incredible at slowing down a running game, flat out stopping it at times, has a great move, great instincts out there. You're going to face a challenge in every part of the game that you need to bring to the ballpark and it's going to be, really be a matter of executing in situations where you can gain an advantage. It's going to be a challenge against Pettitte; no doubt about it.

MIKE SCIOSCIA: It was an incredible experience. We had -- we really had a veteran club at that time with some of the guys like myself who was a rookie coming up. These guys handled it I think the way you have to. They went out and played their game, even after getting 2-0 in the first two games in '81. Went back to LA, the whole focus was, "Hey, let's play our game. Let's stay with ourselves." There's a lot of cliches, were floating around, but they're cliches for a reason, they're important. We scratched and clawed our way back into that series and ended up winning here in New York. Great memories. This is an incredible stage to play on. That's the experience I think these guys will gain from going through a playoff situation here. If they can bring their game, and play in an environment like this, I think it's a bold statement to the caliber of club we have. I'm very confident they will. I'm very, very confident that we're going to get out there and play our game and we'll see how this, you know, see how it goes when we move on.