NL DIVISION SERIES: GIANTS v BRAVES

October 3, 2002

Bobby Cox

BOBBY COX: He might be a little better today, but he's pretty stiff. I honestly can't tell you if he can pitch or not. Probably best bet would be Saturday, but you never know by the sixth or seventh inning; he may get better.

BOBBY COX: Yeah, absolutely ready to go, and could go into late innings, I think, with it. It's a lot better today. Could have pitched yesterday. Could have pitched yesterday.

BOBBY COX: I don't know if he chose to or not to. I've been on the infield all day. His normal thing would be to throw a little bit, yeah; not hard but just toss.

BOBBY COX: I don't think Kevin Millwood ever gets rattled, to be honest, no matter where he's pitching. When he's on, he's really tough. I don't think that would ever figure into it.

BOBBY COX: Well, I always think every game is a must-win from April on. This is no different. Sure, you'd like to win the first game. Somebody is going to lose it and somebody is going to go 0-1. Yeah, it would be nice to win this and let them face Maddux, Glavine and Millwood one more time. That would be good.

BOBBY COX: Progressively getting better all the time. He's really staying on the ball, inside the ball really well, not coming around it as often, getting around the ball. He's trying to work on that all the time. He's really fun to watch when he stays inside the ball, and that's what he's doing right now. I think he can put up Sammy Sosa numbers some day if he continues at this progress. Sammy was a hitter like Andruw. Struck out an awful lot now, but now he's one of the toughest outs around. He really makes pitchers work. I'm not saying he's going to do it tomorrow, but in the future, he's still very young.

BOBBY COX: Well, staying inside it instead of around it all the time. Todd Helton always talks about staying in the ball instead of around it. Your ass flies up when you're around the ball. (Laughter.) I did it my whole life, that's why I'm managing.