AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: MARINERS v YANKEES

October 17, 2000

Lou Piniella

LOU PINIELLA: He has done a fantastic job for us all year long. He has pitched short out of the bullpen as a set-up guy. We would not be here without him. I think he had about 70 appearances or so during the course of the year, and I would say that 65 or so of them were just excellent. He's gotten big outs for us all year, and so far in this series, he's gotten some big outs: The strikeout of Hill in Seattle the other day was just an example.

LOU PINIELLA: Well, Joe Oliver went out and ran today and he was about 50 percent, would I say, which means he's lost about a quarter of a step. (Laughter.) We'll use him if we have to hit for Danny; we'll use him late in the game. He's done a heck of a job for us all year, he really has, and Danny has, too, handling our pitching staff. I'd like to see him get off this slide that he's on in this post-season, but Danny handles our pitching staff.

LOU PINIELLA: My first year there, we brought him up to the big leagues from A-Ball, and he was on our club, pitched out of our bullpen, and we sent him out so that he could start. We knew he was a starter. We traded him to Houston in the Eric Anthony deal. Yeah, that was always in the back of our minds. He's had a marvelous career. He's a competitive guy.

LOU PINIELLA: Well, I kept asking our advance scouts when we had our preparatory meeting here, was Joe doing anything different? Well, hell, he's always behind. He hasn't been able to do all that much. Yeah, they are a different ballclub. Once they got into the post-season, their experience shows. Their starting pitching is very, very respectable, almost to the dominant point. Joe has done a heck of a job of managing this series, too. He's done some unexpected things that I thought were advantageous, and at the same time, he's gone for the jugular every game, which you like to see a manager do. But, you know, these guys have a wealth of experience and they have got some talent over there. They play hard. They can be beaten, but you've got to go out there and play them and beat them. They are not going to give you ballgames.

LOU PINIELLA: Well, it's that confidence. It's that swagger. It's that feeling that we've done it before; we can do it again; let's rise up to the occasion. They don't really get rattled over there. They play their game. They have had a heck of a run. They really have. Hopefully, it will be over, but maybe not. We'll see. But I'll tell you this: You've got to give them credit for what they have been able to do over there. It's something that really doesn't happen in sports too often anymore.

LOU PINIELLA: They are a little more vulnerable. They are not as deep. I think that's the big thing. Their everyday players on the field, they are excellent. They are not as deep. They don't have as many horses to go to. But I'll tell you this: When that game starts, you've got to go out and beat them. They don't give games away. The match-ups that they use, coming out of the bullpen, when they stay with their top people, are really good. They have got that wealth of post-season play, experience; they are just not going to give ballgames away, and I think that has been the -- they have lost, what, four games now in post-season this year? But they are still the team to beat.

LOU PINIELLA: The only thing they have not talked about is an all wild-card World Series. I've never read anything about that at all. (Laughter.) That's what we came in here, to try to get that done now that the Mets have done their part over in the National League. These next two games will determine that. Or tonight's game will certainly give us a chance to go into tomorrow's game.

LOU PINIELLA: I didn't watch it. They have got a darned good ballclub over there. They are very deep pitching-wise, and I have watched them play at times this summer and into September. They have got a darned good pitching staff and they hit the ball. They are going to be a formidable challenge for whoever comes out of this league, believe me.

LOU PINIELLA: Yeah, it really is. They are expected to win. We're not. I told my team the other day just to relax and go play baseball; that they are the ones that are carrying the burden now. I'm sure they will disagree with that. But it's a good selling point, anyway (Laughter.)

LOU PINIELLA: Well, bringing Nelson in the other day in the fifth inning. It didn't work, but I thought, myself, it was the absolute right thing to do. Hitting a couple times for O'Neill. I know Joe doesn't like doing that. I don't like to do that with my guys, either. I've got players over there that at times we like a better match-up, but we stick. It's a tough thing to do. But Joe, his post-season experience shows when you manage against him, believe me.