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AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: ANGELS v YANKEES

October 25, 2009

Mike Scioscia

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Game Six

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Mike?

Q. Mike, as far as the lead-off spot in the batting order, do you think that Aybar has had a good enough series so that he would get some consideration for possibly doing that?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: Sure, we considered a lot of things in our lineup. I think at this point the grouping that has to set the table for the middle of our lineup is Erick, Figgie and Bobby Abreu for sure right now, in some order. I think you would be asking a lot of Erick just to flip him right now mid-series. Hopefully Figgie is going to give us the at-bats we need to still -- to impact that grouping what they have to do for the middle of our lineup.
I think hopefully -- we've had some rough spots with Figgie, but after some rough spots, sometimes there's a lot of production that he gives. And we want to keep playing it out.

Q. Mike, for folks who don't cover you on a regular basis, we've watched as a player and as manager, watching you here, the night of Game 6, I wouldn't know if it was April or October. Where does that come from? Did you have that as a player as well? Was that your thing all along?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: It's almost November I think, too.

Q. That's a good point.
MIKE SCIOSCIA: I don't know. You know, I think -- you know, you live and die with every pitch out there as a manager or a player. But I think it's something that I've learned as a manager or a coach, you really have to do kind of separate yourself from that emotion and keep thinking the game. As a player, I think you get caught up in so many ebbs and flows of the game.
I don't know. I really don't know. I think inside I'm churning a little more maybe than it looks outwardly. But you have to keep thinking the game and you have to -- sometimes it's tough to do, get that separation in there. But I think it's important to just keep thinking of all the options. You do it a lot better when you're a little bit more emotionally detached from the, like I say, momentum swings that happen, especially in the playoffs.

Q. With Figgins, do you see any signs that he's going outside of himself in his approach? And when a player has generally struggled in the postseason as he had has a past like that, can he not help but think about that as he continues to struggle?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: Any of the offensive problems we've had, if you want to talk about them against Boston and now against the Yankees, it's more than one guy. So I don't think you are just going to focus on Chone and say, what's wrong with him? He hasn't been getting on base, he hasn't been doing this.
I think there's a small part of any player that maybe when they don't achieve they maybe start to press. And I think that once a player gets over that, he gets back into his game and is usually very, very productive. We hope that's the case with Chone. I don't think he's been expanding the zone too much, but at times you're going to get matched up against some pitchers that are really making pitches. He's always a hitter that is going to try to work counts and do what he can to get into good hitting counts, and maybe draw walk or at least let everybody on the team see all the stuff that a pitcher has. Sometimes that leads to a tough count to get back into or a tough count to hit in.
But he's not fazed by it. He knows his game. He's about as good as there is as a lead-off man in our league.

Q. Mike, having so many fresh arms in the middle or late part of the game in a tight spot, would you be more inclined to use a starter out of the bullpen or a regular reliever?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: We have a lot of options now. I don't know if it's more inclined as to if it will be a starter or a reliever. I think if it's coming into clean up an inning, most likely that will be somebody that has a little more comfort zone in that role, be a relief pitcher. Starting a fresh inning, sure, I think you would have to consider some of the great arms that we have that are going to be in our bullpen tonight, to start an inning whenever it would be, depending on how far Joe goes and what relievers we might have to do to clean up an inning if that comes about.

Q. Mike, you've been pretty vocal about your displeasure with how long the postseason drags out now.
MIKE SCIOSCIA: I mean, I think I made one comment on it. But I'm very --

Q. It's one more than anybody else has made.
MIKE SCIOSCIA: I stand by that comment 100%. I think that eight games in 21 days. Obviously some weather is a little involved. I think you lose a lot of the integrity of what the season means when you have three days off at the end of the season to let other teams maybe reset their starting rotation, which is an advantage of clinching early. That's negated when any team can do it just by getting to the playoffs. I'm sorry to cut you off.

Q. That's a great answer. To take it a little further, do you think that baseball is in danger of lessening the impact of the World Series because of this long run-up? Does it also affect the effectiveness of the teams when they get there?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: Do you think I can answer this, Phyllis? (Laughter).
Once this game starts, you know, you get caught up in it as a player or whatever, as a coach, I'm sure it is as a fan, too. And kind of you just get caught up in that moment and you forget about a lot of the stuff that's transpired. But I do think as we've played eight games in 21 days, part of it is obviously not in the control of the scheduling. But some of it could be trimmed up. I think that it's something that eventually is going to have to be addressed. We saw what happened last year in Philadelphia. I think you can't control the weather to a certain extent, but the earlier you can schedule these to get them in, the better chance you have of finishing this in weather that is I think conducive to the outstanding level of play that is going to be on any playoff baseball field.
And I think that it does have an impact. I don't know if it has an impact so much of who wins or loses but it has an impact on the quality of play. And I think that's very, very important to the integrity of our game.
I think it eventually -- I don't know if it will be looked at -- I know it will be looked at and hopefully addressed. It's just something that seems like it's gotten away a little bit. I can't say it any clearer. Eight games in 21 days is something you never expect in a baseball season.

Q. Mike, you've had a lot of time to think about everything with all the delays. What's most pleased you about your team facing the Yankees in this series?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, I think outside of Game 4, where they took it to us and we really didn't give ourselves much of a chance in that game, Game 1 we cracked the door open a little bit. But I think every inning by inning you've seen two teams that are what I consider heavyweight teams in our league. I think we're a terrific ballclub. The Yankees are a terrific ballclub. At times we've gone toe to toe with them and played very, very well. We've had opportunities to have this series in our favor right now. It hasn't panned out.
But I think some of the things that we did during the season have shown up in the playoffs. And you feel good when your team goes out there and, I know it's a cliche, bring your game on the field, but you have to do what you do best on a baseball field. And if you do that often enough, you're going to be at peace with the results.
And that's what we hope to do. We like our chances if we play our game at the level we need to. And I think that's the bottom line.
So some of the things, as far as how we've pitched in this series, how our pitchers have performed has been terrific against what is no doubt the strongest offensive lineup in baseball. And I think even though we've been a little spotty offensively, we've had some clutch hitting start to appear, which was there all season for us. That gives us some confidence moving forward that we can get this thing done. We've seen more things show up on the field that we do well I think in this series as the series has gotten a little deeper.

Q. Would you use Lackey tonight only as a last resort, then in case there's a Game 7 you would have him?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: I don't know if there's such thing as a last resort in an elimination game. You're going to have to use guys as you see fit. Obviously John is a very viable option if we get by Game 6 to be a significant pitcher, whether he starts or whatever, in Game 7. But we're not going to hold him back for any reason other than maybe the matchups aren't quite right for what we're looking at, and maybe we have some good arms that we feel are going to be go in there and do as good a job as John could later in the ballgame, and try to piece it together that way.
We won't rule him out today, no.

Q. When you talk about some of the decisions in the lead-off spot or maybe Mathis, how hard is it for you in an elimination game to weigh a large sample of a season against a guy who is hot right now, making that decision on a small sample basis?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: I think when you see a team every day, as we talk about it, you have to really have -- our whole staff has to have a feel for our team, our guys better than anybody, and know them better. There's as much negative that can happen when you try to rework a lineup as positive things that can happen. At times when you've gone through a rough spell and a guy is comfortable in a spot and knows what his role is, I think more times than not, you're better off playing it out and seeing if a guy can't get into his game and start to contribute. As to putting some guys who maybe the comfort level is not there, and maybe they try to get out of their game and end up having lessened yourself in a couple of spots as opposed to the one guy you're trying to fix.
Believe me, we've turned this thing inside out. There's always little things you're going to tweak. We've tweaked some of the lineup from after Vlad at times just to try to get a little more protection there or somebody swinging the bat a little bit better. But as far as -- I think there's a lot of focus on Chone. As far as what Chone brings, there wasn't anybody on base more than him in baseball this year. Although his production is not what he's given us during the season, things can turn quickly. And I think right now we're better served with leaving Chone in a comfort zone and leading off. And hopefully he'll start to get productive.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Mike.

End of FastScripts

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