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AL DIVISION SERIES: YANKEES v INDIANS

October 6, 2007

Brian Cashman

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Workout Day

Q. Can you boil down what you've seen in the first two games, and how this team has gotten into an 0-2 hole in your eyes?
BRIAN CASHMAN: I think Game 1 we didn't pitch, obviously. I thought the extended rest didn't help Wang, you know. Typically doesn't. Thought we had good at-bats for the most part on Sabathia, just didn't capitalize when it counted.
Game 2 was quite the opposite. We pitched extremely well, you know, with Pettitte. I was just telling Joe earlier, it might be, I don't remember a game that we had that type of performance and didn't win. Yesterday's game was really more about, you know, Carmona and Perez. I mean they were spectacular. As good as Andy was, I mean I don't think our hitters yesterday didn't hit as much as couldn't hit, because of Carmona.
I mean, you really got a special performance by that individual, and that's really the true story yesterday. Not as much as what we couldn't do offensively, as much as what he was doing to us. That's how I saw it.

Q. Your offense the last couple of years, they've proven that over the course of the six-month season they will hit even though they go through whatever ups and downs. Other than facing good pitchers, is there any explanation why they struggle so much in the postseason?
BRIAN CASHMAN: No. I mean, we're a good offensive club. Just right now for two days we didn't hit. Well, I mean, again, I think we had some terrific at-bats in Game 1. Game 2, you know, we got manhandled by someone that just really did a great job against our team. So I'm not sure how many people would have hit him yesterday.
It was a remarkable performance by him. As simple as that. But I don't have an explanation. I know I have confidence in our players. It seems that this year's team does its best work when their backs are against the wall. That's the way the season has been defined. So now we put ourselves as far against that wall as we possibly can be. And we've got to obviously take it one game at a time like we had to do in the whole second half, and we'll start tomorrow night.

Q. Roger was in and said something about if it were me, I would have pulled the team off the field in terms of all the bugs and all that stuff. Now he didn't specify if he were saying, if I were the umpire, or if I were Joe, or if I were the organization. But were there any mechanics going on at that point something going through your head? Any discussions about, should we be playing baseball in those conditions?
BRIAN CASHMAN: No, I mean, it's the same for both teams. You could even argue it might be tougher for the hitter with that stuff coming on. It was hard for the pitching, hard for the hitting. It's a unique situation and, you know, I've never seen that happen before.
So again, we lost more yesterday because of Carmona and what Perez did. They were just spectacular. Obviously, it was an unfortunate circumstance that everybody had to deal with on that field, players and umpires. So you just have to get through it, and unfortunately, the whole body of the game we just came up short. That is the bottom line.

Q. Just something a little different about Bob Sheppard. I just want to know what do you feel he's given to this organization, what he means to it.
BRIAN CASHMAN: He's a true historian of this place. He's seen everything. You talk about people that have seen it all, and he's lived it all here. You know, I know he's been down for a little while now. Our team got, last week of the season, got a huge card, a "Get Well" card they all signed and sent over to his house.
We're hoping to see him sooner than later. But he means a great deal to this place and this franchise. A special individual. One of the best people I've ever met, and we'll miss him here, obviously, for the home game tomorrow.
So hopefully we can make him proud by going out there with a great performance and getting our first win of the Division Series this year under our belt.

Q. Has anything Cleveland has done in these first two games surprised you after going 6-0 against them during the regular season?
BRIAN CASHMAN: No, I mean, they're better than the 6-0 regular season numbers that we did. They probably haven't gotten as much credit as they deserve. They're very well balanced, they have terrific pitching. A better offense than I think they actually performed for the season. I certainly admire the artwork that Mark Shapiro is doing putting that team together over the years and having it grow into something special right now.
It's a strange game of baseball though in terms of how the series has gone. If you told me that we were able to grind out the at-bats and get the pitch count up on C.C. the way we did in Game 1, I would have signed up for that. And if you told me that Andy Pettitte, he would do what he did and hand the ball over with the one-run lead going into the 8th inning, I would have signed up for that. But obviously, there is a lot more to this game than just those aspects. You've got the offense, the defense and the pitching.
So it's been an interesting series so far. Unfortunately it hasn't gone the way we hoped in Game 1 or 2. But we obviously have a shot to turn that around. And I just say don't count us out. Don't count us out.
But, no, they haven't done anything surprising. Our scouts, we feel we know their players and their team extremely well. And they've just been better than we have here in the first two. That is the bottom line.

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