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MLB WORLD SERIES: PHILLIES v YANKEESNovember 2, 2009Shane VictorinoPHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: Game Five Q. Now that you guys have had some time to reflect on last night, how disappointing was the outcome? SHANE VICTORINO: I'll let you answer that. Obviously it was definitely disappointing, to come back like we did. But hey, you know what, it is what it is. You know, I'm sure if Brad went out there and did his best, he could. I don't think he wanted to give up those runs and I don't think anybody else wanted him to give up those runs. Obviously it happened, so I tip your hat to Damon who had a great at-bat and obviously the rest of the things fell into place. Q. I'll ask you the same thing I asked Charlie, what makes this team confident that it can win the next three games in a row? SHANE VICTORINO: I don't see why we can't. We haven't done the things we can do offensively and have been doing all year long. I think offensively we need to get going a little bit. We haven't scored as many runs as we'd like to obviously, but I don't see why we can't take three. We've done it before where we've won three games in a row on this stage. You've just got to take one game at a time. That's where we're at right now. We've done that all series, took it one game at a time. Somebody has got to win and somebody has got to lose and you worry about tonight and not 6 or 7. You've got to go out and we've got our ace on the mound, so that's a confidence booster in itself. Again, we've got to go out there and score runs. We struggled with Burnett the first time around. So we've got to go out there and score runs and wish that Cliff does what he does best and that's go out and pitches well. Q. When Charlie says when you're tight he tries to loosen you up, what are those conversations like? SHANE VICTORINO: There is no loosening this team up. We're always loose, we always have fun. When we go out there, we don't play with any kind of desperate measures. We go out there and we just have fun. I think that's why we're able to be so successful and so good. That's what we do is we go out there and have fun. Honestly I don't think any of us are playing tight. It's a matter of things aren't going our way. We hit some balls well in crucial situations right at people. Obviously for myself I hit a line drive before Chase hit the home run. If that ball falls in and Chase hits the home run, it's a tie game. So I think some of those things aren't falling our way right now. Again, we're not making excuses though. Ultimately they're a good team and we're going to go out there and get ready for tonight and not worry about what's happened up to this point or what's going to happen in 6 and 7. We've got to worry about Game 5 before we worry about those. Q. Given the expectations of a closer like Brad Lidge, perfect last year and then going through what he did this year, can you empathize with what he goes through? And does a closer have the toughest job in baseball? SHANE VICTORINO: Um, I think any job is tough in baseball. I'm not going to say his job is tougher than anybody else's. We've still got to go out there and do what we need to do. But he definitely has a different role. And again, I think I go back to what everybody, and I said all year long, Brad put everybody and put himself on such a high standard that as soon as he failed, it was all about what's going to happen now. Brad is the kind of guy, I think from what I know and from being his teammate the last couple years is he's a gamer. He wants that ball. You know, hey, last night, I mean, he battled, he scrapped. Again, I'm not taking credit away from the other team. Obviously it started with Damon's at-bat. He had a great at-bat, and sometimes things become contagious, and obviously for them that's the way things have gone is that they get that one little hit or we'll walk a guy and next thing you know they'll make it a big inning. Again, you've got to tip your hat to them for what they've done up to this point. But you put all that behind you. It's Game 5. We go out there and do what we need to tonight, it should be fun. Q. I'm not sure if you're aware of these comments but earlier today Larry Bowa said he believes one of the reasons the Yankees were having so many mound conferences was because you guys have a reputation around the league for stealing signs. What is your response to those allegations? SHANE VICTORINO: I guess he knows something that I don't know about, obviously. You know, everybody makes excuses. Everybody is going to find a reason. For Bowa to come out and say something like that if he doesn't know what he's talking about, if he doesn't have cold, hard facts he shouldn't say something like that. To me that's -- I don't want to use the word I'm going to use, but it's just not something that should be said. For you to pop off like that, I'm not happy. I hadn't heard the comments. Obviously I'm not happy, because hey, you know what, we play between the lines, and that's what it's about. Don't talk about what has happened or what you know. If you know for a fact that we're stealing signs, then that's a different story. Obviously if we're stealing signs we would be doing better than what we're doing right now. (Laughter). I don't know, for a guy to make a comment like that, that's kind of -- I don't want to use the word, but I'll let you guys put into context how I feel about that. That's just weak, I guess. Q. You mentioned that the offensive production isn't where you want it to be. There have been home runs, but what do you think is missing that's keeping you guys from scoring the way that you had all season? SHANE VICTORINO: I just think the big hit. Obviously last night, for example, people at first and second, Jimmy got a base hit, I walked. I just don't think things have been able -- we haven't had that big hit. I mean, other than Pedro hitting that home run, meaning a big hit, meaning runners on first and second where you get that extra base hit or you get that next knock and kind of things become contagious. Yeah, we relied on the long ball. Other than that, we really haven't put a string of like five, six, seven hits together in an inning and had a big inning. So I think it goes back to that. We haven't been able to do that. Again, you've got to give credit to the team. They've pitched out of it, and we've had a couple guys on the ropes in situations, going back to Pedro the other night where we had based loaded and we just weren't able to string a whole bunch of hits together and separate yourself in the game like that. I'm not saying that it's that easy. We're all going out there and trying our best, and we just haven't had it happen. Q. Obviously you want to win, but if you don't this year, can you talk about what this past year for you personally has been, beginning with winning last year, becoming a hero at home, then you have upon being elected, going to the All-Star Game? SHANE VICTORINO: You're talking about individually? I don't want to talk about individual stats right now, it's about the team. Q. Just for you -- SHANE VICTORINO: I'm not satisfied on my year until we win. I don't know what you're trying to get out of me, but I'm not satisfied yet. I don't care what I've done up to this point. All-Star Game, defending world champ, I want to be a champ in '09. I think we're focused on that right now. I'm not worried about anything else. Q. I was just wondering, I mean, most people think stealing signs is an art, it's part of the game. Why would that, like, offend you that he said that? SHANE VICTORINO: Why would it offend me? Q. A lot of players have -- SHANE VICTORINO: I guess you've got to figure it out. I guess I'm not smart enough to steal signs, so obviously it's not working for me. I guess if it's an art, it's an art, but for a guy to pop off like that and say that's why we're not successful right now, that's what I'm trying to get at. He's saying that's the reason why we're good. Unless he wants to explain to me what he means by that, but from what I got out of the quote, we're not doing well in the World Series because we're not stealing signs. So don't downgrade our team and say that we're not good. That's what I'm trying to get at. If you know that we're stealing signs and that's why we're successful, that's fine. But we're too good a team for you to say that's the reason why we're struggling. That's what I'm trying to get back at the quote. I'm not trying to dog him. I'm trying to say, hey, you're not giving us enough credit as a team. You're trying to say the reason why we're here is because we stole signs. It is definitely an art. If you can get it, why not. But again, that's what I'm trying to get it at, the quote, but the fact of the matter is you're not giving our team credit for being a good team. End of FastScripts |
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