NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: METS v BRAVES

October 14, 1999

Bobby Cox

BOBBY COX: Yeah, the exact same line-up as last night, except the pitcher.

BOBBY COX: No. We were good. We sent our equipment up earlier so it would be here when we got out of the plane and we could work out. They were delayed for two or three hours. They made it. It was windy and gusty; a lot of flights were canceled. It wasn't that bumpy on the way in. It was a good flight.

BOBBY COX: I don't know about that. I can just tell you that we respect the middle of that order, and the entire batting order, really, a good deal. And even Ordonez is swinging the bat well to me. And Alfonzo, I don't know where you throw the ball to get him out, to be honest with you. But the other guys we've been lucky against. We're trying to be careful.

BOBBY COX: The good thing for me, honestly, is I've not picked up a paper, and I don't listen to the radio. So the only time I know that anything is said -- and I don't want to listen to it in here -- is when somebody tells me. So I don't know anything about it. And believe me, I don't know who said what. I know our team respects their team. I've heard that part of it. And what else has been said, I don't know, and I don't care. It's still a game of baseball, and I think those things have a tendency to get really, really out of proportion.

BOBBY COX: No, there's no adjustment. You hire on for a job; you do your job. I've had Jimy Williams with me, Pat Corrales with me, both Big League skippers, and it's the same thing. You hire on and you do your job. And all three of those guys have done jobs for me and really helped me through my career. And Don was no different. He did a great job. I'm sure he's not going to be back. I'm sure he's going to get a Major League job. I wish he was coming back. But obviously, he's going to get a Big League job.

BOBBY COX: I don't think it's ever changed or ever will change. It's always going to be the hostile Met fans, so to speak. And they're great fans. I love walking through this city and talking to people. I get recognized because we're on TV all the time. And I enjoy talking to the fans. I think they're great fans. Just because they root extra hard for their home team, there's nothing wrong with that. Every ballpark has four or five people in it, or there's going to be a breakout of two incidents somewhere, and it's not indicative of the other fans. It's no different in that respect.

BOBBY COX: Well, I think it's important to keep any lead-off hitter off base that can run. They can manufacture a run in a heartbeat, and they don't even have to have a base hit in doing it, a guy with that kind of speed. We're happy with the way we've handled Rickey, but obviously, the guy is a .300 hitter, a Hall of Famer, and still in great shape. I know he got sick the other night, and it's a huge plus if you can get the lead-off hitter out.

BOBBY COX: Yeah, I think there's been managers through the years that treats their pitchers like some type of meat to be thrown around and used. And then you run into a guy like a Ralph Houk who understood pitching very well. Not that I do; I'm just telling you I learned a little bit from him, that's for sure. And just the experiences of being in the Minor Leagues for a long time, managing and playing, and going to South America for eight years managing and playing. And then being in the Big League level, I've learned to respect ballplayers in general, not just pitchers, but players.

BOBBY COX: Well, his last big swing went off the uprights and was good; good for three. He was a big factor in the big Houston game we had, with the five RBI's, and he was a huge factor with our ballclub early on in the season until he hurt his hand. And that's when Chipper Jones started his MVP march. And Brian Jordan has been a huge part of the ballclub and carried our ballclub a great deal the first half.

BOBBY COX: I think that's well-documented the kind of people that they are and competitors they are. And I think they have pitched a lot of innings. They've logged a tremendous amount of innings in their careers. And in postseason innings, they've logged a ton. The good thing this year, there was a lot of fuel left in their tanks. We didn't really push them. We have before, through the years. A little bit more than this season, I think. And they all pitched on quite a bit of rest during the season. We wanted to make sure that we were strong at the end, and it turned out that way, luckily. They're willing to do that type of stuff. It's dangerous at times, I suppose. But you can roll it out there, and sometimes it works and sometimes it don't. If it hadn't have worked, I wouldn't have looked very good in a lot of peoples' eyes. But it did work.

BOBBY COX: It started quite a while ago. After we clinched the division, John came in and said he would do anything I wanted him to do. He didn't know if he was going to be the No. 3 man or 4 man. He said he would start and pitch two games; he would relieve in every ballgame if I wanted. And I thought starting in Game 4, we would have one of the dominant pitchers starting the game; and maybe pitch in relief, once in the divisional playoffs and maybe once in LCS. He didn't pitch in the divisional, in relief, but by going No. 4, we had that luxury.

BOBBY COX: John had never been out there, believe me. I think our bullpen guys made him welcome out there. It's different, boy, I'm telling you. I just knew what John could do. And what a spot to come in, with that type of pressure. He's very able to do those things.

BOBBY COX: I think more his thinking at times, because of the news media, and he would talk about that occasionally, what a great closer he would be. He would make a great closer. But in my mind, he's one of the greatest starters that ever teed it up out there, too. I'd rather have John, if he's healthy, certainly, be a starter, and go out there 33, 34 times, whatever it is and win the majority, or have a chance to win most of them.

BOBBY COX: Yes, I'm sure that was part of the thinking. But this hasn't been recent that we've talked about that. But a lot of great starters became great closers. So he could certainly do it.

BOBBY COX: During the introductions?

BOBBY COX: You mean not use him?

BOBBY COX: Oh, I don't think so. I think he relishes the boos. I'm sure he's one of the guys that said something, but please don't tell me what it was. They like to throw stuff at us, but at every ballpark they do that. He has a routine. He doesn't go out the first inning; he has to go through a routine.

BOBBY COX: Well, we gave him a real good contract; so we thought he was pretty good. And that's one way you can judge that. And he has been good. He's a good outfielder, runs the bases good. He can hit a ball a long ways every once in a while, but mostly, he's a RBI-gap-hitter-type guy that can hurt you. He puts the ball in play an awful lot.