MLB ALL-STAR GAME

July 13, 1999

Bruce Bochy

Joe Torre

BRUCE BOCHY: Well, the mood, the tempo, the spirit of the club was great. Pedro has great stuff. It's obvious with the numbers he's put up this year, to me he's the best pitcher in the game right now, the way he's thrown the ball. We knew we had to work it out. It wasn't the case where the players were down after facing him.

JOE TORRE: Well, I think you could see the way he went up the middle on that one ball defensively. I held my breath because he hadn't played for a while. But he wanted to play, get an at-bat, stay out there a couple, two or three innings, and when we had so many men hitting, he wanted to get a second at-bat. He played the required three innings, and I'm glad he was able to, and he came away without hurting it anymore.

BRUCE BOCHY: In a way it is. We're playing to win. There's a lot of pride at stake. But it's such an honor to be here, for me, for all the players. We're talking about -- to me, it's one of the premiere events in baseball, not just baseball but all of sports. It's such an honor being here. You want to make sure you get all the players in. You're playing to win, but there's some other things that become involved, like getting all the guys in there. We're disappointed we lost, but it's such a great time here. I enjoyed it. We lost, but I still had a great time.

JOE TORRE: There's no question. When you see as many Hall of Famers and great players from the last century, Marichal and Spahn and Gibson and Carlton. And Ted Williams put the cherry on top. Carlton Fisk had tears in his eyes. You get caught up in it. It's very easy to do when you notice the players out there that as a kid growing up you were watching play. And then played along with some of them like Aaron and Spahn. And like Ricky Henderson and Steve Carlton. It was a great event. And it couldn't have been any better for me. Of course winning makes it a little bit better.

JOE TORRE: I think a player and a fan. And you have to get a feel for what the fans want. And here in Boston, Nomar couldn't play five innings, we would love him to play five innings, and he couldn't do it. I was kidding with him yesterday when I thought about doing that, I said I have to find a way not to have them boo Jeter. I think it's being a player and a fan. And watching and respecting and the way these kids play the game and you really appreciate it.

JOE TORRE: There's no question, as Bruce alluded to earlier, good pitching stops good hitting. Most of your hitters make hay off some mistakes. The good hitters don't miss the mistakes, the bad hitters foul them off. When you have a guy like Pedro, whether he's throwing the fastball or the change-up, with his arm speed, it's like hitting in a darkroom. It's difficult when he's on, with the stuff tonight and have the fans cheering for him. He was pumped up sky high, and I'm glad he was on my side. And I tell you Bruce finished with a guy who doesn't throw the ball too badly, either.

JOE TORRE: Well, no question, but again Bruce mentioned earlier, hitting early in the game. You can do it with the DH, and I made sure I did the checklist before the game, and then again during the game to make sure. The only hiccup I could have had, when you're the home league and you're leading, you only hit eight times. I needed someone to get a hit for Jaha to get him at bat, and the other DH did that. Sure we want to win, but the most important thing is to try to have everybody be a part of it. I don't know if I kick myself about it, I was going to have Percival get the last out and ^ Stottlemyre said you're not thinking what I'm thinking, are you? Yeah, no double play. And we got one. So Percival got warmed up and didn't pitch.

BRUCE BOCHY: I agree with Joe. It's such a great event, but yet the pressure of winning is not quite as intense as the World Series or a Super Bowl or something like that. You want the guys to have fun. It's their game. You still want to win, but it's important to get the guys in there and just acknowledge them and let them get recognized.

JOE TORRE: I think the fact that the last game of the century, last All-Star Game of the century, Boston, Fenway Park, just a lot of nostalgia involved with it to see the old-timers, to be an old-timer. I think you appreciate a lot of things that went on here. I think it was done with a lot of class. Thank goodness the weather cooperated. It couldn't have been better in my mind.

JOE TORRE: When you have a chance to pick nine or ten pitchers from out of all the League, it's a good chance there's going to be quality. Schilling had a little hiccup early, but aside from that. It's a pitcher's game. Unfortunately the fans like to see more action, but when you get a chance to put everybody in the ballgame and the number of players you're going to have are all going to be quality people, it's going to be tougher for the hitters.

JOE TORRE: To be a participant is most important. In March I have to say this was the last thing on my mind. But once I was feeling better I was looking forward to it. It's going to mean a lot to me to have been on the field for the last All-Star Game of the century.

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