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AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: ANGELS v YANKEES

October 25, 2009

Joe Girardi

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Game Six

THE MODERATOR: Take a first question.

Q. I just wanted to ask you a little bit about Hughes and Chamberlain. They both struggled a little bit. You talked a little bit about Hughes the other day. I think you said something about his fastball or his command or something like that. I was just wondering, do you have any theories as to why Chamberlain has not been the dominant pitcher he was in previous postseason and whatever?
JOE GIRARDI: As far as Hughesy, Hughesy missed on a fastball the other day. His command overall wasn't bad. But he missed on Vlad Guerrero.
As far as Joba, it's not like he's had 30 appearances to judge what he would be like out of the bullpen over 30 appearances. He's had some good hitters and he's had some balls that he's left up in the zone. It's basically been mistakes. And they haven't missed them. And it's that time of year. As I've said, that you're seeing tougher hitters throughout lineups. The Angels are very dangerous up and down their lineup. They score a lot of runs, and if you make mistakes, they're going to hit him. He left a breaking ball up to Rivera the other day and he didn't miss it.

Q. Joe, are you still talking about Game 6, by the way?
JOE GIRARDI: It seems like a long time since we've played.

Q. Talk about the confidence you have in Andy Pettitte and the decision to stick with Andy Pettitte tonight.
JOE GIRARDI: Well, Andy has pitched as many of these games as anyone has. He's pitched in the World Series. Big games in World Series, playoffs, during the course of a season. And we're just staying on a rotation. We like Andy in this spot. And all we're concerned with right now is about Game 6.

Q. In your mind is there any difference between winning in 6 and having pitching set up, or winning in 7 and not having Sabathia for a World Series opener?
JOE GIRARDI: There's always a thought that you would like to set up your rotation the way you want to during the course of any series. So I mean that is something you definitely think about. But our focus is not so much that, that we're not concerned about just winning Game 6 or getting to the next round. But you would love to be able to set up your rotation the way you want.

Q. Joe, were you able to get out of here at a normal time last night and enjoy the family? Or were you going over matchups because you had more time to do it? Did you continue to prepare?
JOE GIRARDI: No, I enjoyed the family. My wife and I went out for a little bit, played with the kids before we went out a little bit. And for me it was business as usual in my house. This morning the same thing.
You know, the interesting thing is you did your preparation for this the day before anyway. So I enjoyed my family.

Q. Joe, Mariano told us yesterday that he wanted to have a talk with Hughes. That he really hadn't had to have a talk with him all year but he wanted to sit down and share some things. How much can that help even just one game or his next appearance? Could something like that help him out in this situation?
JOE GIRARDI: I definitely think so. To me it's coming from the best, a man that has been more successful this time of year than anyone, a man that has also had struggles; has had to deal with a game that was a tough game to get over. So I think the conversation that Mo has with any of our relievers this time of year will be extremely beneficial.

Q. Is that something Mariano does on his own or do you encourage him to do so?
JOE GIRARDI: Mo did it on his own. That's the great thing about having the veteran players that we have. They're not afraid to speak up. And when you have the type of experience that Mariano has during this time of year, Mo is not afraid to speak up. I mean, he has talks with relievers during the course of the season, too, but he's free to do whatever he feels he needs to do.

Q. Just sort of following up on that: Having the four guys, Jeter, Mo, Pettitte, Posada, cover kind of every position on the roster, it seems like you kind of have the luxury of a veteran who has been tested in each of those areas of the team for any player that would be in a situation like that.
JOE GIRARDI: Well, you feel fortunate that you have those guys that have been tested, and have been through extremely tough series during the course of their career. We have two position players, we have a starting pitcher and we have a closer, reliever. So we are very fortunate to have all four of those guys.

Q. Joe, two things: First, same lineup as you announced yesterday?
JOE GIRARDI: Yes. Yes.

Q. Secondly, have you talked to Swisher at all to see where he's at mentally, make sure he's not pressing too much? He had mentioned yesterday that he thought maybe he was pressing a little bit.
JOE GIRARDI: I've talked to a number of guys during the course of this round. And I don't necessarily like to really get into specifics about what I say to people, but Swish is a good player. You look at the numbers that Swish put up this year, he's a good player. The guy scored 100 runs. Almost drove in 90. Almost hit 30 home runs. He's struggling a little bit now. But he's one of the reasons that we are here. So, I mean, I have had a discussion with him. And I feel good about what he's going to do.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Joe.

End of FastScripts

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