AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: INDIANS v YANKEES

October 7, 1998

Travis Fryman

Charles Nagy

TRAVIS FRYMAN: When I past first base I heard John Shulock yelled: Safe, saw the ball 30 feet away, everybody was standing with their hands in the air. That surprised me a little bit. I figured I will keep running until somebody told me to stop.

TRAVIS FRYMAN: No, that is the second time I have been asked to sac bunt in a couple years, first time was earlier this year and Benitez hit me in the arm and did me a favor, so, no, that was the first time in a while.

TRAVIS FRYMAN: I don't know that that is a real fair question. You are asking me to criticize a guy I respect and play against. But I was surprised that nobody went after the ball. All I heard was a safe call. Ordinarily you will get the ball, stop the runners, then argue the play. But I saw the ball run away. I saw our runner continuing to go home. I continued to run. But it surprised me that everybody was standing around looking for a call.

TRAVIS FRYMAN: To be honest with you, it was one of those split second deals. My foot I was right at first base when I felt the ball hit me in the middle of the back. It was -- personally I felt like I was safe whether somebody caught the ball first or not. It was what I felt. I haven't seen a replay but that is what I felt was happening.

TRAVIS FRYMAN: Any time you sac bunt, you want to be in the forward part of the box so your first four, five steps are always going to be inside the base line. So I started out inside the line, I straightened up, I never run inside the line. It doesn't make sense to. It is longer to first base. I am going to stay in a straight line as I can, I am going to run right on that line. And I felt like that is where I was. I haven't seen it. I was probably inside the line grass line, whatever. I asked the third base umpire; he said, your last step your entitled to be inside the base line because the base is in fair territory. That is when the ball hit me so he felt like it was a right call.

TRAVIS FRYMAN: You are asking me?

TRAVIS FRYMAN: I don't think so. I mean, a win is a win. You come into New York, you come away with a split, I think you can go home and feel like you did something. It was a great win to me. I don't care how I win, as long as you win.

CHARLES NAGY: I felt fine out there. I felt like I was throwing the ball okay. I made a really bad pitch to Scott Brosius in a tough situation and he jumped all over it and hit it and tied up the game and then you can't say enough for the job our bullpen did from that point on.

CHARLES NAGY: No, I had no idea. That is Grover's decision. I felt fine. If I would have got Brosius out, if -- you know, could have left me out to pitch to Girardi, I felt fine. But that is Grover's decision.

CHARLES NAGY: That would have been a third out yeah.

CHARLES NAGY: If he would have asked me how I felt, I would have said: I felt fine.

CHARLES NAGY: I mean, it is just different in regards going into this postseason, I was throwing the ball a lot better than I was a year ago. Last year I couldn't get the Yankees out to save my life the whole season and I was a big question mark going into that series, but once -- I didn't throw the ball well against them again in the postseason. But then after that, I thought I threw the ball okay the rest of the postseason. But going into this postseason, I feel like I have been throwing the ball a lot better and just, you know, I feel comfortable out there.