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WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC POOL D: SAN JUANMarch 6, 2009Bruce ChenCarlos LeeHector LopezSAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO Q. Good morning. I would like, please, for each one of you to tell me what does being in this Classic represent to you? And tomorrow you will be playing against Puerto Rico, how do you see the Puerto Rico team? BRUCE CHEN: Well, I participated in the World Classic in 2006, and it was a great experience for me. It was a competition that was like a World Series because every pitch, every bat was quite important. This year is quite important to me because I have had surgery, and I couldn't get a job. The only thing I could do was work to come to the World Classic, and that was the only thing that kept me practicing and determined, because I didn't know what was going to happen with my baseball career. Fortunately, I signed with the Kansas City Royals. But now it doesn't matter. I'm coming here with everything. I've trained strong. It is an honor for me to represent Panama. I'm very proud to be Panamanian. And I hope to give my best to see that we have a victory and go to the next phase in the World Classic. Q. The same question for all three. HECTOR LOPEZ: To me this experience is very, very new for me. As the manager of the team my job was to get the guys in good shape to play this Classic. And I believe that the players are well, and they're ready to play ball. I hope that everything comes out well for us. CARLOS LEE: Well, to me, first of all as a Panamanian, I am very proud to represent my country. I believe that when you represent your country you're going to try to give 200 percent because of the pride that you have inside of being there and looking good before the fans who are the ones that support you all the time. I also had a chance of being in the first Classic. I believe that the team that we brought this year is a lot better. There is a combination of a lot of young guys who are coming up and wanting to win and wanting to leave their name high. And so I believe that we can give a surprise this year. We have to work as a team. We don't have the lineup or the strength that others have, but I believe that what the guys have are the desire to win. So I think that's going to be very important. Q. You're opening against Puerto Rico. CARLOS LEE: Whoever I have to play is going to be the same thing. Whoever you play you have to go out to win. There's no small or large rival. You have to play hard. Q. Don't you have pressure because you're playing the home team? CARLOS LEE: They're the ones who have pressure because they're the ones at home. If we lose, we lose. But if they lose they lose in front of their people and their fans. Not us. We're calm. We're easy. Q. Specifically for Bruce -- welcome to all three -- you've had a lot of experience in the winter league. You've pitched a few times successfully. How much do you understand will that factor help you to have success tomorrow before Puerto Rico in your opening? BRUCE CHEN: Well, I'm going to start tomorrow's game, I'm going to pitch the way I always pitch. Not because it was good for me in the winter league doesn't mean I'm going to do well in the World Classic. A lot of players in the winter league are not here. I've played in this stadium. I know it quite well. I know where the breeze is; I know how the field behaves and the weather also. The factor of the fans. Tomorrow's game is going to be quite difficult. They're at home. We don't want to say too much because we don't want to get the fans involved, but we are going to give it all, and we are very well prepared. And I believe the work that the technical team did is good. We are ready for anything. We trust that we are going to do a good job tomorrow. Q. I've got a couple of questions. First of all, in the 2006 Classic Panama fought with Puerto Rico. There were two games, and they were close games. Do you think you can repeat that effort? Number one. Number two for Carlos Lee. You are the big name with the lineup, a big name. Do you feel you have more pressure to produce because of the fact that you have the big name on the team in the lineup. And for Bruce Chen, the challenge for pitching with Puerto Rico, you have not pitched against Puerto Rico in the winter league. BRUCE CHEN: Well, the question as to whether we want to repeat what we did in 2006 against Puerto Rico, well, not really because we lost that game. We have the intentions of winning. I know it's not easy, but it's not impossible either. To me it's an honor to be able to open the first game against Puerto Rico in front of Puerto Rico. It's a good team. We're also very well prepared. I feel 100 percent, and I hope to give a good show tomorrow. CARLOS LEE: The question that you asked me, to me really, in the big leagues and the minor leagues or wherever I've played and the tournaments I've participated, I always try to give 100 percent and play as best as I can. At the end of the day we'll see what happens. To me there's really no pressure because even though I'm the big name in the lineup, not everything can be done alone. It's a team game. There are nine of us. Everybody has to give their best to have good results. HECTOR LOPEZ: Let me say this: The Panama team is a team that is very mixed. We've got young people. We've got players with experience. So what we're going to try to do against a team like Puerto Rico is play good defense, and hopefully we'll pitch well. But I believe that this is going to be very interesting. Since the numbers are against us, Puerto Rico has to have 20 big league players in the playing field, maybe we can all play well. I believe that this team is going to surprise a lot of people. Q. Carlos, how do you see the Classic? Do you see it as a means for the development of baseball at the world level? Because other teams have been left behind. How do you see the Classic in the future? CARLOS LEE: Well, I believe that the Classic is an event that is very important because it makes baseball shine at a worldwide level. You can see how other countries are moving up such as the European countries. They've given a good showing. We can see the excitement and the preparation that everyone has to represent their country as best as possible. In the big leagues many times we do not have a chance -- we did not have a chance of wearing our team's jersey for many reasons. And with this Classic we get a chance to fight for our country and make baseball, the name of baseball at a worldwide level to shine. Q. At 11 in the morning Mariano Rivera should be arriving. What is his role going to be in the team, or is he going to be in the team in the did you go out? HECTOR LOPEZ: Mariano's job is to give support to the Panamanian players. He is a big pitcher in the big leagues. He's been so for 13-14 years. Mariano's presence here is good for the players. I believe that that is a great thing for him and for the country. Q. Skipper, are you going to play this as a small ball club? Are you going to try and manufacture runs in this game? Just an outlook on how you view your team, what you have. And for Bruce, do you feel as though you're 100 percent ready to pitch as you would be to start a major league season going into the game tomorrow? HECTOR LOPEZ: Well, my intention is I just let them play. If the situation arises, I'll be able to do something, but we're going to play very aggressive baseball. We're going to run. I hope that Lee can hit a home run once in a while. He's a big man right here. I'd like to have a few guys on base before he comes up to hit. As a rule we are going to play just basic baseball. Nothing fancy, nothing tricky. Go out there and just let them play and hope that we play good defense and get good pitching. Maybe we can win ball games. CARLOS LEE: Mentally and physically I feel fine. I feel like I'm 100 percent. But I wish I had a couple more games so I could get more into a rhythm and get more pitches and get some of the rust out. But I don't have a couple more games. This is it. I pitched a couple games in Panama. I pitched another game here in spring training. My arm feels great. All my pitches are coming out good. I've been working real hard. I've been working for almost like a year after my surgery. I feel ready. I don't have any more games, and this is it. Tomorrow is going to be my game. Q. For the Panama manager, how are the fans in Panama, specifically the young people who want to follow Carlos Lee's footsteps, how are they feeling knowing that you are coming to play for the second time in Puerto Rico? Have they presented themselves -- is there a lot of excitement? Are people happy obviously? CARLOS LEE: Well, to tell you that in Panama the fans are very good. They're all supporting any sport. Any player that leaves the country, they have 100 percent support from the nation. In Panama, if we're first, we'll have a party. If we're second, we'll have a party. The Panamanians are always happy supporting their athletes. So I believe that for us it's very important. It would be a great achievement to go onto the second phase, having teams like Puerto Rico and Dominican and Holland also with great players at the big league level. In Panama we have a lot of good prospects that are growing. The guys in big league training with other organizations that are here. So as I said, there is a lot of excitement and wanting to play and leaving our mark in the big leagues in this tournament. So in the practices we saw the fans going on in the rehearsal and messing with the referees if they call a strike. End of FastScripts |
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