AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: YANKEES v MARINERS

October 18, 2001

Lou Piniella

LOU PINIELLA: Is that what he said? (Laughter.)

LOU PINIELLA: Well, I've gotten older and wiser. You know, I still have a lot of intensity, but I think I've learned to handle myself a lot better.

LOU PINIELLA: I think their history and tradition, their winning tradition. They have something that to really draw back on. I think it is a big advantage. I know we felt that way when I played there. You know, they can be beaten. The same way when I played there, our teams could be beaten. I got a call from some friends in New York today, and they said, "Enough already with these Yankees. Get somebody else into the World Series." (Laughter.) So hopefully we're that Enough-Already ballclub.

LOU PINIELLA: (Laughter.) The history, the tradition they have had of winning. It's a source of strength. It's a source of motivation. But there's really no mystique to it. You go out there and you play better than they do and you beat them. You've got to give these guys credit. They have played awfully well when it's counted, but they can be beaten, believe me.

LOU PINIELLA: That's tough. You know, basically, here in Seattle, our hearts and our prayers and our thoughts have been in those peoples' mind, there and Washington and Pennsylvania, but specifically New York where they had the greatest devastation. I don't really look that much forward to going to New York. But we are going to do everything we can as an organization, as a team. If they need us to do some things to help out in any way, we're certainly going to be available for that. But as far as getting close to Ground Zero, no, I wouldn't want to. And again, in our all respect, I mean, the things that are -- the people that are working there every day -- you know, no. Anything else that we can do for families or, anything, yes. But to go to -- no.

LOU PINIELLA: Well, we knew we were getting a good player and we knew that he would fit very nicely in the lead-off spot. We knew we were getting a really good outfielder with an excellent throwing arm. Now, did we think that he would get 242 hits and lead the League in hitting, and lead the league in stolen bases, that has been all conjecture. At the same time, it's not for me or this organization to put too much expectations on a new player, because he had enough scrutiny coming over from Japan already, proving himself. But he's exalted, he really has. The only surprise I've gotten is that he's quicker than I thought he was. He can motor down that line as well as anybody.

LOU PINIELLA: Not really. I try to keep percentages in our favor as much as possible. I believe in data. I don't believe in hunches. If we can keep the percentages on our side, the vast majority of the times, or as many times as I can out of 100, baseball is a percentage game. Sometimes you're not able to do that, but over time, you put the percentages on your side of the table, you're going to win more ballgames, and that's what we try to do. And you let your guys play. You try to utilize all of the experience that you have on your baseball team. You know, sometimes you're going to be scrutinized. That's part of this business. Everybody is a manager in baseball. What people don't realize, you've got to make decisions out there very, very quickly and you've got to be a couple, three innings ahead of the ballgame.

LOU PINIELLA: I don't worry about it. Look, I made my own bed, so I lie in it. (Laughter.) Right? I mean, I was that way as a player. And it was a lot of wasted energy. I recognize that now. But I've had success. There's different ways to skin a cat and I've learned the easier way to skin it, you know. I like it better. But at the same time, there's nothing wrong with being fiery, either. But, you know, you come to the realization that there's just so much that a manager can do. You prepare your team, you motivate your team, you let them play and you stay out of their way, and no matter how much you want it or don't want it, the players get it done for you on the field. So the more relaxed that you can keep them and the more confidence that you can instill in them, and at the same time, not be more intense in your team, I think it's all to your advantage.

LOU PINIELLA: No. We really haven't. We won five out of six there this year, and in general, we played pretty well in New York since I have been here. It's not an easy place to play. If you don't have confidence, it can't intimidate you, there's no question about it. The crowd is loud, raucous, and there are a lot of bars around the ballpark. (Laughter.) So the fans come in there prepared. (Laughter.) But at the same time, when you have a better ballclub like we have, we can handle the situation well. We won 59 games on the road this year and only six of them were in Yankee Stadium. We've played well all over. Now what we need to do is go in there and play well in post-season. Really, our job in the series as you look at it is to get this thing back to Seattle, if we can. We've got Garcia and Moyer for games 6 and 7. That's really our objective, get this thing to Seattle and win it in front of our own fans. That's what we need to do here over these next four ballgames.

LOU PINIELLA: Yeah. He's gotten better and better as he's gotten older. He's come up with more variations of pitching. He's pitched inside, for instance, this year as well as I've seen him pitch. It reminds me like Frank Tanana after he hurt his arm. He didn't really throw all that hard, but he pitched inside really well. I think confidence. It's certainly a lot more experience. He really has a feel for pitching. I'm talking about changing speeds, knows when to bust a hitter. He's doubled up a few times, and I've said, "Boy, did he have guts." But that's really what you have to do. I remember when we used to go to Fenway Park when I was a player, they had Bill Lee, and they had another left-hander that had some success that didn't throw hard, a big, old curveballer, that went to the National League. The other kid that went to the Cardinals, the one that won so many games with the Cardinals, John Tudor. When they pitched inside in Fenway Park, they were very successful and when they pitched out over the plate they used to get hit. It goes to show you that no matter how hard you throw or don't throw, you've still got to establish inside on a hitter. It opens up the outside part of the plate and makes you more susceptible to offspeed pitches.

LOU PINIELLA: Well, he can hit Mike just about anywhere. I've hit him mostly sixth. I've hit him in the fifth spot, and I've hit him in the second spot and I think he's hit seventh. I've also hit him fourth. But the sixth spot is where he's hit most of the time. He's got power, he's got speed. The only problem with hitting him in the sixth spot is it sort of takes away his chances to run. He's got that natural talent to utilize speed. But we need some power in the middle part of our lineup, too. If he cuts down on his strikeouts, he could almost hit anywhere he wants in the lineup because he's very capable. What he needs to do is cut down on his strikeouts somewhat. But I feel comfortable with him in the number two hole because we can utilize the speed there. He hit fifth yesterday off Pettitte because he has hit Pettitte well. Today he is hitting sixth off of Mussina.

LOU PINIELLA: I think as a manager you always draw back on people that you play for. Probably the biggest influence anybody ever had on me managing was Billy Martin, by a wide margin. But I played for Yogi. I played for Dick Howser. I played for the Stick. I played for Bob Lemmon. I played for 'ol Earl Weaver. You learn from all of them, you really do. But Billy had the most profound influence because I played for him at the end of my career and he's the one that basically got me prepared to manage when I was his coach over there.