AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: INDIANS v YANKEES

October 8, 1998

Mike Hargrove

MIKE HARGROVE: I think that baseball is a game of momentum and I think that we -- yeah, there was probably a little of more bounce in our step. Our ball club has been able in the past year and this year is no different so far, able to shrug off or forget what happened yesterday and really focus in on what's going on the next day and I think that in this game especially, that's an -- it's not a unique ability by any stretch of the imagination but an ability that serves you well in this game. We feel good about our ball club -- we felt good before the series start and even after Game 1 and we still have a very tough road to hoe. The Yanks are a very tough ball club. You don't win 118 games in regular season by being lucky. Good ball club, we've got our work cut out for us, so far so good.

MIKE HARGROVE: We should be all right. We didn't really overextend anybody except maybe Paul Shuey. Three innings in Game 1 and threw a lot of pitches in Game 2. The day off should serve him well. This point in the season, with what's on the line and what's at stake right now, pitchers have a way of pitching well even when they're tired. They'll give us what we ask them to give, but we certainly don't want to overextend anybody. I think we are okay.

MIKE HARGROVE: The thing of it is the umpire for both sides -- it's not like they come in and one night they make calls for Cleveland and the next night for New York. We both have to operate under the same guidance. I think the policy is as fair as it can be. I don't know that -- I don't know that it can be any more fair. But I mean, that's not -- that really is something that's not for me to answer. You're the first person that's ever asked me my opinion on that. Obviously didn't ask my opinion when they set up the policy. I think it's as fair as it can be. I think one thing with the call last night, if you saw the picture on the front page of the Plain Dealer this morning, the way the rules were explained when I listened to Jim Evans last night, the way they were explained, then the correct call was made. That was my sense in seeing that picture and the explanation of Jim Evans last night.

MIKE HARGROVE: No, I didn't have any hesitation in asking him to do that. It's been an experience with Travis. Travis is a very good athlete and is a professional baseball player. He is a professional in the true sense of the word and will do whatever he can for the betterment of the ball club. And at that point in time, in the 12th inning you're looking to get one run against a team that's not a pretty good record going for them and I felt very comfortable in Travis attempting that. I don't know -- had he missed the bunt, and had gone to a -- was that first pitch, if it wasn't -- 1-0, had it gone to a 1-1 count, I'm not sure that I would have asked him to bunt again, though. But I thought it was worth the one shot.

MIKE HARGROVE: I didn't sense that and if he was scared in Boston, I hope he's scared to death tomorrow night, because he threw the ball very, very well and was very focused. No, it's not a concern.

MIKE HARGROVE: Sandy did make the comment that Bartolo Colon grew up that night. We'll see how far he grew. I think that anytime you get any pitchers, much less a young pitcher, rookie pitcher and they're able to be successful in tough situations, especially in postseason play, that it does wonders for their confidence and wonders for their ability to go ahead and project that confidence. We'll wait and see where it's at. Bartolo threw the ball very well in Boston, hope he'll throw very well tomorrow night.

MIKE HARGROVE: Well, everybody was obviously very happy. And really nobody really laughed a whole lot about him coming around 3rd base until after the game and on the plane and then again today just before I came down here. The TVs were on and they were showing the replay of Enrique coming around 3rd base and it got a pretty good chuckle out of the clubhouse. Everybody was very happy. More focused on the game and the outcome of the game than on Enrique trying to swim to home plate.

MIKE HARGROVE: We're still on-line with Doc. I mean, tentatively it's still Doc Gooden. He threw on the side yesterday -- I mean 4 -- Game 5? No. Game 5, no. I've still got a couple of options there and we'll discuss that tomorrow. But -- yeah, after tomorrow's game. A lot has to do with what happens tomorrow. I'm sorry.

MIKE HARGROVE: Andy is a very good pitcher. You know, in most clubs he would probably be a No. 1 guy and, you know, he's always been difficult for us. We've gotten to him at times, but he's always thrown the ball well against us. We've really had to battle against him, he's never given anything away. I think that's a true mark of how much ability and how much of a competitor a person is whenever that -- you know, you feel that way with him. That what you get you're going to have to take. He is not going to give it. Anytime we face Andy, it's always a battle.

MIKE HARGROVE: I hope they give us tomorrow's game, too, then. It's been my experience the team that if you put yourself in a position to take advantage of the opportunities that are presented to your ball club and you have the ability and you take advantage of those opportunities, then it's not a gift. That's the whole idea of a game. All we can do is -- as we approach opportunity -- we missed a golden opportunity with Omar Vizquel's triple and we weren't able to get him in. The Yankees missed a golden opportunity with Tino Martinez popping the ball up on the mound and -- earlier in the ball game. So all you can do is put yourself in a position to take advantage of those opportunities and I don't look at it as gifts. I look at it as part of a ball game.

MIKE HARGROVE: Bill, you're asking me how it is we're going to approach and try to play the game. I'm not going to answer that question because I don't really want to give the Yankees anything to think about or prepare for. You have to play the game and manage according to the talent you have and I don't think having Jim Thome on first base and giving him the steal sign is going to be successful very many times. I would rather not answer that question.

MIKE HARGROVE: Not really. I think part of me, you know, was hoping against hope. I had -- was sitting there preparing my argument in case it did happen. But I wasn't -- I felt -- I really felt then and I felt today especially after seeing the picture on the front page of the Plain Dealer that the correct call was made. Somebody asked me in the clubhouse earlier when I made that statement, would you feel that way if he was on the other side and give -- I'll be honest with you, given what I say and the way the rules were explained to me, yeah, I would probably feel the same way -- I would feel the correct call had been made. I was -- the longer the talk went, the more at ease I felt. I felt if they were going to change it, they would change it early.

MIKE HARGROVE: It is very difficult for me to talk about somebody else's player on the other team because I don't think that's entirely fair. But in this case, I think, obviously, Chuck should have gone after the ball and then argued later. I mean, everybody knows that and Chuck knows that. Had he to do it over, I'm sure that he probably would. Why he didn't, I don't know. I really don't know. I'm glad that he didn't. Having said all that, if Chuck wants to come play for us, he's more than welcome to come play for us. We'll take him on our ball club.