AL DIVISION SERIES: ATHLETICS v YANKEES

October 13, 2001

Bernie Williams

BERNIE WILLIAMS: Well, everybody is just doing their normal things, getting ready, preparing, watching some video, getting some treatment, some of the other guys, and it's pretty much normal from what I can see.

BERNIE WILLIAMS: To me it looks good. He is the one that has to make the decisions on who is going to play or not. And I'm confident in the fact that he made the right decisions to put the best team out there. Not that the other guys are not going to get a chance to play somewhere down the line in the game, but it looks pretty good to me.

BERNIE WILLIAMS: Well, I think it's very important for us to have a lead early in the game, but I think that these games have been so close that at some point in the game, early or later in the game we have the ability to come back, as long as we stay in the game, as long as we don't give up. But I think definitely it's going to be very important to have an early lead.

BERNIE WILLIAMS: I think we should keep our approach. I think we should stay disciplined. You have to approach every at bat as an individual at bat. You can't really assume that things are going to happen. Like I'm a reaction hitter. I need to see the pitch first before I make my decision. I can't assume that the guy is going to throw a strike early in the count. So I don't think it's any time to start changing my philosophy in hitting just because the guys are getting ahead in the count. I have to see the pitch. If it's a pitch I can handle I'm going to swing at it. It could be early in the count or late in the count. It doesn't matter.

BERNIE WILLIAMS: Well, there is no doubt in my mind that Paul has been not only a great teammate but an instrumental part of the team's success in our championships. He has been an anchor. He has been a rock solid guy that we always count on to deliver and to play the way he has been capable of, he has been very important to our club.

BERNIE WILLIAMS: Yeah, Tino has been also one of those great guys. And he came in with a lot of pressure on himself trying to follow the steps of a great first baseman in his own right, Don Mattingly. And I think in my mind he has filled those shoes and gone beyond -- in fact he has been able to produce some big power numbers, and been instrumental in all our championships as well. He has been a great guy, too.

BERNIE WILLIAMS: Well, you've got to go out there and get them. You've got to go out and lay it all out. Obviously we are aware of the situation we're in right now. But we're trying to concentrate on the task that we have ahead of us this particular day, trying to think small, and trying to take it an inning at a time, a pitch at a time and not trying to do too much.

BERNIE WILLIAMS: I wish I could have a little bit more information to give you. But first of all I'm not really concerned about that right now. And second of all I don't think this is an organization that has made a lot of moves out of emotion. I think the front office and the people in Tampa always think through very carefully the decisions that they make. And sometimes they're surprising, but I think that they have gone through a lot of thought in the process. So I'm glad that I don't have to make those decisions, but I'm pretty sure that they're going to make decisions that are going to be the best for the team in the long run. And I'm glad I'm part of them.