NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: BRAVES v DIAMONDBACKS

October 19, 2001

Bob Brenly

BOB BRENLY: No. I don't know what else you can say at this point. The cream rises to the top. I mean, whatever cliche you want to throw on it, we've talked about it throughout the post-season. When the light seems to be shining the brightest, when people expect the most from him, when we expect the most from him, he goes out there and exceeds even what we expected. I don't know if there are any superlatives for Curt Schilling.

BOB BRENLY: No. I mean, he wasn't tired. Curt and Randy are very exceptional pitchers. We keep a close eye on the pitch count all year long, and part of the reason we did that was so when we got to this point of the year we could extend them a little bit if necessary. We did have BK Kim warming up in the eighth inning as well as the ninth inning in the event things started to slip away. But there was never any serious thought to take him out of the ball game.

BOB BRENLY: I just asked him if he was okay. I mean, that's the kind of competitor he is. Scares the living daylights out of me sometimes. When he's at the plate, he thinks he's a hitter. When he's on the bases, he thinks he's a base runner. After he lets the ball go, he thinks he's a fielder, which is part of the reason he's the great competitor he is. When you're a little kid, every part of the game was just as important as another one. As far as he's concerned, his base running is as important as his hitting is as important as his pitching. It's tough to throttle him down at all. I was glad to see him come through it unscathed.

BOB BRENLY: It was hard to tell from my angle. We had probably the worst possible view in the ballpark as to what happened there. I haven't seen a replay, so I really can't speak to that.

BOB BRENLY: Well, I think we just -- we had a little fortune on our side tonight as well. Some of the hard-hit balls over the last couple ball games that were right at their defenders found holes tonight. We ran the bases aggressively, intelligently, but aggressively. Against a great pitcher like John Burkett, we said it before the game, you've got to take advantage of your opportunities and take advantage of mistakes. A couple of defensive miscues, miscommunication, whatever you want to call it, we were able to take advantage of those things. I think our players realize that that's what we had to do to beat Burkett tonight.

BOB BRENLY: I try not to think about it too much. It was a lot easier making the decisions last year than it is this year. But this is -- I don't know -- I'd say a dream come true is a little trite, but this is something that I've always wanted to do in my career and I'm enjoying the living daylights out of it. My players are going out there and playing the game the way it's supposed to be played. I'm just very happy to be where I'm at right now.

BOB BRENLY: I don't think it was so much he surprised them. I think we just caught them in a little defensive miscommunication there. Looked to me like Giles was playing very deep and up the middle a little bit. The placement of that bunt, you know, Franco hasn't played a lot of first base. That's the most confusing thing for a first baseman, if you've not played there much, are bunt defense assignments. I think Tony just put down the perfect bunt. There really wasn't much they could do about it.

BOB BRENLY: I'll talk a lot about Craig Counsell. This guy has just been truly amazing for us all year long. He gives you good at-bat every time he goes to the plate. You can be pretty sure you're going to see a full count. He's not afraid to hit with two strikes. He may be one of the best two-strike hitters in baseball. He's the smartest player I've ever had the fortune to be around. He's always in the right place at the right time. He's just -- covering the post-season in years past, Jimy Williams used to call his guys ball players. That's the ultimate compliment you can say to a ball player is say he's truly a ball player. Craig Counsell is truly a ball player. I put him out there, don't ever give it a second thought whether he's going to be where he's supposed to be or do what he's supposed to do because I know he will.