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WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC POOL C: TORONTOMarch 7, 2009Davey JohnsonBrian McCannRoy OswaltTORONTO, ONTARIO THE MODERATOR: We'll ask U.S.A. manager, Davey Johnson, to make a few remarks about his team's performance remarks today. DAVEY JOHNSON: I tell you, it was a heck of a ball game. This time of year, you know, everybody is not at their best, and I thought everybody played a heck of a ball game. The hitting was there. The pitching was almost there. Just a heck of a ball game. THE MODERATOR: We'll open it to questions now. Q. Davey, you guys got the power that you needed to win this game. Were you concerned at all about the hitting with runners in scoring position, especially as it got close later in the game? DAVEY JOHNSON: No doubt about it, you know, we had the right guys up at the right time. Again, it's kind of early in the year. I like to be in that same situation a little farther along. I mean, we couldn't have had better guys at the plate with the bases loaded, we just didn't execute. Q. Skip, what is it about Team Canada that just seems to bring the best out of them when they play Team USA? DAVEY JOHNSON: Well, we owed them a little payback. You know three years ago, it wasn't that close. All the scoring ended up fairly close. They've got a heck of a line-up. I mean, I was talking to McCann on the way down here, he said, you know, They've got some great major league hitters in that line-up, and a lot of them. I thought our guys did a heck of a job holding them down. So it was a heck of a game. Q. Davey, just how nervous was it winning those last couple outs against Morneau and Bay. Then if I can do a follow-up after that, what does it say for the tournament to have the Dutch beat the Dominican in the opener? DAVEY JOHNSON: Well, Dustin asked me during the ball game, about the seventh inning said, Are you nervous? I said, I'm happy nervous. As long as we're in the lead, I'm happy nervous. But I think everybody, you know -- these are important games. We want to redeem what we did three years ago. And I thought we did a good job doing that. Brian swung the bat good today. If everybody swung the bat as good as he is right now, we'd have won it easy. But, you know, as far as the Dominican game, Netherlands is a tough team. They beat Cubana in a lot of tough games. They got some guys that know how to play the game of baseball. They're the number one team in Europe. You know, nothing against Italy, but they've been the number one team in Europe for a long time. Q. You swung the bat well today, but how about your catching, to be able to catch the variety of pitchers you had to pitch today and go out and talk to. What's that like for you as a catcher? BRIAN McCANN: The pitching staff they put together come on this team are all superstars, so it's one of those things where even though we don't work together that much, it doesn't take much. I try to ask them where they like me to set up, what do they kind of like to do, and, you know, they follow their plan as good as it gets. So it's just a joy to catch these guys. Q. What did you think of the job that the bullpen did coming in there and only giving up a couple hits over six innings? BRIAN McCANN: I thought they were great. If I make a block, you know, they don't score that one run in the -- I don't even know what inning it was, with Hanrahan. He had great stuff coming in. J.P. Howell, Shields, it was just a -- and the Putz coming in at the end, it was just a great performance. It's one of those things where Game 1, especially against this team, stacked -- their line-up is stacked. I mean, to come out of here with a win is very, very, very important. Q. Brian, as a follow up, now you get back into the regular season, do you think catching any of these pitchers during the season is going to help you batting against them later in the year? BRIAN McCANN: Can't hurt. It's one of those things where it can't hurt. But you still got to hit it, and, you know, you get to see their stuff, but it's just a lot different than the regular season. This is the first couple outings for these pitchers, and their stuff isn't the same as it's going to be opening day. Q. Brian, I notice there's a giant U.S. flag as you kind of walk into your dressing room. Does that stuff really mean anything once you get on the field and start playing? BRIAN McCANN: Absolutely. I mean, this is every kid's dream, to put on a U.S.A. jersey, and especially walking in that clubhouse. I mean, the first couple days we were in Clearwater, I mean, it was like, it was surreal, looking around the clubhouse and seeing all the talent that's in that one locker room. And, you know, hopefully we can all come together and, you know, try to win this thing. Q. Brian, just talk about the pitch that you homered on and about the importance -- and Davey can also answer this, the importance of Davey getting off on the right foot? BRIAN McCANN: He was one of those pitchers that located all his pitches and kind of pitched backwards. You get ahead in the count, you know he is going to throw you a slider. You are behind, he is going try to sneak a fastball by you. So I went up there looking for something to hit, and, luckily, I got something in the inner-half, and I didn't miss it. Q. Are you feeling like the best number 8 hitter in the world right now? BRIAN McCANN: You know, I was saying before Davey asked if I ever hit eighth, I said I'll hit 12th in this line-up. I mean, it's an unbelievable line-up. Just a great team to be part of. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. Team USA, a Game 2 starter, Roy Oswalt is now available for questions. Q. Roy, your team went out there today and did a great job. What do they have to do now to win Game 2? ROY OSWALT: Yeah, we looked good today. I thought everyone was playing great team baseball, real good team effort. And hopefully tomorrow get out and score a few runs early, and try to get in the groove, and see if we can get in the fourth and fifth inning. Q. Roy, the ninth inning there, they have the tying run on second, Morneau and Bay coming up, you ever think, Gosh, I might be pitching in an elimination game? ROY OSWALT: They made a good run. I thought Votto swung the bat well. I threw some pretty good pitches to him. And he was swinging the bat well today. And man on second, two outs, that's the closer's job. It makes it come down to the last out. I had all the faith in the world in Putz, and he's been in that situation before and I'm sure many a times. And the biggest thing there is not to panic and leave one over the plate. Q. How have you prepared for tomorrow's start not knowing even right now how you are going to play it? ROY OSWALT: It's tough, you know, tonight after the game, I'm sure I'll see the game tonight, and I know most of the guys from the Venezuela team. I don't know a whole lot of guys from the Italian team, a few guys. After the game tonight, kind of see where we're at. In my head, I've pitched against some of these guys before, so I know kind of a way to get some of those guys out, and just see who wins tonight. Q. Unlike in 2006, it seems that the exhibition games that the team has had in the early going have really helped so far. How much is that early preparation for Team USA really helped heading into 2009? ROY OSWALT: I think the first go-round, the guys didn't really get themselves ready early enough. I think guys this time that knew they were going to be on the team prepared a little earlier this year and got their body in the situation where they feel good right now. Instead of waiting till their normal period to get ready for spring training, they probably started a little bit earlier. I know I did. Trying to make sure my arm would be in shape to get here to throw, you know, fifty to seventy pitches. And I think the guys learned from their first one. And hopefully we can take it into tomorrow. Q. You've pitched against a lot of these players in can Saturday and against Venezuela. Have you shared some of your, hate to say, "secrets," and have other pitchers kind of told you how they've had success against some of these other hitters? ROY OSWALT: Yeah, the pitchers, we talk a lot. You know, guys asked me how I got a certain guy out, and I ask them what they do with a certain guy. There's a lot of guys that don't pitch like me. So it's hard to, you know, tell a guy, This is the way you get a guy out or the way I have success against a guy. But with Jake and I, we throw similar. He has a little better slider than I do, but velocity-wise, pretty close, and kind of pick each other's brains about certain guys on the team. You can learn a lot from other guys. You may have trouble with one guy, and he can get them out, and you learn what he does and try to flip what you have been doing to them and try to do what he does to them. So it's good learning experience, sort of like an all-star game. Instead of facing these guys so much through the years, you get to play actually with them, and you get to know a lot of personalities and different guys on different teams. Q. Any of the guys that you're playing with now that you've had really good success against, and they've kind of, you know, said, Gees, you know, quit throwing that ball inside to me? ROY OSWALT: You don't really say that too much. As soon as you say something, they usually start hitting you pretty well. So you keep that to yourself. I've had a few guys asked me about my curveball, as far as speed-wise, how I kill the speed out, but other than that, it's just -- you know, it's competition amongst guys. When you get on the same team, you're going for the same thing, to win the whole thing. So you concentrate on that a little more than the regular season. Q. Roy, you mentioned talking a lot with pitchers. Was there any talk today amongst teammates, or what was it like when you guys heard the Dominicans had already lost a game? ROY OSWALT: We really didn't know that until I think after the second inning. But they have a good club. That's one thing about this tournament that's tough. If you get started out on the wrong foot, it's hard to catch up. And with baseball, you never know what's going to happen. With other sports, you kind of have an inside track of who you pretty much know is going to win the whole thing. With baseball, any given day, anyone can beat anyone. Good pitching beats hitting any day. And I thought the Netherlands done a real good job as far as pitching today. I watched about three innings on TV, and they did a real good job as far as not leaving balls over the plate. Q. Were you not as surprised about it as most of us were by their success? I mean, that's a pretty formidable task. ROY OSWALT: Yeah, Dominican's got a good team. You look at that line-up and put that line-up in the big leagues, it would be hard to beat day in and day out, 162 games against those guys would be tough, for sure. I was surprised that Netherlands, you know, held them to three runs, or two runs. And I think it was an error may have caused the whole 3-2 score. But a good game. I mean, that's a good baseball game, 3-2. That's what you are looking for. That's what I am looking for. Q. Roy, you guys went back to your team's disappointment in '06, what would it be like, you think, for your Houston teammate, Miguel Tejada, if he was back there in a few days? I mean, would guys be hard on him? ROY OSWALT: '06, I wasn't here, so I didn't go back. But I'm sure the ones that lost out early, was tough to go back, you know, and face some of the guys that beat them. I got a chance to play in 2000, so we won the whole thing, so I get to brag about that. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Roy. End of FastScripts |
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