AL DIVISION SERIES: RED SOX v INDIANS

October 10, 1999

Mike Hargrove

MIKE HARGROVE: I think that the reason Manny -- I don't necessarily think he's in a slump. I think he's being pitched to very well. I think the Red Sox are doing a good job of hitting their spots and making the pitches when they need to against Manny.

MIKE HARGROVE: I think he's probably much like, you know, the comments and feelings you got from the Red Sox whenever Pedro came out with an injury. It takes you back a little bit, and David was throwing the ball very well, essentially shut the Red Sox down. And, you know, kind of the momentum, you felt it shift.

MIKE HARGROVE: I think it's day-to-day. Really, right now, we don't know any more. I think we'll know more tomorrow after we get back to Cleveland and are able to get an MRI done on David's forearm. I think we'll know a little bit more, have a little more definitive answer for you. Right now, it's day-to-day.

MIKE HARGROVE: No. Will's a baseball player. Will has been good for us, you know, obviously his problems here in Boston were publicized. But that's -- that is hopefully behind him. I think that he's taken steps to remedy the situation. But it has no consideration as far as -- or bearing on him either being in the line-up or not being in the line-up. Will Cordero is a very good baseball player.

MIKE HARGROVE: I don't want to answer that right now. I don't think it's fair to the people involved. We've got to win here, first, to get to that next round, so I think that -- while I understand your curiosity, I think maybe it's a little premature for us to start making announcements on that right now.

MIKE HARGROVE: Obviously the expectations are good. We expect him to throw well, pitch well, Bartolo has been doing that for us this year the second half of the season. Obviously we'll watch him and monitor him, his pitch count, the innings, the time between innings, a lot of things. The last thing we want to do is hurt Bartolo Colon. So we'll monitor that situation very closely.

MIKE HARGROVE: The mood of our club is very well. I don't sense a shift in momentum, but then again, you know, that's the Red Sox' prerogative to feel that way. That's fine. You know, they're playing very loose right now. They have a good ballclub. You know, it's -- they're not chopped liver over there. They've got a good club. But as far as the mood of my ballclub, which I can answer to, it's a very upbeat mood and we're ready to play.

MIKE HARGROVE: I don't think it's -- you know, a lot of clubs do this. I don't think that it should be magnified in any regard. You get into the post-season, a lot of clubs will come up and have pitchers pitch on three days. So, yeah, I think if there's -- if it's -- yeah, I guess -- I haven't really heard anybody, yet, you know, talk about it a whole lot. I think that you look at the situation and the starters that we have available and we're doing what we have to do.

MIKE HARGROVE: Well, they should be well-rested. You know, I don't know if they bring any more freshness than is already there. The people they're going to replace in Baines and Justice are two very fine players in their own right. It just gives us a different look against a left-handed pitcher, and I don't know if they bring a freshness to the line-up. I don't know if we need a freshness to our line-up. We have a good ballclub, and as I said before, we're ready to play.

MIKE HARGROVE: You're exactly right. It's because of the left-hander swing.

MIKE HARGROVE: You'd have to talk to Kent about revenge factor. I don't think that that enters into it. Certainly, I would have to refresh my memory as to why we left Kent off the roster. I remember leaving him off. But I don't remember the specifics. Obviously, it was not personal. So, you know, if there's any revenge factor, revenge motivation, Kent could better answer that. I read somewhere in the paper today that there's no bad blood between him and us, and that certainly is how we feel. You know, I think Kent Mercker's a good guy. He's a good pitcher. We're looking forward to facing him tonight and we know we have our work cut out for us. But as far as revenge, no, I don't see that.

End of FastScripts….