	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

MLB WORLD SERIES: PHILLIES v YANKEES

November 4, 2009

Charlie Manuel

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Game Six

Philadelphia Phillies 3
New York Yankees 7

Q. When you replay this series through your head and think about how things might have gone different, what is going to bother you most or play at the forefront of your mind?
CHARLIE MANUEL: I think what happened in the series, I think that we went through the playoffs, we played real good, and all of a sudden when we got to the Series, I give credit to some of the Yankees' pitching, but it seemed like our offense, when we had to really get down and get the big hits or we had to do things to kind of take them out of the game, it seemed like we couldn't do it. We kind of sputtered a little bit.
But at the same time, their left-handed pitchers, I felt like did a good job on our left-handed hitting and stopped them, and that is a big part of our offense. But at the same time, I felt like they have a real good team, but they definitely deserved to win. They did things right when they had to. We just didn't play as good as we can, but at the same time, we also played a real good team who did a good job, and they've had a great season.
Like I was telling our guys in there, that just makes us more determined to come back again next year. We've got a good team, and we love to play baseball. I'll tell you, the time I've had there especially about the last three years, it's been really enjoyable to coach and manage our team because of who we've got on our club. I'll tell you something, we will be back. As Mac Arthur said, I guess, we will be back.

Q. I know it was real, real early, but Pedro was struggling. Did you consider bringing Happ in in the third to face Matsui?
CHARLIE MANUEL: When he got there, Pedro, he knows how to pitch. He's got experience, he knows how to pitch and everything, and you know, I had to let him face that guy. Also when we were down, if Matsui got a hit, of course, but we can go down 4-1 and we can definitely rebound there. But I had to let him -- it wasn't time for me to take him out.

Q. I know Pedro wasn't feeling too well before the Game 2 start. Did he have any effects left over from that tonight?
CHARLIE MANUEL: He didn't say anything about that. The thing I saw with Pedro is he did not have a good fastball. His fastball wasn't as good as it has been the last two times out if you remember, and basically I think he touched 87, 88 tonight on the guns or something like that, and every now and then he hit 92 and he was hanging around 90, 91. 84, 85 fastballs, he's better than that. He did not have a good fastball.

Q. When you look at Hideki Matsui as MVP, he had a fabulous game. Did you try to make any adjustments in pitching to him or did he just rise above everything tonight?
CHARLIE MANUEL: I want to tell you something, Matsui, not only did he hit fastballs mostly, but he was on everything we threw up. He hit a slider off Happ. Basically the two hits he got off Pedro were fastballs. He hit one fastball with the bases loaded that looked like it was a fastball away, and he had a good swing at the other one. Pedro was trying to come inside, the ball came back over the plate. Off Happ he hit a slider. He hit everything we threw up there. He had a big night. But not only that, he's a good hitter.

Q. What did you say to your team after the game about the season, about the two-year span that you just had?
CHARLIE MANUEL: I told them that I loved the way they played, and we definitely were fighters and we never quit and that we -- and the fact that we want to keep what we've got as far as attitude and chemistry and the fact that -- our philosophy on how to play, and the fact that we are -- we have a lot of resistance or endurance or whatever you want to call it. We love to play baseball. Those are definitely the things that helped get us where we're at today, and those are the things that are going to keep us where we're at is our desire and our love to play baseball and always working on trying to play it right.
Like I said before, when I was telling our guys in there, when you play in the World Series, somebody is going home. I don't know if I like it or not, but because all of a sudden you play four out of seven and then you lose and someone tells you go home, the season is over, it seems like it's over real quick. We got behind, couldn't catch up, but believe me, what I was telling them was I'm very proud of them and I'm proud to be their manager and I'm proud to have the guys on our team with the makeup and the fight that they have, determination. And that we'd be back.
I told them go home and have a great winter and enjoy their holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I'll see them in Spring Training with the idea -- our goal is to come back and play again, and hopefully we play the Yankees again.

Q. This is a real good team, and this group has stayed together for a while now. You've got Utley and Howard and Rollins all going into their 30s now. If you are going to get back, you can't waste a whole lot of time with this group as far as their legacy, their history for baseball to judge them as being a truly great team. Is that accurate?
CHARLIE MANUEL: I think you're right on. I think we're in a span right here where within the next couple years that's going to be a very big important for us. I think it's going to be our heydays, as you might say. It's very important for the next couple years that we stay afloat, but at the same time, I think we have the talent and I think that we can tinker with our team enough to even get better.
I know we can do better because as I sit here tonight, I know Hamels is going to be better and I know Lidge is going to be better. I can tell you guys that. I know that. So therefore that's going to make us better.
But now we can improve, we can improve on our hitting, and we will. We're going to be a better team next year. That's our goal.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297