AL DIVISION SERIES: RED SOX v INDIANS

October 8, 1999

Mike Hargrove

MIKE HARGROVE: David really, from the All-Star break on, was one of our better pitchers. Fast ball, split-finger, slider that he throws, threw all of them for strikes and pitched ahead in the count. When you do that and have the kind of stuff Dave has, you give yourself a chance to be successful and that's what Dave was for us, you know, the bulk of the time since it is the All-Star break.

MIKE HARGROVE: Well, I think that if you look at the majority of at-bats, successful at-bats, you'll see that most of those counts were in good hitting counts when they were deep in the count. I think between Charlie Manuel and myself, we talk a lot about hitting obviously, and we both agree that the deeper the count you can get as a hitter, then the better chance you have to be successful.

MIKE HARGROVE: Why? Because you see -- you see what a pitcher's fast ball is doing, if he's cutting it, is it a good cutter that day. Just every hitter is a guess hitter. They really are, whether they tell you or not, they are. It's just an educated guess. You know what that pitcher's out pitch is, strike pitch is, what he throws when he's behind in the count for strikes. You know what he'll throw to you to challenge you. The deeper in the count you get, then you have that information that you can -- you really can get into good hitting situations that way.

MIKE HARGROVE: You know, I don't know that it's a surprise. It's very pleasant. We've got good pitching, and every team has characteristics and personality, and I think that it obviously has the ingredients that goes in to what makes it successful. And in any given year, you know, one ingredient probably is going to get more credit than other ingredients. We've, you know, we feel good about our pitching. I've said all along we have good solid starting pitching. I think that's proven true over the last half of the season. Our bullpen really has -- when healthy, we've had a good solid bullpen. So it's not a surprise that we've pitched well. It certainly is pleasant, and, you know, am I confident about, you know, this series and the rest of the series? I'm as confident as I can be, but I also know that the Boston Red Sox have a very good ballclub and are managed by a very good manager. I don't expect to get anything less than the best that the Red Sox have to give us. That's not very -- that doesn't leave little warm and fuzzys in your stomach. They have a good ballclub.

MIKE HARGROVE: Ramon Martinez beat us the last time he pitched against us. We know we have our work cut out for us. We know what his pitches are. We have had people in the National League that have seen him, and so I mean it's not that he's an unknown, but we do know that we've got to be very good to beat him, because last time we played him, we weren't very good and he did beat us.

MIKE HARGROVE: You know, I think that given the track record of those players, you know, they bring a certain amount of respect to a game and set up things around them. There are ways that you try to protect hitters in a line-up, and, you know, our line-up is such that if we've got one or two or three guys that are not being productive, then we've been able or fortunate enough that other guys have picked up the pace around them. Defensively, David's been golden for us in left field, as Manny has in right and Kenny really has in center. And Sandy is, you know, he just brings -- he brings a presence on the field. He's a team leader. He's a take-charge guy on the field, and as with all good players, there is more to them than just their offensive side. And I think you see that out of those four guys, that they're able to contribute in other ways other than just with a bat.

MIKE HARGROVE: Everything that we heard from our scouts was that he was a durable pitcher and we did look for him to be a big-inning guy for us and he hasn't disappointed us in that regard.

MIKE HARGROVE: The mood of the team is upbeat, obviously. But we also know, you know, we also know that we've got -- you know, with the -- the job's not finished. Boston's not dead in the water. They have a good ballclub. I can't emphasize that enough. You know, they played with a lot of pride. They played well all year long. That's not going to stop just because they're down two games to none in a five-game series. I don't think that in knowing -- in knowing those players as well as I can, from playing, you know, from watching them play and playing against my clubs and then knowing Jimy Williams in that regard, they're not going to go out there and lay down and just let it happen. They're going to fight tooth and nail. While our mood is upbeat and we feel good, we also know that our work's not finished. And that, you know, we still got -- we still got a way to go.

MIKE HARGROVE: I don't know. I can't answer that any more than anyone else could probably answer that. We play with intensity during the season, as do the Red Sox. It just hasn't happened for us here during the regular season. And, you know, I -- I don't know. I don't know. If I could come up with an answer, you and I could retire from what we're doing, sell the theory and make a lot of money. I have no clue. I don't know.

MIKE HARGROVE: I don't know that it had -- I don't know -- you know, curious thing. You know you're facing Pedro, but you also know you have to beat the Red Sox. You have to get their people out, if they don't score runs then you give yourself a chance to win and maybe outlast a guy like Pedro where you can get him out of the game and beat somebody else. I think that probably winning the game in the fashion we won it had as much to do with, you know, with the mood of the ballclub than any actuality of beating Pedro Martinez. We didn't beat Pedro Martinez, Pedro Martinez got hurt and had to leave the game. You know, we knew going into it that it was going to be a tough road to hoe. I think everybody, you know, stepped up and did what they had to do to keep the game in line to allow us a chance to score enough runs to win. It worked for us. Pedro Martinez, I don't think arguably -- he is the best pitcher in baseball today. Any time that you can go into a game that he's starting and come out the other end of it ahead and win, whether he is still in there when you win or not, it's a boost to your ballclub. I think the way, the fashion in which we won the club with the, you know, with the one out base hit by Travis Fryman in the ninth inning to score the winning run was a big boost to the club, more so than the fact that Pedro didn't win.

MIKE HARGROVE: I think the threat of facing Pedro in any game is enough to motivate you to win before he's seen. So, you know, we want to -- we, again, emphasize we know that we've got our work cut out for us. We would much rather close this thing out sooner than later.

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