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WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC POOL TWO: MIAMIMarch 17, 2009Jose OquendoMIAMI, FLORIDA THE MODERATOR: First question for Jose. Q. Jose, good evening. Again, that was practically won in the ninth inning. How do you feel right now? JOSE OQUENDO: That's sort of a weird question. But I am proud of the guys, of the way -- not only the way they played this game but throughout the tournament. They played hard; they played as they should have. This happens in baseball. I'm proud of the way the guys played, and I would like to congratulate the U.S. team. It kept in the heat, and they didn't give up until the end. Q. What is your final assessment of this tournament? You had some consistent hitting, some consistent pitching. You were amongst the leaders in terms of hitting and pitching as far as the tournament is concerned, but what do you think was missing because it seemed that Puerto Rico was well on its way to go to LA. What do you think missed in terms of getting that ticket? JOSE OQUENDO: Well, basically it's unpredictable. These things happen. What you want from the guys is to play ball 100 percent. You want them to feel pride when they play. They should play ball as they should, and after you do that at 100 percent, you evaluate, and if everything was done with pride and giving all you've got, what can you do, keep your head up high and keep going forward, and that's part of baseball. Q. Four games won consecutively, and you had not required a relief pitcher, even in yesterday's defeat. This could have had a lot of weight on the performance of the team and its aspirations. JOSE OQUENDO: Well, I don't think so. We brought what we have. The guys we brought over have done a good job throughout the winter league. They did quite well at the beginning of the tournament. This time it didn't work out; that's part of what happens in baseball. A reliever comes in. As of the outset we never talked who was going to be the relief pitcher in the game. It's worked throughout the tournament except for these two games, but that's part of what happens in baseball. Q. Cheito, in this situation involving the ninth inning, what was said at the time with Carlos Arroyo when you had that two-run edge, it was thought at the time this was a comfortable edge? Of course there's nothing comfortable in baseball, but it was thought that the situation was a lot more favorable to Puerto Rico when you still had Juan Carlos Cabrera and Fernando Cabrera. JOSE OQUENDO: Did Juan Carlos say anything about that? Well, we were thinking about leaving Saul for the end of the game. The situation came up in the eighth inning. Youkilis was up, and we decided to bring in Saul for that situation. He did his job. JC Romero is a ballplayer that's done this type of job throughout the tournament and in his career. Today it didn't work out. They hit him hard, and well, we had to take him out and bring in Cabrera, but this is part of baseball. Q. You've seen veterans Ivan Rodriguez, Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran. In this game they gave it all they had. Have you spoken to them? JOSE OQUENDO: Well, we chatted, and I told them that I'm very proud of them, of the way they played throughout the tournament. It was an honor for me to work with them. They did their best. These things happen in baseball. It's the only thing we ask in tournament like this. They should be proud of representing their country as they played, and I think they did a fine job. THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much, Jose. End of FastScripts |
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