NL DIVISION SERIES: BRAVES v CARDINALS

October 2, 2000

Bobby Cox

BOBBY COX: No.

BOBBY COX: Is he going to do that? That's fine.

BOBBY COX: We like him a lot. I have not seen him this year, I saw him last year. I thought he was one of the best young looking pitchers I had seen all year last year.

BOBBY COX: We have some high averages against lefties, yes. This kid has three good pitches. But we have done well against lefties.

BOBBY COX: That was a rough day, yesterday. We had not blown one in a while. I am glad it was yesterday and not tomorrow.

BOBBY COX: Yes, because you are starting the Playoffs. We wanted

to -- (inaudible.) -- not the biggest thing, naturally, nothing wrong with opening on the road. Get the extra game at home, the fans, get to see the club, that would have been nice.

BOBBY COX: Maddux, Glavine, we will think about, we are thinking about number 3, we have not decided.

BOBBY COX: Yes.

BOBBY COX: A lot of their hitters are left-handed, a lot can hit left-handers. No, we -- I don't think we would do that.

BOBBY COX: We can use three. The first guy out of the chute gets the full four days to pitch the fourth game, No.2 starter has to work on three.

BOBBY COX: Yes. He can do it easily. So can Mad Dog, it would not make a difference.

BOBBY COX: I don't know if it

is -- we get asked that question every year. I don't know if it is an advantage or not. I have seen young guys come up, not have any experience in these things and do extremely well.

BOBBY COX: We started in spring training with the pressure. It is nothing new.

BOBBY COX: The premiere home run hitter in all of baseball. Yes, you can use him any inning, you can use him in the first inning, if you really wanted to. He is a guy that will be sitting there to break up a ball game any time during that game.

BOBBY COX: Absolutely. That and Edmonds, the addition of Edmonds, I thought it was huge. Their pitching was injured the last couple of years. They probably could have made a heck of a run at their division, losing Morris and Alan Benes, two great young looking prospects, had to hurt. You won't win without pitching, I learned that a long time ago, you have to get pitching and then add to it.

BOBBY COX: You try to turn it on in April and keep it there, turn it up, turn it down, not playing hard, playing hard, I do not quite buy that stuff. When people say that, I kind of shake my head. I try to get up for every ball game, not just important, so to speak, games. You have to be ready to go when it is your turn.

BOBBY COX: Exactly, we have been doing that for a long time.

BOBBY COX: Without Reggie, we would not have scored as many runs as we have scored. He has really been red hot, playing great. Picked a good time to do it.