MLB WORLD SERIES: INDIANS v MARLINS

October 23, 1997

Mike Hargrove

MIKE HARGROVE: As of right now it's Charles Nagy. I think we may have a decision to make, but as of right now it's Charles Nagy.

MIKE HARGROVE: Assenmacher is fine. We had him up last night. We really threw him on the side before the game, and had him up one time last night in the 8th inning, and I talked to Paul after the game and Paul said his leg felt fine, so he's available and healthy.

MIKE HARGROVE: Brian really has done a great job, he's 2 for 2, a double and a single, has driven in two runs. Brian keeps himself ready, and tonight we'll go with him in left field. He has been squeezed in this Series. The last time in '95 we were in the Series, I think it was Paul Sorrento that got squeezed but that happens, when you go into a National League park. And you can't play your regular line-up, the pitcher has to hit, somebody has to sit, and when we came back here, coming back here and facing two left-handers, and Brian historically has not played against a lot of left-hand starters. We leave him in sometimes against left-hand relievers, but Brian has done a good job.

MIKE HARGROVE: Yeah, I think he's probably as fresh as he'll ever be in October. He certainly spent from June 15th to September 1 on the disabled list. That certainly has kept him fresh.

MIKE HARGROVE: You guys asked him that last night, too, didn't you? Matt is a private person and I think that we all should respect that privacy. I will just -- I will tell you what I see, I never saw Matt lose his focus during a ballgame. I never saw Matt make excuses for anything. All I did was see Matt Williams show up every day to play, he played hard and played to win, and he expected everybody around him to do the same thing, and I like people like that.

MIKE HARGROVE: Officially, right now, it's Charles Nagy in Game 7, if we go that far. There's a lot of things that we're going to look at going into that, and the fact of how Jaret can bounce back enters into it. But Game 7 everybody is available for that. So that's why I'm saying that.

MIKE HARGROVE: I think we felt kind of underappreciated all year long, but we didn't let that deter us. I said the other day the Marlins or Indians have no reason to apologize to anybody about being in the World Series. If people have a problem with us being here, then that's their problem. We beat good teams to get here. I don't remember anybody last year when we won 99 games saying the best team in baseball wasn't in the World Series last year. So, yeah, it's upsetting, but I can't -- there are things you can control in life and things you can't, and that's one of them. But I'm sure that Jim is just as proud of his team as I am mine, as he should be. Both ball clubs, both organizations have gone through a lot to be here, and we don't need to apologize, not going to apologize to anybody. We're going to let it go and play the game.

MIKE HARGROVE: Yeah, I think Kevin Brown is one of the best pitchers in baseball today. Not many people throw 95, 96 mile sinkers. He's a tremendous athlete to boot. So Kevin -- he was not fun to face when he was in the American League. When we went to the National League, I didn't ever think I'd have to face him again, but I'm glad we are. It's never a pleasant prospect to face somebody that has that sort of ability and that sort of stuff.

MIKE HARGROVE: Florida is a bigger ballpark and center field around to right field than here. This is probably more of a hitters ballpark all around, than the Florida ballpark is. Having said that I'm very partial to this park, obviously.

MIKE HARGROVE: It's a football field that they play baseball in. The lights glare, and there's a glare on the lights, but I'm sure I'm not the first one that's said that. Everybody has to play what you play, I don't mean to make light of it, you know the conditions, the conditions are there, you make adjustments and you play. And it's a beautiful ballpark. The grass is gorgeous, they take very good care of the grounds. The groundskeeper should get a star for what he's done in that ballpark, especially with football being played on it. And it's an enjoyable place to play.

MIKE HARGROVE: I was really surprised at how -- I won't say relaxed, but how normal playing in Florida the first time felt. I don't think that -- I'm not an old hand at it, but I know that I don't ever remember relaxing in '95 in the World Series, and I don't remember relaxing now, at any prospect. But I know that this time around things have been a little more normal than they were the first time around.

MIKE HARGROVE: I think we have been a fairly patient team anyway all year long. I don't know that it has anything more to do with Florida's pitching, as much as our being patient. You look at the Florida ball club, they're a very patient ball club, too. And patient hitters have a tendency to hit deep in the count and to hit ahead of the count. And that will take you deeper into -- that will take you deeper into the hours the games last and I think you'll see more walks with those type of ball clubs, that's just a personal opinion, but that's how I see it.

MIKE HARGROVE: Yes, we were, in the cold and it's a young kid, yeah, it was a concern. But he came out and did a good job. But it's been my experience anytime you've got -- and usually later in a ballgame, from the 5th on you get a starting pitcher that sits around a long time that you're really running on the edge when you send him back out there.

MIKE HARGROVE: Yeah, if the strength is there. Again, we go back to the reason I started him and made the decision to start him in Game 4 because we weren't sure how much he had left. His last start against the Orioles he didn't throw well, he didn't have that good pop on his fastball, so we were concerned about that. After having seen him last night that gives us the option of looking at bringing him back on three days. And that's why I say there are things we have to consider and look at and make a decision on, but as of right now Charles Nagy is still the starter in Game 7.

MIKE HARGROVE: Everybody should be available. I don't know how available Brian Anderson will be, how long we can go with him tonight. He threw three innings, he threw nine pitches the night before. Relieving is not something that Brian is used to doing. I'm not sure how available he is tonight, but he would be the only one that would be in that category.