NL DIVISION SERIES: CARDINALS v DIAMONDBACKS

October 3, 2002

Bob Brenly

BOB BRENLY: We acquired Mark Little because we were thin in the outfield. We had some recurring injury problems with David Dellucci, of course Gonzo recently. We picked up Mark Little as an insurance policy, a right-handed bat, which is something we desperately needed. He's an above-average defender, above-average runner, above-average thrower, what I call a pesky hitter. He seems to always find a way to get on base. Quite honestly he gave our team a shot of energy when he came on board. He's a very enthusiastic guy. Plays the game the way we like to see guys play the game. Especially the series he had against Colorado at the end of the season made me believe that he's a guy we could count on at this time. We're going to give him a start against a lefty.

BOB BRENLY: I think it was pretty apparent to anybody that was watching that the Andy Benes early in the season was having some physical problems with his knee. Just wasn't allowing him mechanically to do the things he needed to do to be successful. I know there was some speculation that he was going to retire at that point. But he continued to work and rehab his knee. The Andy Benes we saw in St. Louis last week was a completely different animal. His stuff was very crisp. He had good velocity again. He had added a couple of wrinkles we hadn't seen from Andy Benes before. He pitched a great game against us. I'm sure that knee is not at a hundred percent, but he's found a way to pitch through it. He was very good against us in St. Louis.

BOB BRENLY: Personally, I do prefer the roof closed because of the visibility problems. We've all seen games that start on the West Coast in the afternoon, what the hitters and the fielders have to deal with as far as the shadows on the field. We're very fortunate to have the luxury to eliminate that factor. That's the most important thing for me. I think it's a bad situation when you get to the post-season and you have the eight best teams left in baseball out there competing under the worst possible conditions you can imagine with the shadows and the light and the glare and the background. I do much prefer the roof closed just for consistency of conditions.

BOB BRENLY: No.

BOB BRENLY: That's kind of been open for debate since the ballpark opened. I think the general consensus is the ball carries a little better with the roof open. I would have to agree with that. Although I feel it's a very, very marginal difference. I think this is a fair ballpark. I think you have to hit the ball to get it out of here. There's no cheap home runs. Like I said, I think it's a little bit more of a hitter's park with the lid open, but just marginally so.

BOB BRENLY: The home teams were hoping for it, I know that. I think that's just the nature of baseball in general, post-season baseball in particular. You know, the venue, bottom line, has really very little effect on what happens down on the field. Certainly the fans can get involved and maybe get a little more adrenaline pumping for the hometown crowd. I said going into this, obviously you'd like to play more games at home for obvious reasons, but I didn't really feel that home field was going to be a huge advantage in our series or any of the series.

BOB BRENLY: Apparently we're going to have to. That's something we hadn't anticipated. But we do have foul weather gear. Yeah, we will take it along.