AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: INDIANS v YANKEES

October 12, 1998

David Burba

Mark Wiley

MARK WILEY: Going into the playoffs I know it is a very difficult decision to make for a manager and with a guy like Dave, Dave is a great competitor. He did a fantastic job for us starting this year. I think that narrowed down to the point where we know Dave has a certain kind of durability about throwing often and the fact that he has a lot of experience in the bullpen and I don't think -- I think it is proven that it was a good decision with Dave has gone in and done a great job for us every time he has been asked on. We have asked him in to come and eat some big innings for us to keep us in the ballgame, keep our bullpen aligned properly and he did a great job of doing that. And continues to.

MARK WILEY: Charlie, you know, I have been around Charlie for a long time even from when he first came up. And he is no different than a lot of pitchers. You get hot at certain times and you get out of rhythm and you have problems at certain times and Charlie is no different than anybody else. But Charlie does -- he has always been one of those pitchers that locks in for great periods of time when he does lock in. He has a great sense of his rhythm, and when he gets it, he can pitch quality game after quality game. Over the years, there has always been a lot said about Charlie when he gets in one of those streaks, where he maybe doesn't get a win for a month or something, but if you always look when the smoke clears, Charlie is one of the leading winners in baseball every year. People have a tendency to overlook that. I think he is probably one of the most underrated pitchers in the 90s. He is one of the winningest pitchers in the '90s in all of baseball. You never hear him spoken about like some other guys that are in the same level. He made some adjustment in his delivery. Like I said, when he locks in, he is a real hard worker, great conditioned athlete and I think that is why he has been able to maintain it for long periods of time when he does get locked in.

MARK WILEY: I didn't hear that. I knew that in our discussions and when the decision was made last year as far as that was concerned it was more that, you know, we felt Charlie had gotten tired. You have to understand last year and I have heard a lot of other ballclubs they speak of the injuries they had. I don't know of anybody that had as many starting pitchers. We had to get to the World Series. We got there because Charlie never missed a start. Charlie was pushed to the fifth day every time. There were times when you have a chance off day to push all your starters to six days, he was always pushed up to go five on five days because the other kids just weren't as quality. They were Minor League kids coming up and people that were spot starters. He was pushed up and never missed a start. That is why we got there. At the tail end after that great game he threw in Baltimore when we clinched it one to nothing and got into the World Series we felt like he had just gotten tired. At that time Jaret was strong, and he was given the start. That doesn't diminish anything Charlie has ever done for this club or ever will do or the fact that Charlie is our most dependable guy for years and right now he is still as good as anybody in baseball and you know, would be considered like our No.1 guy right now.

MARK WILEY: David Cone is a pretty good pitcher. He has been pitted against a lot of great pitchers throughout his career. It is all just how people align. We would have had to rearrange our rotation to have that happen and if you remember we were trying to get -- we were trying to a good enough record to be better than Texas so we could have the home team advantage against Boston in the first round and we kind of ran our pitchers and strung them right out. It wasn't our plan, but we hadn't won some ball games, so we kind of strung our starting pitchers out. That is how it kind of fell where the rotation went. As far as -- Mike makes the decisions on everything we do. He is the manager. I think that was one of the primary concerns that we started out in the rotation that we did.

DAVE BURBA: Well, basically the things they say to us I really can't repeat. That is just part of the game. It happens whereever you go any city. I don't condone people saying things about peoples mothers and things like that, but there is some pretty rough stuff said out in the bullpen out here in Yankee Stadium. That is just part of the game. You have to remember what you are focusing on, and that is to get ready to go into the game and throw strikes and get hitters out. And if you concentrate on what the people are saying to you, then you tend to get out of your game. So when you are warming up, naturally you can hear them, they are yelling, they are screaming at you, calling you names, saying things to you, but you tend to laugh at half of it and you tend to drown it out. Because like I said, you are really focusing on what you have to do to get ready for the game. Just so happens that every once in a while you can't help but hear some things. Really, I have never really heard anybody say anything about my mother or anybody else's mother when they are warming up, and I -- I can't say that I would appreciate it, I am sure that Dave didn't appreciate it. I am sorry that it happened to David, but things happen to us too and that is just part of the game. Life goes on. Really I think you have to focus on what you are doing and drown out what people are saying and screaming at you when you are getting ready to go into the game.

MARK WILEY: It is really the individual. You know, some people feel right comfortable if you have had a good outing against somebody. You feel that you are able to see things that the hitters are doing, you are able to command the strike zone, you can take advantage of their weaknesses, you feel confidence going into it. If you struggled, it either makes you bear down more and you really focus more or those guys -- I am sure the negative thoughts come into their minds. At this level of the game from pitching coaches's standpoint you know you want people to put anything that they did in the past behind them and focus on what they got to do now. I would think it would obviously be much more of an advantage if you did have a good outing or two against them in the last outing. That has got to be an.

DAVE BURBA: Well, it is possible because I am sure that they want my bat in the lineup (Laughter.). Seriously, Mike passed me in the hallway the other day, he said it was a possibility, but it wasn't etched in stone, and you know, right now I am just trying to focus on tomorrow and the next day hopefully, but I guess like I told Mike, you know, we will cross that bridge when we get there and you just let me know what you want. If you want me to be in the bullpen, I am fine with that. If you want me to start a game, I will be prepared. That is basically where we stand right now.

DAVE BURBA: Well, first question, yes, I thought that I did have a good chance at getting the start one of the two games over the weekend, but when I didn't, no, I wasn't disappointed. Like David Justice said, I was raised under pretty much Dusty Baker. And what he taught me was: I will make the decisions and you live with it, and if they are wrong decisions, then I will answer the questions. If you do what I ask you, we are going to win, and that is just the way I feel about it. Mike asked me to go to the bullpen, so, apparently he felt that that was best suited for the team, and that was the best way I could help the team win so, that is where I went. And if Mike does ask me to start, if we happen to get to the World Series, then I will be more than happy to take the ball in.

MARK WILEY: I could say something here. The network might call the pitches (Laughter.) You know, Diaz does -- I mean, he knows how to call a game. What we did was we were given suggestions to help him if he got in situations where he wasn't sure what he wanted to do. Obviously, we know the hitters a little better than he does. Charlie works real well with Einar. He pitched, he has pitched for him -- pitched with him late in the season. Einar has called all our starting pitchers. He is familiar with them now. He is a terrific defensive guy, tremendous arm. And high energy guy. If you have seen him play in the playoff games and you saw him yesterday, you could see what he can bring to the game. It will be a normal game. Diaz will be calling pitches. If he needs help, we will help him when we can.

DAVE BURBA: Well, I would go to battle with Chuck in any situation in any game. I have seen him pitch some very outstanding games and lately he is throwing the ball so -- you know, obviously he is throwing the ball great. So in my book, he would be the go-to guy and I have all the confidence in the world in him. I think he is a great pitcher. I think he is going to go out and throw a great game tomorrow.

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