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AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: ANGELS v YANKEES

October 25, 2009

Mike Scioscia

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Game Six

ANGELS -2
YANKEES - 5

THE MODERATOR: Go ahead, Mike.
MIKE SCIOSCIA: First of all I want to congratulate the Yankees and the whole organization, Joe Girardi. They played an incredible series. They outplayed us and they deserved to win. Naturally, they'll represent our League in the World Series and we wish them well.
This is tough for our team. It's tough for our guys to get this far and not quite get to your final goal, making it to the World Series. But I don't think any of us have ever been prouder than a group of guys that we had in that room all season for the Angels in this clubhouse. And the character they showed the whole season is something that we certainly will remember and move forward with.
So although this stings right now, what our guys in that room accomplished is very, very important. And we just are going to take that forward and hopefully get better.

Q. Mike, as far as how your team played in these six games, were they not the team that you saw through the first 162?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: At times they were. At times we played good baseball. At times we shot ourselves in the foot. The Yankees are a team that you can't give extra outs to. We did it in a couple of games. And obviously it cost us.
You know, I think the bottom line is they played better baseball and they beat us. And they deserve to win.

Q. Just to expand on the point you were making, is it a bitter defeat? There is something you can build on over the long haul, isn't there?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: Right now it's tough to get a silver lining when you're knocked out. It was a series that we had high expectations for, and we didn't get it done. But I think as we reflect on this, after a couple of days, just look at all the great things that happened on the field for us, the trials and tribulations that the guys in that clubhouse went through all year is something that you hope you never have to go through in your lifetime again.
It was a special group in there to keep going. Special group in there to keep bringing Nick's memory forward every day. Every day we came to the park and he's still with us. And I'm sure we'll have a little peace in that as we move forward. Right now this loss, obviously, hurts.

Q. As far as Joe's pitching today, you know, was it a command issue? Was it gripping the ball? What exactly was going on with him?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, I thought Joe, he battled. Yeah, there were a lot of counts that he didn't quite get in his favor, but he made some pitches to get out of some innings early. And just had trouble getting, you know, I think it was the fourth inning.
You know, Joe battled. He had a terrific season for us. He gave it everything he had out there on the mound tonight. And unfortunately, we couldn't piece it together to get a win.

Q. The decision to pinch-hit for Mathis, what went into that?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: A couple of things: Obviously you saw Mariano come in and pitch two innings. We knew they were going to shorten the game. With a runner on first base, we really wanted to get a left-handed presence up there to see if they could roll that hole and maybe have the chance to get something going there. And I just think that Izzy against Chamberlain was a good combination for us. Hit the ball sharply and he got the bounce off of Jeter for the force out.
But Jeff had a terrific run for us and was swinging the bat very well. In that situation with the hole there, I felt much better getting a left-handed hitter up there to take advantage of that.

Q. Obviously hindsight is 20-20, looking back on the six games, is there anything you think maybe you might have done differently that might have helped you produce a better result here?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: You know, we'll unravel this after a couple of days. You know, you're always thinking about things here and there that maybe you should have moved in a different direction, give your chance a better team to win. We'll digest this and we'll get better from it.
THE MODERATOR: I want to thank you for everything.

End of FastScripts

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