NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: BRAVES v DIAMONDBACKS

October 21, 2001

Bob Brenly

BOB BRENLY: Well, it was actually after the seventh inning. He had really expended a lot of energy and a lot of emotion out there to get through that seventh inning. Even though his pitch count wasn't unusually high for Randy, I just thought that he had pretty much tapped the tank in that seventh inning. Throughout the course of the regular season, we followed Randy with Kim a lot of times, and the contrast from a left-hander that throws way out to the side to a right-hander that throws underneath, it was a tough adjustment for the opposing hitters to make. BK is in great shape. He wants to pitch. We decided we were going to go for two innings. He came in and did what he wanted to.

BOB BRENLY: Yeah.

BOB BRENLY: Not really. I mean, Randy's an exceptional warrior out there on the mound. Just when you think maybe you've seen the last he's got to offer on a given night, he seems to be able to reach back and find a little bit more. I was confident that he would be able to do that and get us out of that seventh inning.

BOB BRENLY: Well, Grace pulled his hamstring. We had thought about putting Greg Colbrunn in at first base, but we felt given the way that game was going, we had better play our better defender. Durazo is a natural first baseman. With Greg's knee surgery this summer, his mobility was limited down there defensively. It was more a case of putting in a guy that we felt more comfortable with on defense, and Durazo, he hits righties, he hits lefties, he hits everybody. This guy's just a real good hitter and it really wasn't much of a decision.

BOB BRENLY: It's almost like having an extra player. Knowing that we have those guys available and being able to play matchups, we're strong from the right side, strong from the left side, and those guys take great pride in what they do. They really came together as a unit. It would have been easy, you see it happen all the times, guys that are relegated, so to speak, to the bench, they don't take it well; they sit and pout. These guys relished it. They may not have liked being a bench player, but they took their role seriously. They worked very hard at it. Like I said, it was like having an extra player knowing that I had guys available to pinch-hit for the pitcher's spot or somewhere else in the line-up, and they were going to go up there and give us a great at-bat every time.

BOB BRENLY: He had enough time to get ready, yeah. He knew, initially we thought about going with Greg Colbrunn. After talking it over with the coaches, we decided we'd better, like I said, stick with the defense. Erubiel had plenty of time to get ready.

BOB BRENLY: I'm just very fortunate to inherit this ballclub. It's easy for things to turn out well when no matter who you send out there does something good to help you win a ball game. Certainly doesn't make me a genius or anything like that. It makes my players very good. I don't know how else to explain it. I refuse to take any credit for what's happened with this ballclub this year. They've done it all themselves. They put their egos on the back burner and decided that as a unit we were going to try to go out and do something special this year. I kind of just sat back and watched them.

BOB BRENLY: Well, I don't know necessarily that he's accepted it. But he understands it and he wants to be the best pinch-hitter he can be. I think this is where Greg Colbrunn and Danny Bautista really have almost been the captains of our bench, because these guys have been part-time players. They've been bench players. They know what it takes to prepare for that one at-bat where the game could possibly swing on what you do. They've taken David Dellucci and recently me Midre Cummings and Durazo under their wing. I look around sometimes in the sixth inning and there's nobody on the bench. They're up in the cage, hitting off the tee, playing soft toss, maybe watching some video of the pitchers they're likely to face in the ball game. When that situation comes up, they're physically and mentally ready to go up there and get a job done.