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MLB WORLD SERIES: METS v YANKEES

October 25, 2000

Bobby Valentine

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Game Four

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Bobby Valentine.

Q. Your team played about as good as a team can play. How frustrating is it when you lost the way you have, the three games you have, especially tonight?

BOBBY VALENTINE: It's not frustrating. We're giving everything we have out there, and they're giving just a little extra. They scored an extra run tonight. We had a lot of hits saved up. Hopefully, over the next three games they'll all come out.

Q. Is it just the pitching that's so good for the Yankees? Do you guys have to go over your hitting approach tomorrow?

BOBBY VALENTINE: I don't know if at this time of the season you change any approach to hitting. I think we can hit. We'll hit better. They made good pitches, especially out of the bullpen in the few games that they've played.

Q. Not to cast dispersion on the rest of your staff, but do you think there's a guy on your staff better suited to handle a 3-1 ball than Al?

BOBBY VALENTINE: Al's pitching tomorrow. I hope he's the best guy suited, and I hope Mike Hampton is the best guy suited, and I hope Rick Reed is the best guy suited. That's the way we're lined up. We're ready to go. We'll give it our best shot tomorrow, I'll guarantee that.

Q. Is it any easier looking at the task ahead to see how close every game has been, how close you've been to winning every game?

BOBBY VALENTINE: I don't know if it's any easier. Just the fact that we know we could hit a little better than we've hit. A lot of times those things come in bunches. We're going to need to bunch some of our hits starting tomorrow.

Q. When Mike Piazza came up with nobody on base in the fifth inning, two outs, were you surprised to see David Cone out there in an unfamiliar role, pitching in relief against a guy who had hit a home run one at-bat earlier?

BOBBY VALENTINE: Well, you try not to be surprised. The first time Mike just missed hitting a home run down the foul-line, and the second time he did hit a home run. So it's a one-run game there. They want to keep it at that, and they did.

Q. On that point, did you have a decent view of Mike's first ball that went over the top of the foul pole? What did it look like to you? Is there a way umpires call balls that are way over the foul pole too make it be more fair?

BOBBY VALENTINE: It was real tough to tell where that ball was when it left the ballpark. It hit so far. With six umpires, they have a good look at that, and there's three of them looking right down the line. And I saw the home-plate umpire and the third-base umpire both kind of glance and nod. So I think they all saw it the same way.

Q. Will you have a team meeting? Is there anything you want to say to these guys before they go out again? Or is it beyond that at this point?

BOBBY VALENTINE: They know how proud I am of them. They know that I believe in them. We don't need a team meeting. We're ready to go. I was just in that clubhouse, and there wasn't a lot of dispersion in there. They know the work's cut out for them, and they've had their work cut out for them since they put on a uniform. They're ready to go.

Q. Can you explain your moves in the seventh? What was responsible for your thinking on the pinch-hitters?

BOBBY VALENTINE: We know he's there. You know, we're one run down, and I got some shots at putting a couple guys up there who could get an extra-base hit, get something going. So, yeah, I wanted to score in the seventh. It would have been good to tie it up at least.

Q. Lenny Harris just missed the foul pole. Zeile missed the top of the wall twice. Piazza -- that's a lot of near-misses in three or four games, isn't it?

BOBBY VALENTINE: Like I said, we have a lot saved up. I think it all can come in bunches. Sometimes when you're just missing, they come back the same way. So I'm hoping that's going to happen.

Q. You didn't pinch-hit for Bordick last night, but you did tonight. Can you talk about the difference in the situation?

BOBBY VALENTINE: Without being a wise guy, were you watching both games? Last night was a tie game in the sixth inning; today we were one run down in the seventh, major difference.

Q. Looking back at that first game, was that a lost opportunity if you reflect back on the first game at Yankee Stadium?

BOBBY VALENTINE: My job and my team's job right now is to look ahead. Tomorrow we have a big game that we are going to have to win, and we're going to do that. There will be plenty of time to look back.

Q. What you went through last year against Atlanta, is that going to help you to deal with this situation this year?

BOBBY VALENTINE: I think you draw on all your experiences, and we've had a lot of experiences, and we've had our backs up against the wall. And tomorrow we're going to come out and give it our best shot. I just believe we can do that, and hopefully continue after that.

Q. The follow-up on that, in an elimination game, do you manage any differently? Do you use, in your mind, everybody if you have to?

BOBBY VALENTINE: It's 25-man roster. We'll try to put everybody in the best place they can be to help us win a game. I think our bullpen will be pretty fresh. We'll have Johnny Franco and Armando going three days in a row, but we'll use them if we have to.

Q. The Jeter triple, should Timo have played that differently? Hit the cutoff man since it did lead to a run.

BOBBY VALENTINE: The right centerfield one?

Q. The ball that sliced away from him, got down to the rightfield corner, that he ran around. I'm sorry, you're right. O'Neill?

BOBBY VALENTINE: I was blocked out of that. That's out of the view of the dugout. I actually thought off the bat it was going to be a double, so I'm sure it did trick him.

Q. Not having seen a whole lot of Rivera, is he as devastating down there as he looks when you see him time after time?

BOBBY VALENTINE: Really hard to center him. It's moving two ways, and it's moving pretty quickly. It's moving forward at 90-plus, and it's moving sideways rather late and rather quickly. Yeah, he's not an illusion; he's the real deal. No doubt about that.

Q. How big was it for Jeter to put them up so quickly, especially after the rare loss when people wondered how they would respond to that?

BOBBY VALENTINE: Well, putting a run on the board was the difference in the game. It was a one-run game. I was proud of Bobby Jones the way he got out of the first inning and kept battling the entire time he was out there. That could have been a thing where we could have lost a little composure early. And I thought we did a good job of staying in it, and just didn't do a good enough job of capping off the lead they had.

End of FastScripts....

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