AL DIVISION SERIES: ATHLETICS v YANKEES

October 15, 2001

Art Howe

ART HOWE: Well, yeah. I mean, you come this far, you want to play a good, solid game. You know, if you lose playing well, you tip your hat. Tonight we contributed quite a bit to our demise. That's too bad.

ART HOWE: Our defense. It didn't have anything to do with the stage or whatever. We just didn't play well defensively tonight. It happens. We just picked a bad time to do it.

ART HOWE: It had been bothering him the whole series. We gave him an injection yesterday and he was feeling better, and I actually put him in the game late yesterday, if you recall. As far as I knew it, he was fine, as far as this game was concerned. He let me know after the second inning that he was concerned with his throwing; that he might cost us the game, and I wish I had known it before the game started.

ART HOWE: Well, it certainly was a big play. I mean, he's like a cat; he had a few lives that at bat, which certainly contributed.

ART HOWE: I really don't think so. I hope not, because we played the first two games here in the same kind of atmosphere, same kind of pressure, really, and we played well. We've played under tough situations all season long and have been able to play well. For whatever reason, we didn't make the plays tonight. And that's the way it goes.

ART HOWE: The pressure was on the Yankees, Game 3. We were playing with the house's money at that time. But tonight, we actually were loosy-goosy, really. We jumped out, scored runs early. We were feeling good about ourselves. But like I said, defensively, we just didn't click.

ART HOWE: He battled. We scored three off of him. We had him in trouble, but he gave them what they needed, I guess, and their bullpen did the rest.

ART HOWE: Well, I guess that's the reason he's wearing so many rings. This kid is as good as they come. Whenever they need a big play, he's there to make it. Whenever they need a big hit, he gets it. I think they have got a new Prime Time.

ART HOWE: I'd rather not think about it, to be honest with you, but it should be a great series. Both clubs are solid from top to bottom. We were hoping to go to Seattle from here, but, we're going home. Hopefully I'll be here again next year at this time with a better outcome.

ART HOWE: I really couldn't tell you. I don't know what transpired there, and I really didn't ask what was going on. You'd have to ask him.

ART HOWE: Definitely.

ART HOWE: Well, the Chavez error, the ball kind of scooted on him. That's why he didn't make that play. He was expecting to come up a bit more and it kind of scooted on him. That's why he made the error there. The pick-off play, when Giambi caught the ball, he was off balance and never really regained his balance to make the throw to second.

ART HOWE: First of all, I want to go on record again, I said that we had a lot of baseball left after we won those first two. I wish I was wrong, but I difficult that it was going to be that easy. But I think Mussina. Mussina was the key to it.