AL DIVISION SERIES: RANGERS v YANKEES

October 6, 1999

Brian Cashman

BRIAN CASHMAN: Well, you know, I go back to what we said all winter and even all summer last year which was our number-one goal was to keep Bernie Williams. And we weren't sure if that was going to be possible or not, you just have to play it out and have a dialogue with Bernie all summer during the season and into the winter when the dollars came out, obviously we had to keep our options open just in case it wasn't going to be successful given the fact of the stature of the player we're talking about today, Bernie Williams. But we're certainly happy that the marriage stayed together, and he's obviously a big piece of the place, he has been. And you check the Yankee media guide and you see, you know, slowly but surely he's popping up on those career leaders and all-time Yankee offensive numbers. Pretty impressive performances of Bernie Williams. He's home-grown and we're very proud of it.

BRIAN CASHMAN: Yes. Especially when something like that happens like last night. You certainly have to take a look at it. You have to protect your people and if you do your business right, you're always looking to improve on things, whether it's players or the, you know, the facility, the batting cages, bullpens, what have you. Obviously that's an area that I do think we need to take a look at.

BRIAN CASHMAN: Yeah, the one thing that probably is untrue is, you know, certainly a guy like Andy Pettitte, he's won 81 games here in over five seasons now, which is pretty impressive and is hard to do, and certainly if his name shows up out there on the wire as a possibility of anybody wanting to talk about, clubs are going to call and they're going to call and they're going to come at you with a lot of great things. I personally don't think we are close. Ultimately it came down to Joe Torre and myself, along with the baseball people that I work with. Whether that's something we wanted to pursue, and Andy Pettitte, again, 81 games -- that's all you have to look at. And some pretty big ones in the playoffs along with it that he's won for this franchise. He's been very big. Anything I've ever learned from Joe Torre, you have to trust people, and that's a track record you can trust. I'd take Andy Pettitte to the bank any day of the week.

BRIAN CASHMAN: You know, we've obviously been very proud of how the second part of this decade has gone. The first part under Gene Michael, he stepped in when it was down and out, and him and Buck Showalter got it started in the right direction for us, and then obviously Bob Watson came in and with Joe Torre, and we've kind of moved forward since then and done some great things. It's been a combined effort of a lot of people, and we're very proud of what we've done. You know, the organization's history, everybody knows about the 24 World Championships and the success under George Steinbrenner and, you know, I certainly think we're qualified to be a team in that debate for the '90s. Hopefully we'll have a chance, if things go the way we'd like to see them go, we'll have a chance to really make it tough not to pick us. But we have some pretty tough opponents in front of us before that would happen.

BRIAN CASHMAN: Well, there's no doubt that obviously he hasn't been the Roger Clemens that, you know, he was in Toronto the last two years. But, you know, Roger Clemens, I would take him on the mound any day of the playoff, take our chances with him. Certainly, we look for good things from him, you know. Everybody's obviously trying to put their niche in the New York history. He's got his niche in baseball history. So now, you know, obviously his start down in Texas is going to be a big one for us, just like Andy's start is going to be a big one for us, just like every start, everything counts and everything is meaningful, every pitch, every call. We look for a successful outing from Roger and, you know, we win as a team and we lose as a team. Obviously, again, I do look for good things from him. Obviously, if he does what he's capable of, we'll hopefully have some falling faces down there in Texas.

BRIAN CASHMAN: There's no doubt you think about it. They've got a great team. Steve Phillips and their ownership over there have done such a tremendous job in putting that club together, and it's a scary team. I'm sure those National League opponents they're going to have to go through, they're not comfortable facing them. And I did plan -- I was listening to them on the radio driving home last night. I planned on watching it, until I got home last night and I saw my daughter, Grace, in bed with my wife. I couldn't turn on the TV, so I had to wait until this morning to find out about Alfonzo's Grand Slam in the ninth. They're doing tremendous things. I hope we can get to the World Series, I'm certainly routing for them, but I have enough problems. It was nice to drive home listening to them on the radio and to hope good things happen. They went well.

BRIAN CASHMAN: You know, it's probably a little bit of both. But I think, one thing I would agree with Joe is after that Chicago White Sox game maybe Andy, you know, I think Joe referred to it as he hit rock bottom. It was a tough outing for him. Since there, he came back in to the groove that we all know and love with Andy Pettitte. Whether it was a trading deadline, whether it was, you know -- to be honest, I'm not sure what you would call what the struggles were for, but, again, when you -- when he had a long season and you have a track record like an Andy Pettitte, or switching to other players, the Paul O'Neills, the Bernie Williams, you just trust those track records. Hopefully at the end of the day when the dust settles, those guys find a way to make it happen. Tino Martinez, he's had -- obviously he's struggled at times this year. You talk about patience. This is Tino Martinez, he's going to be great. At the end of the year, he put up another 100 RBI season. That's one thing we're fortunate enough to be able to do here, is trust people's track records because they've been there. Other places, you have to wait and wonder. Here you really do have confidence in our players and their ability to get the job done because they've proven it time and time again. Hopefully they'll be able to do that again for us here in October.

BRIAN CASHMAN: The emotions, it was tough. He started before November. We're in the World Series in October and obviously doing very well, and I think right after Game 2, you know, we were heading on to San Diego. My thoughts are on, here's the winner, not only Bernie, it was Brosius, it was Cone, it was so many. You're wondering how you're going to get it done and if you can get it done. Obviously, major pieces to a puzzle that if it doesn't work out one way, you better find another way to find another piece that kind of fits the same way. We constantly talked in the season and in the winter about not having -- not wanting to be stuck without a decision. There were times I thought there was no chance it was going to happen. Bernie wanted it to happen. He made a phone call. His agent made a phone call. Negotiation, broke down, we thought we were done, Bernie made a phone call back. We were staying at the hotel, at the Bay Harbor together down in Tampa. I got a call, I think at midnight, I hung up with Albert Belle and my phone rings, it's Bernie Williams, and, you know, wanting to know what's happening. And that's what kept it going. It was, you know, Bernie's interest in staying and obviously Mr. Steinbrenner's interest in keeping him. Because, obviously, that was a huge commitment that he made, and so it's a commitment they both made to each other. And hopefully the fans in New York, you know, appreciate that commitment for years to come.