NL DIVISION SERIES: CARDINALS v DIAMONDBACKS

September 30, 2002

Bob Brenly

BOB BRENLY: Tony Womack at shortstop. Junior Spivey at second. Steve Finley in center. Mark Grace at first. Matt Williams at third base. McCracken will be the right fielder. David Delucci in left field and Chad Moeller will be catching for Randy Johnson.

BOB BRENLY: Well, I could, but since we are given every bit of a deadline right up until tomorrow, we are going to wait. I mean, if somebody pulls a hamstring getting out of their car or straining their back lifting their baby out of the crib tomorrow morning, we want to make sure we don't lock ourselves into somebody and end up with a 24-man roster. And, so we'll wait a while up until the deadline.

BOB BRENLY: As you guys know, I've been talking about it over the last week that, at playoff time, there's a premium on pitching and defense. Not meant as a slight to Ruby but certainly there are very few defensive first basemen out there as good as Mark Grace. We decided it was in our best interests to go with our best defense on the field, and the very positive by-product of that is that we have a very dangerous left-handed bat available to use off the bench in Durazo. At this point, Durazo will only appear in right field in an extreme emergency.

BOB BRENLY: Certainly, Scott Rolen made a huge impact on that ballclub and gave them a little more dimension of power, certainly a Gold Glove defender. Any time you add a guy like that to anybody's lineup, it's going to be an improvement. I think this year, maybe they are a little more of a power club than they were last year with Polanco in the lineup. Just looking from the outside, they played a little more hit-and-run, they were a little more aggressive on the bases and they are still very capable of playing that kind of a game as well. But I think they have a little more thunder in the middle of their lineup this year.

BOB BRENLY: Because they are a very good team, it's that simple. They are a very prepared team. They have a nice blend of veterans and guys who are in the middle of their careers and some younger players. I think that more than anything else, that's what I attribute it to. I don't think Randy and Curt have pitched poorly against the Cardinals. I don't think their stuff has been any less effective than it has against other teams that they maybe have done better against. I just choose to give all of the credit to the Cardinals and their preparation and their approach to those two guys. A very professional team.

BOB BRENLY: We're going to have one. Miguel Batista will start Game 3, and Rick Helling will be available out of the bullpen. It was a decision that, as you all know, it took quite some time to come to. I feel Rick Helling is one of those guys, and there's a few of them every year, that has pitched much, much better than his numbers indicate. But that being said, we just felt our best option was to go with Miguel Batista in the 3 hole and keep Rick Helling as a long man or even possibly as a situational right-hander, depending on how much our bullpen has been used.

BOB BRENLY: Well, I think Randy and Curt are an advantage in a one-game series or in a fifty-game series. You know, I mean, having those two guys available is certainly something we like a lot. Because of the way the days fall this year in the first -- in the Division Series, it enables us to bring Randy back on regular rest to pitch a second game in the series. And should we need to bring Curt back on short rest to pitch Game 5, we would be able to do that. I think more than anything else, whether it's a five-game or a seven-game, it just depends on how their spots fall and how we are able to use them. This year in particular, because of the way the schedule is set up in the Division Series, we can pitch those guys conceivably four out of the five games, and that's something we like.

BOB BRENLY: Well, it's a little bit of both. Basically, it came down to the fact that one of Rick Helling's strengths in my mind is his ability to pitch out of trouble. His last start was a perfect example of that. But, you know, in the post-season, ideally, you don't get into positions where you're in trouble, and we think that right now, Miguel Batista has a little better chance of missing a beat and trying to stay out of those instances where you give the other team baserunners and chances to score runs. As I said, Rick has done a great job this year and throughout his career of being a guy who can escape those jams. Ideally, we won't put ourselves into those positions.

BOB BRENLY: Probably, just occasional lapses of location. And when I say occasional, I mean rarely does he miss his spot. But the way this game can be at times, when he's missed his spot recently, it's cost him. A couple of three-run homers in St. Louis last week, probably the only two bad pitches he made the entire game and they both ended up in the seats. Yesterday, a guy hit an 0-2 fastball up over the heart of the plate and the guy tomahawked it out of the ballpark. Once again, it was poor location. His stuff is crisp. Physically, he's fine. I think it's just been a case of, you know, he could have made those same pitches back in April, May, June, July or August, and he might have popped them up or hit them at some somebody. But recently when he has made a mistake, they have made him pay for it.

BOB BRENLY: It depends on the game situations, the personnel that are involved at that particular time, who is on the mound for them, who is behind the plate for him them, where are we at in the game. We like to be aggressive whenever possible, but we would hope to never put a guy into a position where we are asking him to do something that's unusual or that he's not accustomed to, and certainly, we would try to never, you know, do that if the situation didn't call for it. But when the opportunities arise, we would like to be aggressive all year long.

BOB BRENLY: I think at this point it's best just to go day-to-day rather than lock ourselves into anything. As we all know, sometimes the numbers don't tell the whole story, and basically, we are just going to take it day-to-day. I mean, it would seem to make sense that if there was a match up that screamed out for Ruby to be in there and all other circumstances leading us to that decision, then, yeah, we would play Ruby at first. But right now, we are just day-to-day.

BOB BRENLY: At this point Durazo would only be considered as an emergency outfielder.

BOB BRENLY: Well, it's different. I'm not going to lie to you. Luis Gonzales has been our best run producer over the last couple of years, and a constant threat no matter how he was swinging the bat at a particular time, he was a guy that the opposing team could not afford to overlook. Counsell, as most of you know, is one of the best clutch hitters in National League before his injury. He was a guy who is very unselfish in his approach to play. He would give himself up to advance runners, and as I said many times, he is probably our best fundamental player defensively, offensively, baserunning, every aspect of the game. So, you take two pieces like that out of anybody's lineup and it's going to be a different look. But that being said, we feel that a lot of our guys have played some of their best ball recently. Womack has had a great second half. Spivey just continues to roll role along. Finley has been on a nice streak lately. The Matt Williams is swinging the bat well lately. You are never going to be the same when you take two guys like that out of your lineup, but we feel that we still have enough offense to score enough runs to win games.

BOB BRENLY: Your aunt -- (laughter) -- I mean, that's one of those things -- (Laughter.). You know, Felix did a great job for us. I know the Braves had a lot of success last year when they picked up Franco from the Mexican leagues and brought him in and he did a nice job for them. Because of the way the Mexican League World Series worked out, we could not get him here in time and we knew that going in and he knew that going in. But we felt if he could help us win a couple of games down the stretch it, would be money well spent, and it was. Felix, he played well for us, especially the last couple of days, swinging the bat with power. But, he's not in the picture now.

BOB BRENLY: Well, Junior is very important, obviously. We don't expect him to do anything differently than he's done all year. As you all know, at times we tend to be a little left-handed heavy with our lineup, and especially with losing Danny Bautista early in the season, Junior has taken up some of that slack. That has forced teams to at least think about making pitching changes with Womack in the 1 spot. And with Gonzo in the 3 hole or Finley in the 3 hole, you have to make a decision where whether you want to bring a right-hander in to face Junior or let that lefty roll right on through; and he has done a nice job of cherry-picking those lefties. He's a big part of our offense and he will continue to be a big part.

BOB BRENLY: Yes, I did see him hit and once again, it was a very impressive display. But the sheer fact that Danny has not seen live game pitching in such a long time, we still feel it's probably in his best interests and our best interests to allow him to continue with his comeback throughout the playoffs. Here in Phoenix when we go to St. Louis, he'll be one of the guys who will stay here with the taxi squad guys, and we will have an opportunity at that point to give him some live batting practice. Armando Reynoso, John Patterson, Bret Prinz and Eddie Oropesa will all be available to throw some live batting practice, and I think after we see how that goes this weekend, we'll have a much better idea of where Danny fits into the future.

BOB BRENLY: You know, once again, everything is day-to-day. But Colby has done a nice job when we've asked him to start against lefties. He's done a nice job off the bench pinch-hitting against lefties. Over the last couple of months he's done a tremendous job of hitting against right-handers. Colby is definitely a guy we are going to try to get out there and get as many at bats as he can, specifically against left left-handed pitching. There's a real good chance to Colby will get some time down there at first.

BOB BRENLY: Well, don't want to start into that "Mystique" and "Aura" and destiny thing all over again. It's way too early. You know, being a manager for the last two years, I cannot tell you the admiration I have for Tony LaRussa and his staff and the entire Cardinals organization for what they have endured this year. I mean, at times I've gone home feeling sorry for ourselves because Gonzo is hurt and Counsell is hurt, and Anderson is hurt and Bautista is hurt, but those guys will be back next spring. What the Cardinals have had to go through is something we would never wish on anybody. The way they have responded to it is a testament to the players and the staff and all of the members of the organization the way they have been able to get through this, you know, much like last year with the 9/11 tragedy. And I think a lot of people were rallying behind the Yankees because of that and saying what a great story it would be for the Yankees to win. Given all that has happened, we didn't feel that that was reason enough for us to roll over and let the Yankees win the World Series, and we feel the same way about this. I know for a fact that that's the way the Cardinals want it. They are going to go out there and compete and do their best to win ballgames and we're going to do the same thing, and that's the way baseball is supposed to be. As far as who has overcome more or whatever, that story is for somebody else to write. We sympathize with all of the families involved. In the context of playing the game on the field, we don't feel sorry for them and we don't expect them to feel sorry for us.