NL DIVISION SERIES: CARDINALS v DIAMONDBACKS

October 9, 2001

Bob Brenly

BOB BRENLY: As far as I'm concerned, that's ancient history. I think Randy Johnson, at this stage of his career, is a completely different pitcher than he has ever been at any other point in his career. I'm sure if you took the time to look back over those post-season starts, certainly there were a number of games where he did not receive a lot of offensive support, and that certainly entered into the occasion. Basically, I choose to disregard that history. That happened in the past and I think he's a much better pitcher than he's ever been at any other point in his career.

BOB BRENLY: I don't know that I can adequately answer that question. Some guys are just good finishers. We see position players who are slow starters and finish very strong. We've seen a couple of examples of that on our ball club this year. Some pitchers, whether it be because of the condition that they keep themselves in, still have plenty of gas left at the end of the season, and that certainly seems to be the case with Randy. He has plenty left.

BOB BRENLY: Well, no, because we know what he is capable of doing. I'm sure Mark has not had the kind of season that he envisioned, but in the limited amount of playing time that he has had, he has certainly wreaked his share of damage, and we know that he's capable of doing that if you don't execute your pitches and execute them with precision. So he is still a threat in the middle of that lineup. He's one of the guys that we put a star next to his name and we know where he's at and what he's doing at all times. We do not overlook Mark McGwire by any stretch of the imagination.

BOB BRENLY: We really haven't talked about it as a group. I know that the players from time to time when we have some down time between batting practice and game time, I hear them discussing what's going on right now, but that's part of the joy of having a group of veteran professionals, they can have opinions and feelings about what's going on in the world, and certainly we all sympathize with those who have suffered and our prayers go out to those who are over there right now defending this country. But when we walk through that door, it's time to go to work. Hopefully they will be able to separate the two, and while they are here at the ballpark give us all their concentration and all of their focus.

BOB BRENLY: Well, certainly there's something to be said for experience, any time you go through a situation, you learn from it, and you learn what worked well and what did not work well. You learn how to handle all the peripheral things that go along with the playing of a baseball game in the post season, but, I mean, my hat is off to him because he has taken so many teams to the post season and done so well in the post season. But basically it comes down to how well your players play. Certainly, a manager can have an effect on a game by getting your players up there in the right situations, but ultimately they are the ones that have to get the job done. So this game and this series is not about me trying to out-manage Tony LaRussa; it's about my players trying to out-play his players.

BOB BRENLY: Not really. Like I said, because I've been through this in those seats before, I knew what was expected and I knew there were going to be demands on my time that would keep me from doing things we do on a regular basis, but you just get here a little earlier and take care of things you want to do before all the craziness starts.