MLB WORLD SERIES: INDIANS v MARLINS

October 18, 1997

Jim Leyland

JIM LEYLAND: To be honest with you, I've been surprised the heat really didn't bother us as much as I thought it would. We have had to adjust because of rain delays. When we have to hit the cage, we have two cages this year which we didn't have before, we've hit at the same time as the other team, rather than hitting early and sitting around and waiting to play. We hit at the same time, that's the one adjustment, then we don't wait too long before the game starts.

JIM LEYLAND: To be honest with you Conine has pretty good numbers against Hershiser. I'm playing Daulton, with the right handers and DH possibly up there, I think he's going to be good. He's done okay off of Hershiser. It wasn't a tough call. It's a -- we felt it made sense, because if I'm playing some DH or Daulton at DH and Eisenreich, we wouldn't have anybody on the bench, we want wanted to cover for that and that's why the adjustment was made.

JIM LEYLAND: Well, I mean a lot of people have told me that this really won't hit you until this winter. We're trying to zero in on what we're trying to accomplish here, so that we put on a good show. Just as I'm sure the Cleveland Indians will do. I think this is something that probably everybody has told me, you'll really enjoy more later than you will right now. The one thing I think about, I've said it to a couple of people, this is -- for all those Minor League managers that are in the Instructional League or winter ball or all over Clinton, Iowa -- this is kind of for them. There is a chance for those guys. I think you find a reason for something to be special. But I also want to remind everybody, this is not about me, this is about the Florida Marlins and the Cleveland Indians, and in my own way I think I'll enjoy this later.

JIM LEYLAND: Bobby is fine, No. 1. There's a slight pull there, we know that. He's fine, to be honest with you. I'm really not too concerned down here, at least I'm not right now. What I am concerned about is when we go up to the cold weather, that could be a factor. That was why it was a tough call with Wehner because that was the one thing. I checked with Larry Starr our trainer yesterday, he said he's fine, he's ready to go. But the cold weather could be a factor, and that's the one thing I'm concerned about.

JIM LEYLAND: I just think everybody zeroed in on his defense, and I think that when we got going, we were a little sluggish after the break, but when we got rolling, Charles Johnson was hitting the ball out of the ballpark. His offense is one of the reasons we're here. He took some pressure off some guys up top. And I think his offense for a stretch was very, very important to this team. His defense speaks for itself.

JIM LEYLAND: He's pitched around an awful lot early, pitched around all the time. It slowed up a little bit, then it started up a little bit again. There's just certain teams that you don't know. It all depends on who the manager is and who you're playing. There's certain teams you can tell no matter what happened, no matter if they were hitting, they were not going to let him beat them. Some people backed off, and got away from that a little bit, during the period Gary was struggling. So he has been -- he's had the thumb -- has been a problem. But he's never made excuses about that. And I'm sure it's been a nagging injury for him. He's been okay physically, I don't think that's been a big factor, but an irritating injury.

JIM LEYLAND: Well, I think this is the first time really that he's been back to normal. I think he's had four days rest. I think he had two or three starts where he had a week's rest. He's back to normal. That's why I saved him for the second game. I wanted to get him back on his schedule. He's healthy and no longer ill. I think that will help him a lot, I assume, we'll have to wait and see how that plays out.

JIM LEYLAND: Well, I'd only go by what the hitters say, because that's hard for me to say. When I look at John Smoltz and some of those guys, you see great stuff. We're going to see great stuff in the series with Cleveland. I don't know if he has the best stuff. I know he has good stuff, I can see that. He's a tenacious competitor. He has a lot going for him. It's one thing to throw a sinker, but it's one thing to throw at 86 and another to throw at 96, and I think that's one of the biggest factors.

JIM LEYLAND: You've got to try to win the games the way you see fit. That's what we're trying to do and why we're here. If he comes in and didn't do good one night, you can say he hasn't done enough work lately. He's been throwing a lot. Robbie I think is ready to go. I don't think that should have any effect on him. I think he might have saved the last two games in the playoffs and done a great job tonight, if that was the situation or might come in and walked a couple of guys, I don't know what that means, I'm not sure.

JIM LEYLAND: Well, I think No. 1, I think he tried to do too much, like a lot of guys particularly early, but he got a couple of big hits in his postseason, the one off Maddox was huge. I think he put a little extra pressure on himself early in the season. And what happens I think is even though he started out pretty good, he started out hot and then he went into a spell where he struggled for a long time. I think what happens is a lot of guys see that average down and they try to make it up overnight. And that usually compounds the problem. But he's swinging pretty good right now and he will play tomorrow with Kevin Brown on the mound tomorrow, even though they have a right-handed pitcher.

JIM LEYLAND: Well, it's as good as I've ever seen. I don't know if I've seen any better. I was a Johnny Bench fan. I played against him in the Minor Leagues. I think he's the greatest of all time because you had the offense and the defense. I have to say CJ was as good defensively. So I guess that's as good as it gets. I had a great catcher in Cleveland named Jim Eagen that was supposed to be a tremendous defensive player. He got better defensively when he hit those 20 homeruns.

JIM LEYLAND: He's a shy young man basically, but I think he's getting more aggressive with more success. I think he's still a relatively young player to really get on the guys and take the kind of charge that maybe you would like to see, although I kind of like it this way. I don't think you can be dictating to pitchers, I think he does a great job of mixing that. I think he's become more aggressive. The more you play in the League and the better you do, the more comfortable you get with yourself, the more comfortable you get with the pitchers. I think that's what's happening with him. He did a great job in that game, but he's done a great job in a lot of games.

End of FastScripts….