NL DIVISION SERIES: CARDINALS v DIAMONDBACKS

October 2, 2002

Chuck Finley

CHUCK FINLEY: Well, it's very exciting, considering I wasn't at the other end of it. I've been watching this ever since I came over here, this offense. When we got Scotty Rolen, it just kind of solidified the lineup. We've been doing this all year since I've been here. It makes it a lot easier on the starting pitcher, any pitcher, to go out there knowing if you make one or two mistakes, it's usually not going to beat you. If you make more than that, you might be a little bit in trouble. We've been playing like this, like I said, ever since we've been here. When you take the field, when you have an offense like this, it makes your job a lot more pleasant to work with.

CHUCK FINLEY: Well, I'm very anxious to go out there and us win the game. For me personally, it does not really matter. To go out there and pitch a good game, put ourselves in a position where we can go back to St. Louis up two games to none would be huge. Obviously, to go out and pitch well, to limit my mistakes is going to be something I'm going to have to do. I don't know what the offense is going to do tomorrow. May not do the same thing it did last night. Might do more. I'm going to go in with the mindset it's going to be a very close game down to the end and hopefully we come out on top.

CHUCK FINLEY: I'd say same as when I was with Cleveland this year, the latter part of June. I know there's enough videotape out there that these guys can each have one to take home with them and watch at night. I'm not going in there naive enough to think just because they haven't seen me or I haven't pitched against them in a while that they're going to see something new. I think they've watched enough tape, like I said. They know my style of pitching. It's just going to come down to me not making mistakes. I mean, if I had pitched against them 10 times, beat them all 10 times, I go out there tomorrow making a lot of mistakes, it's going to be the one time they're going to beat me, it's going to be the most significant one. I don't know how much I'm going to have to change my game as far as not knowing their hitters. That could be something that I have to work with, too, as far as them not seeing me. I'll just kind of take it as it goes. I don't see any advantage to me as far as going into a game not having pitched against a team in a long time.

CHUCK FINLEY: Well, I kind of got the news from a long-distance standpoint. Obviously, I didn't feel the impact quite as much as they did, being so close to it. But when I got here, I really could sense the fact that something drastic went on. Guys were doing a lot of healing, trying to find some way to get through it. I don't know if the fact of me coming over and a couple other guys, a fresh face in the clubhouse, kind of took some of the guys' minds off of it, kind of changed the flow, outlook, whatever the team had. You know, this team has been faced with a lot of adversity before I got here and when I got here. They have seemed to rise to the challenge every time, even the tough road trips we had, double-headers and stuff, losing five, six, seven in a row, letting teams behind us get up close. They've withstood every challenge put before them. They went against a tough pitcher last night. They stood up there and did it again. I have all the belief in the world that there's no reason why in the world we can't advance. But this team has a lot of, lot of resilience in it.

CHUCK FINLEY: Well, obviously when you start the season, you think every team you're with is going to be where we are right now. Obviously, when I was with Cleveland, it wasn't going that way. They did me a big favor by putting me on a team not only that was good but had a lot of great people, a great organization. So that was a very easy transition for me. The guys kind of opened up and kind of wrapped their arms around me, kind of took me in as though I've been there from the start. It's been very easy for me. I didn't come in here trying to save the world or saying, "I'm going be the guy to take you here or there. " They wanted me to go in there every fifth day and do what I could do. The numbers added up enough to where I helped them. It's just been a very, very uplifting experience for me because the fact I feel like I got a shot of adrenaline when I came over here. You know, when you take the field with a team that you think is decent, but you feel most of the time you're winning because you're lucky or you're in one of those streaks where you went five out of eight or 10 out of 12, but with this team you take the field and you know you're good, you know you have a chance to go somewhere special. That's the ultimate goal here. When you look at the team, the players' eyes, all 25 of them believe they know they're going someplace special. That's what makes you feel good when you go out there.

CHUCK FINLEY: That story kind of evolved itself. Andy went from being on the couch pretty much semi-retired to being one of the main reasons why we're here. I just don't think that Andy gave himself enough credit. No matter how many years you have, every now and then you might need a little pat on the back or kick in the butt to get you going. Andy and I were talking about certain pitches. We were toying around with the split-finger. I showed him the way I threw mine. It felt kind of good in his hand, he said. The rest of it he did. I just went over and shook his hand every time he came in, gave him a glass of water. His story has been very, very uplifting for the team. It goes right along with what's gone on with this team the whole year, the way guys have kind of been kicked around, kicked in the gut so many times, came out of it, came out of it shining, and continued to do so.

CHUCK FINLEY: Yeah. Well, I feel better on a short days rest than long. If I go out there and I'm five, six, seven days of rest, it doesn't really work well for me, I've noticed in the past. When I was with Cleveland in 2000/2001, we had went to a three-days rest, four-man rotation the last two and a half months of the season, and I felt fine. Going out there, if I don't tax myself out there in a 135 -, 140-pitch game, it's a close game, I'm grinding all the way, it might have some effect on my Monday, but I'm still going to go out there and do it. I still feel like I can do the job. I'm one of those guys that is kind of disposable. If I go out there and something happens on Monday, big deal, shake my hand, "See you later," you go on. I hope it doesn't come down to that. We got ourselves in a great position tomorrow where if we win, we won't have to come back to Phoenix. If it happens, I'll be ready to go.

CHUCK FINLEY: Tomorrow we're starting over. Somebody is trying to get on top. Obviously if we win tomorrow, it will be huge. If we don't, we're going to go back to St. Louis starting all over again with just as much importance as it was for last night's game. I got a little bit more breathing room tomorrow as far as things I can do with the lead. But I'm going to go with every intention of winning that game, pitching well, putting ourselves in the position to win the game. You know, there's a lot to be said about winning that first game in a five-game series because it's so short. But it absolutely will mean nothing if we don't do something good tomorrow.