|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
MLB ALL-STAR GAMEJuly 14, 2009Evan LongoriaJoe MaddonST. LOUIS, MISSOURI Q. Evan, can you just run through how the decision was made and how disappointed you are? EVAN LONGORIA: Obviously, you don't want to come to an All-Star Game to come to the sit on the bench and watch. It's just unfortunate. Obviously, me and Joe went back and forth about what to do, and being here and being with an American League club, like I've said this before, it would be a disservice to them to go out and try to play and win a game when I'm not up to full health. So me and Joe talked about it last night, and he made the decision, I think Chone Figgins is on his way in to be the replacement. So I was okay with that. I think that we need a good team here. Obviously, priority one is the Rays and being healthy for Friday's game, but you know, like Joe said, we have got to put that aside for right now and try to help this club win. Q. Do you know the prognosis? EVAN LONGORIA: I should not miss any regular-season games with the Rays. Q. Can you go through how the injury happened? EVAN LONGORIA: My fingertip was sore for two days, but obviously I'm not going to go to the training staff and say, hey, my fingertip is sore. And then it just kind of progressed from there. I got a couple of swollen spots on my arm, which kind of alarmed me that something else was going on. And so I had it checked out, and obviously just pumped the antibiotics in and let the infection go away. Q. What led you to No. 1, start Michael Young at third and then go with Chone Figgins? JOE MADDON: Michael had already been voted in. So I thought it was an easy get to put him in the lineup at third base. He has been a spectacular player for several years now and he's been on the team as a third baseman. Figgins, on the other hand, there's other options. But I like his versatility, the fact that he's played third base and can also play second base, all outfield positions, and he can run and hits from both sides of the plate. Again, when you are making decisions to augment your bench, I think you really are trying to get the kind of fit that helps you out in so many different ways at the end of the game. Q. What are your plans, are you going to go on the ESPY's early? EVAN LONGORIA: I'm not going to leave this team any earlier than normal. I'll be here for the game and just be a cheer leader and do my part, I guess, on the bench. I think I really -- it's bad that I had to fill up a roster spot in the beginning. I am definitely enjoying being here. But you know, obviously you don't want to come here and not play, like I said, so I'll be on the bench and just do my cheerleading. Q. Did it get infected under the fingernail or what? EVAN LONGORIA: No, it was actually just at the tip of my finger. I don't know, it was just one of those weird things that kind of came about. There was really nothing that I could have done to avoid it. Q. Did you get to tell Chone yourself? JOE MADDON: I did not. Wish I could have. Got the call, RV, Rick Vaughn told me he had spoken with Evan first and went from him to me. The wheels had to be put in set motion to get him here and I did not have a chance to tell him that personally. I wish I could have, but nevertheless, when he gets here, I will greet him properly. Q. Was there anything where you had to consider a bunch of guys and some couldn't make it? JOE MADDON: No. You know, mode of transportation I wasn't concerned about, but the President being in town does cause some kind of problems in regard to getting him here. I wasn't concerned about that. We brought his name up and everybody was on board and just getting him here, and he's in the process of doing that right now. Q. What's the ETA? JOE MADDON: I think about 5:20 on the ground and special escort over here to Busch Stadium. He was going to see if he can beat the President. Q. How much of it was that you were here as the manager of the All-Star Team in making the decision? JOE MADDON: Regarding him -- Q. In other words, you were here and obviously you're looking out for your own team. JOE MADDON: Well, honestly, I wanted Evan to play. We had talked about it back and forth and we were vacillating, what was the right thing to do, if he was able to play. What I was told medically is the fact that this problem that he had after the treatment had occurred, that it may go away rather rapidly and there was that possibility, but it did not, and then we had to take other actions. So again, just trying to keep him in the game, we tried to play it out as long as we possibly could based on information, and it just did not want to seem to respond as quickly as it could have. So then it became step two, and that's to make sure that he's ready for Friday's game, and we think that he will be ready for Friday. Q. Was the decision made this morning, the final decision? JOE MADDON: Nine o'clock, yeah. Q. Did the fact that Figgins is local, did that have anything to do with it? JOE MADDON: Local? Q. Brandon High School? JOE MADDON: Not at all. I know Figgy is from there and his mom used to bring us really good BB chicken and ribs any time we played in town, I know he's from down there. Baked beans that he put cinnamon, I would have brought somebody from Hazelton if that was the case. I could have brought like Joey Levotnic (phonetic) or something. Q. Have you figured out what kind of pairing you might use for Wakefield at this point? JOE MADDON: What kind of -- Q. Pairing, who was better? JOE MADDON: By the time he were to get in the game, it would probably be Victor Martinez, and I've already talked to Victor about it and he's game. He said bring him on, I'm good with it and he's not concerned about it. I was really impressed with his answer. He was all good. Q. What is the toughest moment you had trying to catch a knuckleball? JOE MADDON: It was the embarrassment of having to go pick it up. Really, you catch a good knuckleball guy, for me, just had to wait on it, not to stab at it. It's uncomfortable, but I think if you accept the fact that you're probably going to miss some, you'll probably miss less. Q. Who did you catch? JOE MADDON: A guy by the name of Tracy Harris back in the Minor Leagues. He might have gotten backup eventually, not 100% sure, but that was back in the old Santa Clara Padre days. Q. Do you need any other treatment in the next couple of days or just when you show up Thursday for the workout? EVAN LONGORIA: There's really nothing that you can do other than just get the antibiotics and just let it run it's course and let the tip on the end of my finger heal. Like Joe said, it wasn't instantaneous. But I can definitely tell the difference from yesterday already. Q. What would you say are the odds of being ready to play Friday? EVAN LONGORIA: Good. 95 percent. End of FastScripts |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|