AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: RED SOX v YANKEES

October 13, 1999

Jimy Williams

JIMY WILLIAMS: We got Mercker, Ramon, Pedro and Saberhagen.

JIMY WILLIAMS: Just felt it was the best for our club from the standpoint of rest with those starters.

JIMY WILLIAMS: It is too bad they can't both be here and they could probably tell you themselves. They are good teammates and I know they think the world of each other. But it is really unique to see two kids from the same family pitching on the same team and this is the second time it has happened to them. I think that is pretty unusual, but I know these two brothers are very, very close.

JIMY WILLIAMS: Well, he put a lot of air miles on this year maybe bus miles too, I think his first game was in Lowell which was our rookie club, then he went from there to the rookie club down in Fort Myers, pitched for Sarasota, went to Pawtucket, joined us, started a game in Fenway and then I brought him in and talked to him. I said listen maybe it is just asking too much of you, but this kid kept working and he never stopped one day from doing his exercises or whatever he felt he was just trying to come back and help our club win. With that in mind, we had a game at Oakland it was that last long road trip we had and it was an afternoon game. It was 8th inning, I see this kid go down to the bullpen and throwing. I am saying why is he going down there and throwing. He still felt in his mind he could pitch and help us. We had a situation later on in that road trip, in Cleveland where Pat Rapp had to leave our club for a period of time and he was supposed to start a game and actually that trip took us to New York and then to Cleveland so when we flew from New York which is when Pat approached me and told me he had to go home again, in my mind flying 35,000 feet, I said I am going to pitch Ramon and he pitched very good there, but he got progressively better with each of his starts. I think he has got his legs he has got his trunks under him -- got good legs. And even though he pitched 7 innings a couple of times, I didn't think he was tired. So experience-wise, you go with the man, you know, believe in him.

JIMY WILLIAMS: See you folks know a whole lot more about the history. I have only been in Boston three years, but I know this series, I guess it is the first time these two clubs have met in a playoff situation, so with that in mind, we got to go play the games. It is tough for me to really say a lot about the rivalry, you know, I know it is there, but I think regardless of who you are playing, it is a rivalry going out to win a game the best way you can. So we start this series in New York and we got to play the games. I think you folks can write about rivalry over the years a lot better than I could express it myself up here.

JIMY WILLIAMS: He doesn't have a blister.

JIMY WILLIAMS: He played catch for seven or eight minutes out there today already and said he felt fine.

JIMY WILLIAMS: Just don't think it is the right thing to do. We went through this last series where two or three pitchers pitched on three days' rest. We pitched Saberhagen on three days' rest; didn't work, so we just have to stay with what we feel is the right thing for our team and evaluate it and not ask him to do things outside of the ordinary from the standpoint of having been through injuries like Mercker has been through, Pedro has been through, Ramon has been through, Saberhagen has been through. But we are here, you know, so we are going to go play. We just think the timeframe is best for us to try and be as consistent as we can here right now. We are not in a panic situation. We just pitch him the days that we think are the right days to pitch him with proper rest or at least close to.

JIMY WILLIAMS: That started way back in spring training. But certainly Ramon had to go through that entire rehab progression, but the organization signed him and he was in spring training with us but he had to go through that process and it takes time. You go with the man; you know what he has been through, can he get back to the same level? Well the work ethic of this man, Ramon, he stayed consistent, persistent and really believed in himself. You know these guys go through a lot of pain trying to get back there, so you compliment your training core and I compliment ours right now with what they have done with Nomar and Valentin, Pedro, Ramon, so there is some key guys behind the scenes that have really helped get these kids back out there.

JIMY WILLIAMS: See you have to relish the moment, the joy of when it happens when you come back in a series like we did, but how many weeks ago was that? I don't remember -- I remember, but you have to get your focus back on what you are trying to attain. Our whole focus now is on this game today. Yes, you enjoy the moment and certainly our club did and I think deservedly so, but I really think that over all our team this year has been pretty level. Don't get too high; don't get too low. If you happen to lose a game, then maybe you learn something from it and maybe you are a better player, better team. And move on. We know we have a tough time on that other side over there.

JIMY WILLIAMS: Well, we had Thomas Gordon "Flash" early, then he got hurt, so we put Wakefield out there and I really think that helped Derek Lowe a lot in the setup roll that he eventually became the closer once we put Wakefield back in the rotation. We have also used Garces out there. So do we have options? I think we have options because I like our pitching staff a lot. I like all those kids. They have done a heck of a job. Basically Derek Lowe has been the one that we have gone to the majority of the time since Wakefield went back into the rotation. So it might be him, but could be somebody else.

JIMY WILLIAMS: Well, we know he is an outstanding player. This kid gives everything he has got out there. As far as in or out, I think you'd probably have to go talk with Joe Torre.

JIMY WILLIAMS: I think we have got to get to the next question.

JIMY WILLIAMS: I am going to go back to our training core. Again, the job that they did to help -- this kid had to walk off the field. He couldn't play. So we disabled him and through a lot of work ethic on his part and our training core just to get him back out there, it took time, plus we, in our minds, programmed him from the standpoint of the last ten days of the season to get him in seven games; play him a day off; play him a day; play him two days off, etcetera, it seem to have worked. At least, it worked so far. But he is a big-game player. This guy is a big-game player. He likes these types of situations. He was successful last year and certainly an integral part of our ballclub.

JIMY WILLIAMS: I haven't talked to him about it. I think that is a good sign because he must be okay. I really haven't talked to him. Haven't talked to Val about his knee. I haven't -- only thing I knew about Pedro, like I mentioned before, is he threw a few minutes out there on the long catch and felt good.