NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: METS v BRAVES

October 13, 1999

Walt Weiss

WALT WEISS: I think particularly in the postseason, a lot of times it's up to the guys at the bottom of the order. Sometimes the very top of the order can't make a contribution because they're usually trying to pitch around the guys in the middle and come right after the guys at the bottom of the order. They don't want to walk those guys, put them on base. So you tend to get more pitches to hit when you're down there. They're always a little more careful with the middle line-up. So I was in a position to get a hit or two in a key situation last night, and it just happened to come through.

WALT WEISS: Well, I spent a lot of time in the cage the second half of the season, especially when I wasn't playing. I spent a lot of time up in our cage during the game. And Don knows me real well. We've been together half my career, with three different teams. He's got a keen eye for when I'm doing things right at the plate and when I'm not. And it just takes a word or two from him to plant a seed, or to really let me know what I need to do. We don't have to spend a whole lot of time talking. He just says a word or two and gets the point across. He's just got a -- he's real observant with me. He's seen me so long, and it's nice to have him around. It always helps when a guy knows you that well and he's that observant.

WALT WEISS: Basically, he just keeps it real simple. He tells me to -- most of the time, I need to stay back. Like my first at-bat last night, I was trying to hit the ball out in front too much, and I was real susceptible to the splitfinger from Yoshii. It's just a matter of him usually telling me that I need to stay back, use a big part of the field, stay inside the ball, don't get to hooking the ball. And that's really the key.

WALT WEISS: I think when I missed the month on the DL and I came back, I really had a hard time finding any kind of timing or rhythm at the plate. And I started trying to make some big time adjustments and ended up getting worse and worse. I think when I wasn't playing later in the season, it gave me a lot of time, extra time really during the game. Early in the game, a lot of times I would come up and hit in the cage for the first two or three innings, and I was able to work some things out. Really, try to just get back to my basics and keeping it simple, instead of trying to make the big changes that I was trying to do, I think, in July and August after missing all that time. So it was just a matter of getting back to my basics and simplifying my whole approach.

WALT WEISS: Well, it was obvious when they got Jose, I knew my playing time would be decreased. And justifiably so. We got him at a time where I was really at the height of my struggles. He's a force offensively. We needed that especially after Javy went down, and we lost a lot of our pop in our line-up when Javy did go down. Having Jose in there was a big lift for us. I knew he could play a bunch of positions, but I was really the only one struggling offensively in the line-up. It's not hard to figure out. I knew he'd be playing a lot. So as far as confidence-wise, sure, that fluctuates at times. When you're not getting a whole lot of playing time, you wonder if you're in the picture at all, if you're fitting in. But the thing with this game, we play every day for eight months and things can change rapidly. Fortunately for me, I've been able to get a chance in the postseason, and I'm looking at it as a new start.

WALT WEISS: You know, I was interested in seeing it, just because it happened so fast during the game, I don't really remember how I got the throw off. It was just a reaction play. I was interested in, like I said, in seeing how I made the throw. I wasn't sure if I threw it from the ground or if I got to my feet; it just happened so fast. I just kind of spun around and let it go. Eddie made a nice play on the other end to stay on the base, on home plate. But I was just more interested in seeing how it materialized.

WALT WEISS: I've made throws like that before; I don't think ever to home plate. I've had to make throws like that when I had to dive in the hole and throw the guy out at first and had to kind of throw from that same position. But never where I had to kind of do a 360 before I threw it.

WALT WEISS: I think most people have seen Rey has a flashy guy who makes the great play, but what's been so impressive is his errorless streak. I think it's 100-games plus. To do that, I think, is next to impossible at shortstop. That really goes to show his consistency on the routine play. A lot of times, the guys that are real flashy, they get labeled as guys that make the great play, but they botch the routine ones, and he proves that he makes the routine play every time. He's as good as I've ever seen.

WALT WEISS: Fundamentally, I think he's basic on the routine ball. The one thing I haven't figured out how to do is how he goes in the hole and slides on one knee and throws right away. I don't think I'm going to try that one (laughter).

WALT WEISS: I can't argue with them (laughter). I grew up there; so I know it better than anybody, probably, on this club. It's different there. There's things I miss about being there and things I don't. But there's no doubt it's a different breed of fan in New York. They live for their sports back there. And that's not the case in a lot of -- in most other areas of the country. So I think for that reason, the fans are a little bit different, a little more harsh.

WALT WEISS: He's proven to be the Mets big-game pitcher down the stretch. He's tough. He continually gets inside on guys and jams them with the action on his fastball. He cuts it in on the right and makes it real difficult. If you do hit it, you usually hit a foul. It's tough to hit it well and keep it fair, because it bears in on you so much. And it looks like a strike for about 58 feet, and the last two feet, it's on your hands. So it's a tough at-bat every time you face him.

WALT WEISS: Yeah. The bottom line is they throw quality strikes. It's always a little tougher when you've got guys working behind the count all the time and walking guys. The important thing for me is that they hit their spots. And that let's me call the coverage on the hit-and-runs and on the steals without any apprehension, because I know that the pitch is going to be where the catcher wants it to be. And that means a lot defensively. It means a lot anticipating where the ball is going to be hit. And like I said, if I have to switch up coverage on a steal, I know that they're going to put the ball where it's called. So that definitely helps.

WALT WEISS: I was fine when I came off the DL. It was more just the time missed, I think, that I struggled with. But my leg has been fine. I got a lot of rest on the second half, so it feels great.

WALT WEISS: No, that's not a problem. Everybody knows how dangerous the Mets can be. The way they stormed back into the playoffs definitely made an impression; so I don't think overconfidence will be a factor at all.