MLB WORLD SERIES: INDIANS v MARLINS

October 19, 1997

Jim Leyland

JIM LEYLAND: I think tonight he had his arm in a different slot, I think he was throwing from different slots, it seemed like he was searching for the right release point and couldn't find it. I think basically that was his problem. Looked to me like he was up on top some, he kept trying to find his arm slot and seemed like he couldn't find it.

JIM LEYLAND: No, we talked about this last night. Whoever pitched their best night would probably win, and tonight they pitched the best. In defense of Kevin, when you're a sinker ball pitcher you live and die with the ground ball. When they hit it at somebody it's great, when they find the holes like they did in the one inning, even though he wasn't sharp, I'm not making any excuses, if they find the hole, it can be a longer night for a sinker ball pitcher. Tip your hat to Alomar, he got a big blow. We felt we were still there 4 to 1 and the two-run homer hit us bad. Ramirez hit a ball pretty good in the game, we turned a double play on it. When they find holes, they'll hit it on the ground a lot, and when they find the hole you'll have a longer night.

JIM LEYLAND: I know Orel Hershiser from a long way out. He can do a lot of things, and Ogea looks like a great athlete. He walked into the batter's box. He was aggressive when he had to swing, and he got the bunt down. I think tonight's game, you've got to credit Chad Ogea, he pitched a great game. He changed speeds, mixed his pitches, threw them at anytime in the count. This is not a night to be critical of Kevin Brown's performance. You run into these nights. You tip your hat to the other team, Ogea pitched outstanding.

JIM LEYLAND: I don't really put much stock in stuff like that. My favorite answer to stuff like that is this game is played by human beings and not mechanical men, and those things are going to happen. And Alomar made a good play, who knows, I don't know if it would have made a difference, we might have got him over there and popped him up, I don't know. Tonight's game was dictated, as most of them are by starting pitching. It wasn't Kevin's night tonight and it was Chad's.

JIM LEYLAND: I think that was a big part of the game. I think early on we had a chance, one more big hit or one big hit could have given us a chance to really get into it and build on it and we couldn't get that big hit tonight. There's no question about it. But that's usually a combination of things. Once in a while it's a combination of not so good hitting, and in a lot of cases it's a combination of some very good pitching. And Ogea made some big pitches when he had to.

JIM LEYLAND: I really don't think so. I'd like to think not. It's probably been quite a while since Cleveland's really played in cold weather. There will be no excuses here. Are we going to be cold? There's no question about that. And I think when you take the approach that, hey, it's going to be cold, we know it, and turn the page. If we're sitting around looking at each other shivering, we've got problems. Who knows, I watched the press conferences earlier today, I listened to Al Leiter talking about the problems -- sometimes the ball is slick. Well, it's slick for both pitchers. I really don't think, and I hope that's not a factor, but I don't know the answer for sure. But I don't think -- it's not the time to be playing mind games worrying about the weather. We're playing the World Series. The fingers and the feet might get cold but the heart stays warm.

JIM LEYLAND: That's baseball. It was smart pitching, he was trying to come in, he had him leaning out. He was throwing the ball away, and he made a pitch inside, and Gary dives a little bit. Gary didn't have any problem with that. I was as concerned as anybody else would be, the way he went down I thought there was a possibility he had a broken hand or finger, I wasn't sure where he hit him, it was right up in here (indicating the wrist) thank God he had some padding on the wrist, that possibly could have saved him.

JIM LEYLAND: I don't think it's having anything to do with his playing. I think he's doing fine. That's the one thing that the cold weather -- you're concerned a little bit about it if you have some people with leg problems, you are concerned a little bit more about the cold weather, but like I said five more games, I think everybody will be able to make it.

JIM LEYLAND: Well, I didn't think it was going out. I thought he had real good at-bats tonight. No, I did not think the ball was going to leave the ballpark. I've seen a lot of games here, once in a while you get fooled, because there are some variances to our boards, it's up and there's a little valley and it could hit off the corner of that. But for the most part I know the ballpark pretty well.

JIM LEYLAND: No, not at all. He wasn't in sync tonight, but Kevin Brown will never make any excuses. Like I said, he couldn't find the arm slot and Ogea was good, and I guess in the famous words of Lou Holtz, the other side gives scholarships, too.

JIM LEYLAND: No, not really. He's been our best, and a guy like him can get on a roll at any time. I thought we were okay, and the situation really didn't come up if I had to pinch hit for him, if he came up in a situation where I had to hit 4-1, yes, I'd take him out. I felt confident he'd keep it at 4-1 and it didn't work out that way.

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