MLB WORLD SERIES: INDIANS v MARLINS

October 19, 1997

Mike Hargrove

MIKE HARGROVE: Well, the foul ball first. It was a fairly routine play. The only thing that made it different is that it got relatively close to the dugout. The play on the swinging bunt out in front of the plate was a big time play. It really kept the game, it kept that runner off third base with less than two outs, so it was a big play for us.

MIKE HARGROVE: Yeah, he hit a very good bunt. That's the toughest time to bunt is when people know you're going to do it. And everybody in the ballpark should have known he's going to do it. He got two runners in scoring position, and Roberts got the base hit up the middle. I would rather see a designated hitter come up and get a homerun, though.

MIKE HARGROVE: We've been doing it off and on all year long. We didn't do it anymore or any less, because of the postseason, like getting ready to come here. We've done it on a regular basis, not every day, but on a regular basis, enough that these guys have kept their hand in.

MIKE HARGROVE: In our minds he has always been more than just a spot starter. He was out from really about the first week of June, I believe, through the first of September. And when he came back he had to kind of work his way back into the rotation, which he's done. This is really the third quality start he's had in a row. And Chad, when Chad's on his game and locating his fastball well and his change up and curve ball, then Chad can do what he did tonight, he can be very effective. So we're very appreciative of the fact that he pitched as well as he did, but it's not surprising, he has that sort of ability.

MIKE HARGROVE: He really has been. He is offensive, defensively -- I tell you the thing that's going to notice as much as anything this year that Sandy has come up big for us the way he's handled the pitching staff and called ballgames. He really has done a tremendous job in that regard. But he has swung the bat well from day one of Spring Training. I can remember back about two weeks into the season he was hitting .365 or .380, I wondered how long he can keep this going. And at the All Star break I was still wondering how long it was going to keep going. And here we are in postseason he's still playing well. He's got a tremendous amount of talent and he's in great shape.

MIKE HARGROVE: How many times in baseball do you see a guy make a great play and he's the lead-off hitter the next inning? So, yeah, I think that that can happen. I don't know how often that it happens, but, sure, it can happen. Anything you can do to get your heart racing a little bit and the blood flowing a little bit faster helps in anything that comes later.

MIKE HARGROVE: He had good velocity. It looked like he couldn't zero in on an arm slot and was searching for his good sinker. He threw some nice sliders and some that weren't so nice. And it was, I think, that Kevin Brown -- good pitchers like Kevin Brown find a way to hang in a game. That's what he did. He hung in that game and kept it close until we finally got to him. It was obvious that Kevin wasn't on top of his game tonight not what we've seen in the NLCS and the Division Series.

MIKE HARGROVE: You're going to have to use two dollar words instead of five dollar words for me. (Laughter.)

MIKE HARGROVE: I went to four years of school in Oklahoma, so I understand that now. Chad has really demonstrated his versatility in the '95 postseason for us, and the season and during the regular season in that he went 10, 12, 11, 15 days between starts on outings. He's started, pitched long for us, has come in and pitched set up. He hasn't closed and hopefully he never does. He's a virtual pitcher, I think that goes to the mental toughness.

MIKE HARGROVE: I thought it was the right play to make. Did I hold my breath waiting to see if he was going to be out or safe, you bet, I'm human just like anybody else. It was a good, aggressive play. And it worked for us this time.

MIKE HARGROVE: I don't know, the first two games have been. We'll just wait and see. I couldn't -- I left my crystal ball back home, I don't know.

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