MLB WORLD SERIES: INDIANS v MARLINS

October 22, 1997

Jim Leyland

JIM LEYLAND: He's a young left-hander, he's 20 years old, and he's got a great arm. He's got a ways to go yet. Like I say, he has great stuff. Sometimes not the best location, sometimes -- he's gotten better as the years go on. He's one of our top young pitchers in our entire organization, and to come in last night and do what he did is remarkable. He's done a great job all year. He pitched a lot last winter, and his arm was tired in Spring Training, and I shut him down early in the season, I didn't pitch him too much at the start, we took our time with him and he's bounced back and he's throwing outstanding right now.

JIM LEYLAND: No, I don't think so. I think he's kind of in a little world of his own, to be honest with you, which I think is very good. I don't think he has fear. I think he has respect, and I think that's very important. But I think what he's been through, and what he did against the Braves, he pitched okay in the first game here, so I don't expect him to have any problems. He also pitched inter League game against the New York Yankees after just being brought up. So I don't think that anything is going to shock this young man. This guy is a very tough kid. And like I said we get along great, because we can't talk to one another. But he's a very bright young man. And I think he'll be fine.

JIM LEYLAND: He's definitely at third and is definitely going to be at third. And I'm going to continue to push him at third. I want to make a point on that. I don't really know why the DH thing has come up all of a sudden just because of a slight pull. He definitely has a slight pull, there's no question about that. But the point I'd like to make is -- it seems to me that that question has been asked of me a lot on the field today -- it seems to me that the media is making a big deal about why not DH him. And my point is what if he hits a single and tries to turn it into a double or hits a ground ball to second base, isn't he more likely to pull it doing that than standing on third base. If he can't play third base because his leg is bad, then how can he hit? He's going to play third base tonight and tomorrow night. If he can't play third base, he probably can't play. That's the answer to that question, and why I think he's never really complained about the situation in the past, and I'm not going to speak out of turn or speak about somebody else's business what happened last year. I can tell you from my past experience and present experience with Bobby, Bobby is an active, hyper guy. And I'll leave it at that.

JIM LEYLAND: Number one, I don't want to be a smarty to disagree, I don't think it's as cold tonight. The temperature may be as cold, but there's no wind. I was just out on the field and actually it's not as cold as last night. We talked about this, to me it's an old story, I told my players in Chicago, opening day, it's going to be cold in October, I plan on playing in October, and I think that it affects both teams somewhat, but you know what, I really feel most sorry for the fans. I think those are the people that have to brave it. The fans are the ones that have to brave the weather, not the players. Could it have an affect? Sure. It can have an affect on both teams. But I think it's a little more pleasant tonight even with a little snow flurries falling, I think it's more pleasant than it was last night, to be honest with you.

JIM LEYLAND: I think it was just an error.

JIM LEYLAND: Well, once again I don't want to be treading in uncharted waters. A lot of people figured it out, we know that we play at night. I'll say this, and probably get in trouble for it, I think it's a little late to be honest with you. I think I'd rather play at about 7 o'clock or at least 7:30. We all know why we do it. But I do think it does probably hurt some audiences somewhere with the youngsters. But like I said, I've got my hands full managing the team, and I'm not going to -- there's people a lot smarter than me running this business, and it seems to be going pretty good, 67,000 in Florida and this place is packed, so it's hopping pretty good, I'll leave that to people a whole lot brighter than me. But from a manager's standpoint, totally truthful, we get home really late after these 8:20 starts, I'll say that.

JIM LEYLAND: No, I have absolutely no concerns. I try to defend my players if you're supposed to defend them. And I defended him last night. We took the lead and he was ready, and that lead got extended and that inning went so long. Look at Jose Mesa, and if he had a one-run lead going into the 9th inning, he would have thrown a lot different. I think they live on adrenaline. All of a sudden it's 2, all of a sudden it's 7-run lead and it's a different animal all of a sudden. If you look over the history of baseball, I think you'll find out a lot of times when managers, including myself, bring our short reliever in just to get an inning's work, that's usually when they pad their ERA a bit.

JIM LEYLAND: It wasn't too uncomfortable, she just planned on coming one night. We couldn't get hotel rooms, and my in-laws are, my brothers and family members are coming back tonight, but mom is going to watch it on TV tonight.

JIM LEYLAND: No, I didn't, because remember I only had one infielder left, I used Abbott, and when Bobby was at Pittsburgh, he wasn't the fastest guy, but Bobby has been a pretty decent base runner. And like I said, I already used Abbott in the DH spot and didn't use Eric, just Arias, because Arias is quite a bit better at third, but I had no intention of pinch-hitting for Bobby, nor do I tonight. Unless something pops up, obviously, that I hope doesn't happen.

JIM LEYLAND: He's fine.

JIM LEYLAND: Jim Eisenreich. The line-up is exactly the same as it was last night.

JIM LEYLAND: Nen will pitch tonight, he will be in there unless it's a 1-0 game and Tony Saunders is brilliant. Nen will be out there. He hasn't pitched that much lately, he wasn't active, and he hasn't been that active throughout the playoffs for obvious reasons, but, no, I have no problem with bringing him back tonight, he'll be fine.