NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: BRAVES v DIAMONDBACKS

October 18, 2001

Steve Reed

Mike Remlinger

B.J. Surhoff

B.J. SURHOFF: I think he's pretty good. Obviously he's pitched two great games in the first round of the playoffs. It seems like he's really rebounded well from his shoulder surgery I guess it was two years ago. I faced him when he was in Philadelphia in the interleague three, four times possibly. You can't help but be impressed with the way he's pitched. He's got history. He did it back in '93, I believe it was, with Philly. Pitched very well in the playoffs. Short answer, I think he's pretty good. You know he likes to be aggressive. Yet it's still hard. You know it's coming from Randy, too. There's not a lot you can do about it. There's not a lot of tricks going on. Curt's going to use his fastball, breaking ball, move in and out. In this game it comes down to execution, where you put the pitch, whether you're ahead of the count, behind the count, whether you get the ball up in the zone and whether the hitter's patient or not.

B.J. SURHOFF: Well, I think everybody, that's an individual thing. Some guys like to try and hit the first thing they see, you know, straight, whatever, or ball up in the zone, middle of the plate. With him, you're not necessarily going to hit the first pitch because he might throw it by you or throw a breaking ball in a spot you don't want it. You don't want to swing at a bad ball. If you get a good one to hit, you need to try and get it. When he does get ahead in the count, it gives him a lot more options and makes it a lot tougher on the hitter because he can put you away with different things. Got options - up, down, breaking ball, he'll split in the dirt. Obviously, you like to get ahead in the count and get a ball in the middle of the zone.

STEVE REED: Well, I think as this series progresses, I think you're going to see a lot more of the bullpen play a factor in this. And having Greg and Tom and Burkett be able to go as deep in the games and keep the bullpen fresh is going to be a big asset for us later on as we get into Games 5, 6 and 7. I look for Burkett to do the same. And same for them. Schilling's probably going to go deep in the game. We expect that. Randy threw a complete game. So I think as the series goes on, I think the bullpen is going to play a big factor in this. We feel pretty confident down there.

MIKE REMLINGER: I think a lot of people are trying to make such a big deal about Arizona's bullpen. It was one game.

MIKE REMLINGER: Obviously our pen, we all feel that's a strong asset for this team, just like pitching has always been an asset of this team. I know confidence-wise with the guys that are in the pen, we feel like we can match up with anybody if you put us in a bullpen versus bullpen situation. Again, like BJ was saying against Curt, it's just a matter of even if you're trying to be patient with him, if he's on his game like he has been, it's tough to force him to throw a lot of pitches, which in this situation, to get him out of the game, unless you're beating him up, it's going to have to be probably 140. How patient can you be in nine innings to get him that high? If we can get some guys on base and maybe build some bigger innings, we get a situation where we can get bullpen versus bullpen, I think we do have an advantage.

STEVE REED: The nice thing about it, like I said, those guys go in a lot earlier. Also having Karsay and Smoltz going two and myself and Remlinger and Rudy, if there's any messes to be cleaned up in the sixth and seventh inning. Once we get past that, John and Steve have done a good job, and Rudy. Like I said, we feel confident down there. It gives Bobby a lot of options, too, with having a good mix of guys down there.

MIKE REMLINGER: I think the biggest thing that says the most about Bobby is every time a person comes here from either one other organization or someone who's been in several organizations, they're amazed at how relaxed the atmosphere is here, how much Bobby just lets us go and play and lets it be a game. I think that's the biggest thing. I don't think he gets near the credit he deserves for exactly that - just kind of staying in the shadows and letting us go do our job. He trusts in our professionalism and our ability to get the job done. It just makes it a lot easier to go out there and play the game.

STEVE REED: I've been here since June, and having been in the National League for a while, seeing Bobby work, I think he is shadowed a little bit. I think he goes with his gut a lot too with guys. Sometimes you got to throw -- I know the first time I came into a game, that's where I met Bobby was in New York on the mound. I had never met him before. I was facing Piazza. Piazza's got four home runs off me, his first Major League home run off me. He had the confidence in me to come in, I got the ground ball. I think sometimes he goes against what's on the paper, he goes with his gut and what he thinks. It's the same with the hitters, pinch-hitting. He just has a good feel for the game and what his players are capable of doing.

B.J. SURHOFF: I think Bobby prepares a lot more than people realize. He gets here very early, spends a lot of time by himself and with the scouts. And his formula is pretty much, "Let's pitch first, catch the ball, and hopefully be able to score some runs. Let's keep it reasonable where we always have -- we're in striking distance and have a chance where you don't have to score six, seven, eight runs a game." Put the guys in a situation where he feels like they have the best chance to succeed. Then go from there and play the game and gives you the freedom to play.

B.J. SURHOFF: Well, I think we have three right now. I think we kept Torrealba, if I'm not mistaken. In the first round of the playoffs when Javy was not available, yes, I was the third catcher. Yes, I could go back behind there if Bobby needed me to. In this situation, it's not something I really want to do or look forward to doing, but if they need me to do it, then absolutely I'll be back there. Again, this round I believe Steve Torrealba is on the roster. If we go the fourth catcher then... (Laughter).

B. J. SURHOFF: One, we don't think about it. Two, absolutely we can turn it around if we play the way we've been playing. Then I don't think, no, it will matter where we play. Obviously we played Houston here one game and won the game. We played very, very well. I don't see -- I don't think it's going to matter where we play. Yes, we had a subpar home record, but you have to look at the opposite. We had a great road record. So I don't think it matters where we're going to play. I think we'll be out there competing no matter what. I don't think in baseball there is really a -- the home field is probably less of a factor in baseball than it is in some of the other major sports.

STEVE REED: Well, we've made quite a few additions with Franco and myself and Karsay. I think that this club in the last month, and we picked up Rudy Seanez has been a big pickup for us, I think this club really started to gel together as a group and also getting Smoltz back in that time. There's been a lot of things that have happened since I was brought over here in June. Sometimes it takes a while to get the guys that have been traded and some of the guys that we picked up together and kind of working together as a group. And as you saw in the last home series, we talk about our home record, but the last couple of weeks I think we did pretty well against the Mets and Phillies when we had to at home. I think this group really, in the last 30 days, came together and as you said kind of gelled together. And have been playing pretty good baseball.

MIKE REMLINGER: I don't think it affects us when we play the game. I mean, there's a difference, too, like even in Arizona there was empty seats the first night. But with a dome stadium, the ability of making it so much louder, I think that's when it can become a factor. But for the fans that we've had, probably over the past month, we've had some of our smaller crowds. But if you look at the intensity of the crowd and how they were into the game, I think it's been some of the best fans we've had. In that aspect, I don't think size really is a major point to make of, you know... I'll get my tongue untied by tomorrow I hope (laughter). Our fans I think have done a great job in the past month. I've been pleasantly surprised with the intensity they've brought. I think that carries over to us. But, again, if they're not really into the game, it doesn't affect us a whole lot. As BJ was saying earlier, we go out, we play the game regardless of what's going on outside the white lines, so...

B. J. SURHOFF: Well, I mean, first of all, there's nothing like playing in front of a packed house. That's just the way it is. But no matter how many people are in the stands, the intensity level is going to be high. I think you've seen that in every game in both leagues. The games, to me, I can't remember this many one-run close games going down to the wire, and the people all in the ballpark are into the games very much, as are the players. When you get in, you don't worry about how many people are there, you're just trying to take care of your job. I mean, it's a great feeling when you walk out and you just see it's packed. There's nothing like it. But it's not going to have an effect on how you play.

STEVE REED: I think if you can't -- it is nice to have a packed house, and -- but as a player, if you can't get it up in a Championship Series, when I'm on the mound, I don't really focus on the crowd or anything like that. I don't think that BJ, as a hitter, he better be focused on Schilling or Johnson. It is nice to have the support, but we're in this thing to win it whether it's 10 people or 40,000 people. We know it will be full if we get to the World Series. So we're just going to go out there, like I said, if there's 20,000 or 40,000.

B. J. SURHOFF: Yeah, I have a thought on it. It has nothing to do with us. That's for Houston to decide. We take care of what we can control here. We have absolutely no say what happens in Houston. We have no say what happens with the management here. We play the game and do what Bobby asks us to do. We've moved on now and if they handle their situation, then that happens. That has nothing to do with us.

B. J. SURHOFF: When I get to face Randy, I'll let you know. But any time you have Randy and Curt on your team, it doesn't matter who's three, four and five, there's going to be a little bit of a dropoff in terms of throughout the whole year you're talking about guys that won 20-plus games each, and two of the premiere pitchers in baseball, let alone in our league. But you still, whether the guy goes out there and he throws 95 or he throws 85 or he throws 75, they still have ways to get you out. I think you've seen that in Jamie Moyer doesn't overpower people and he's pitched two fabulous games in the playoffs. No matter who's out there, they have the ability to get you out. No matter how good you are on the mound, there's somebody that has the ability to get you. It comes down to consistency. Those guys have been very consistent and very, very good for a good while. The difference is not necessarily in the stuff, but in the consistency and in the experience level.

STEVE REED: All the mail has been taken out of the slots and it's now going to be -- we just understood just now that it's going to be gone through just like, you know, I think they go through the mail that they're going to do at NBC, ABC, all that. That's my understanding. I think, yeah, you will be more aware of it, I'm sure, as I'm sure you will be at home, too.

B. J. SURHOFF: Well, I had to go from being on the bench to being on the field, first of all (laughter). I couldn't hit Randy, he was a long way from where I was (laughter). Obviously, I mean, I don't mean to demean any of this, I didn't play against Randy. Obviously, Randy's six foot ten, throwing -- seems like he's right on top of you. Probably arguably the most intimidating pitcher of the era we've played in. I don't get to see him very much, but Curt, from the right side, a little more over the top, a little wider array of pitches, but both of them come after you. They lay it on the line for you. They're out there to -- I don't think there's any question when they step on the mound, they anticipate pitching a complete game every time. I got to believe if they'd tried to take Schilling out of the game the other night, there would have been a mutiny on the bench in the St. Louis game. I think that's Curt's mentality. I'm pretty sure Randy's mentality is right along the same lines.