AL DIVISION SERIES: RED SOX v INDIANS

October 10, 1999

Jimy Williams

JIMY WILLIAMS: Originally when I came to the park I didn't have him in the line-up, but he wasn't here yet, so, because in my mind yesterday he couldn't hit in the tunnel, I didn't want to put a lot of added pressure on this kid, keep asking, "Can you play?" Is that monumental to hurt this kid? I don't want to hurt the kid. So with that in mind, just the trainer taped his wrist and he went out the tunnel and after he got done hitting, he came back and said he could play. So I changed the line-up.

JIMY WILLIAMS: I don't know. I wasn't out there. I don't have one of those periscopes where I couldn't tell you. I have no idea what you're talking about. All I know is he came into my office and said he was ready to play. He could play. So I changed the line-up.

JIMY WILLIAMS: They put the nine out there, we put nine out there; we go play.

JIMY WILLIAMS: Kent Mercker's pitching today. That's all I can talk about. You got Mercker going, a left-hander, pitching for us; tough game.

JIMY WILLIAMS: See Nomar, he's a great competitor. He expects a lot of himself, so with that in mind, if he feels he can go out and contribute and help this team, then he's going to come in and tell me he can play, and that's exactly what he did. As far as a lot of conversation, no, he said he felt good swinging in the tunnel, swinging the bat, hit the ball good. After he did a soft toss, taped his wrist so he could play.

JIMY WILLIAMS: I don't know if Pedro has thrown yet today. That I can't answer. As far as the second question, you know, if there was any doubt in my mind that I'd be hurting this kid, that he couldn't go out there and compete at this particular moment as we speak, then I wouldn't put him in there in the first place. So in my mind, I don't anticipate a problem, but him not having played yesterday, I guess it could happen. But when the game starts tonight, as far as I know, he can go out and help us.

JIMY WILLIAMS: I don't know anybody that matches up against the Cleveland Indians. They scored 1,000 runs. But, you know, he's a kid that's, you know, he's pitched a lot of different situations whether it be as a starter, pitch in the middle, close when he was in Atlanta. I like his mound presence a lot right now, when I've seen him pitch since he was traded over to our club. He's had playoff experience. He hasn't pitched in eleven days because of that rib cage situation, the last game he pitched was when we solidified a playoff spot in Chicago and he had a ground ball back to him and it's on his right side, he reached up with his glove. And had a little bit of an aggravation from that play, I believe. So we didn't pitch him. We could have pitched him in Baltimore, but what are you going to prove? Let it heal. Better off with a healthy pitcher than maybe somebody who has been that far removed from pitching in a game or pitching situation. He's got a good arm, you know. I like him.

JIMY WILLIAMS: See, we need to focus on -- we only got one game here today. We only got Mercker. You know, we got our backs to the wall. We're in a one-game elimination situation. That's where we are. We have to win. That's it. That's all I can focus on. I guess, you know, when I was a little kid, I liked to play marbles. You know, everybody has different games they like to play, I liked to play marbles. A lot of you people think I've lost mine, I don't know. I still got them at home in a big old brandy snifter. I really do. (Laughter.) But I can't go beyond that. Want to, hopefully we will. You know, but we got to play this game against a tough team.

JIMY WILLIAMS: I think it's the same for both sides. That's about it. That's all I can tell you. At least Fenway is the same for both sides.

JIMY WILLIAMS: Walk it? We're supposed to be able to play on time from what I've been told, unless that window gets shattered.

JIMY WILLIAMS: You know, all these kids, they all got Major League uniforms on. They've been here all year, in particular, Timmy, if it wasn't for him, I might not even be here talking to you people, because of what he's done. Wakefield, in particular, I'm missing something. This guy's got 15 saves, he's done an awful lot for this team, really. I tip my head to the kid, really. He's certainly available, just like the rest of the relievers.

JIMY WILLIAMS: Is this finality?

JIMY WILLIAMS: I like our kids. They play hard. What does playing hard mean? They got -- we got baseball players. I think maybe that's what Nomar exemplifies, what he's doing today. He's a baseball player. There's a lot of them on this team. They're hard to find, I'm telling you. Good athletes, what's that word everybody uses? Potential, wow, what a word. We're looking for baseball players. They don't have to hit .300; they don't have to win 20 games, you take those guys though. You got a guy like Nomar who is a baseball player and has the skill, but I think they feed off of each other, this club, in a positive fashion. They back each other. They enjoy being around each other. The clubhouse, on the road, you know. But maybe we don't have that great orator in our clubhouse, that speaker, that spokesperson, but we got a lot that speak when they're on the field with the bat or their arm or glove, you know. Kind of simple guys, but inside, they're tough. These kids are tough. They like to play -- like to play.

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