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AL DIVISION SERIES: YANKEES v TWINSOctober 5, 2010Ron GardenhireMINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: Workout Day Q. Just some opening thoughts on how you feel this team is going into the playoffs is different than last year. Initial thoughts. RON GARDENHIRE: We don't really worry about last year. We try to go forward. Each year is different. We have different players. We have a few veterans and still without Morneau. That hasn't changed which is, you know, something we were hoping for. But there's different people here, and we're excited. We're excited to have this opportunity and to be playing at home. Q. Ron, do you feel that this organization over the last few years, with the new stadium, with guys like Jim Thome and Hardy and folks like that, the increased expenditures kind of closed that gap on the Yankees compared to what it was five, six, seven years ago? RON GARDENHIRE: I will let you know in about a week, all right? We will see what happens. You have to go play them. The Yankees are a great baseball team, with a lot of great players. They have been doing it for a long time. And we had our share of playoff runs, too, and we've butted heads with them and they are not the easiest team to play. They create a lot of problems for everybody that faces them. So we will try to match up with them as best we can, and we have a lot of confidence in our own ability as a baseball team. Q. Ron, will you handle Liriano any differently in Game 1 of the playoffs then you would have in a regular-season start in terms of pitch count or being cautious with him? RON GARDENHIRE: We are always going to be cautious with our pitchers but we will let him pitch. Hopefully he will go deep in the game. Being aware of our bullpen, we have a pretty good group out there that can help us out if we need them. Hopefully Liriano will get us deep into the game and get us deep in the game and go from there. We would like to see him pitch deep in the game, no doubt. Sure, there will always be some pitch limit. I won't let him throw 150 pitches I guarantee that, but we will let him pitch. Q. Do you have any update on Rauch or last-minute roster decisions? RON GARDENHIRE: Rauch is fine. Last-minute roster decisions will be made at the last minute. Q. Just how Liriano has progressed this season, he's going into his first post-season start, what have you seen from him develop not only with stuff on the mound, but maybe mental approach to the game, things of that nature. RON GARDENHIRE: He's great stuff and we've all seen it. He has pitched very, very well for us this year. You never know how anybody is going to handle these situations and starts in the postseason, that's why you put them out there and you let them go. That's the fun of it, to see Liriano take the ball in Game 1. He deserves it and he has been throwing great. He has thrown great for us all year. I will give him the ball and let him go at these guys and hopefully he will handle the situation. That's the greatest thing about being in the postseason, you never know what will happen and we all get to wait and see. We are all very excited that he has the ball. He has great stuff. Q. The Yankees are going with Sabathia, Pettitte and Hughes. What is the challenge there for your club against those pitchers? RON GARDENHIRE: Well, we know Sabathia, he is a horse. He will come at you and throw and throw and throw. He is competitive and he has great stuff. He is a number one as they say. You are always going to have to try to find a way to get on him and you hope that you can get him early. Most of the time a guy like that as he gets going in the game he gets better. And so we're going to attack him the way we always do. Make him throw some pitches, hopefully stay on the ball, and see what we can do. You'd like to say you would like to be able to run a little bit, but he is very quick to home. So he creates a lot of challenges. Not only with his stuff, but he holds runners and stuff like that, because he is quick to home. Q. Ron, when you look at this Yankees' team top to bottom, do they look as good as they have been in years past? Better? Not as good? What do you think? RON GARDENHIRE: Well, a lot of numbers there if you want to look at them. You see you start trying to pitch around guys to get to another guy, you can get yourself in a lot of trouble. The more people you put on base with these hitters, the more runs you can give up. So it's going to be entertaining working through their lineup. And hopefully, you know, keep the ball in the ballpark. That's what they do. They can bang it out of the ballpark. A lot of great hitters. A lot of All-Stars. Q. Is the home-field advantage even bigger when you have a really nice home? RON GARDENHIRE: Well, I think so. We like coming here. We like coming to the ballpark. People are concerned with the weather, we don't really worry about that. It is cold everywhere else, too. This time of year you start getting a little chilly, that's okay. But coming here, everything we have here from batting cages to, you know, the whirlpool, weights, everything is here for us. This is a ballpark and our fans love it. And we've enjoyed it, so it makes it a lot nicer coming to the ballpark. And it's ours. It's the Twins' fans ballpark and our ballpark and we don't share it with anybody and that's a good thing. Q. How does this field play as far as a hitters-pitchers park? And did it meet your expectations of what you thought coming into the season? RON GARDENHIRE: Well, the Blue Jays didn't really care, they hit home runs and led the league and kept whacking it. The most part during it played fair. Pull the ball to left field you can put it in the seats; pull the ball to right field you can put it in the seats. You can pitch to the middle of the field, there are some outs out there. It's a big ballpark and the ball held up pretty good. If you pitch to center field most of the time, you can get people out. But I think it is played very fair. And early in the season we were really concerned because we had a lot of balls really hard and they didn't go anywhere. As it went along it carried a little bit better and we figured out all the little things, quirky things about the ballpark and it went from there. It has played very good. Q. Is this your deepest bullpen you have ever had? RON GARDENHIRE: I think probably so, when you pick up a couple of closers there at the end to really help us out along with Rauchy and Jesse Crain is throwing well. If we can get Jose Mijares going that is good along with Guerrier. We have depth and it is probably as good as we had in a long time and we had some pretty good ones. Q. Ron, how is Mauer's knee and does he get excited before playoff games, playoff series? If so, how can you tell with him? RON GARDENHIRE: (Laughing) He doesn't exactly show his emotions as much as most guys. If you see him before the game he is pretty fired up. And he is a little more emotional than he will let on to you guys. His knee is fine. It is what it is. It's going to be a little sore here and there, but he's going to go and play. And this is the time of year where guys step up and he knows it and he will go play. He has had time off to help him, and his body feels as good as he can feel this time of year for a catcher, and I guarantee he will be ready to go. Q. How much has Cuddyer's athleticism, his ability to move positions, obviously first base when you need him, how much has that factored in at how good this team is able to play and how seamlessly you have been able to overcome injuries like Morneau? RON GARDENHIRE: Cuddy, people don't talk about him enough. He is a special player. He is one of these guys that will do anything and play anywhere as long as he gets the opportunity to get out on the field to help the team win, and it's a big thing in this day and age. Guys want to be set at one position and stay there and establish themselves. And Cuddy wants to win ballgames. And I put him at third base, I put him at short, I put him at second, and now at first. And it was almost basically an All-Star right fielder with great numbers. So you know what? People like that don't come along very often. We're very fortunate to have him on our ballclub, and he has really stepped up when Morneau went down and taken over first base and done a heck of a job. Q. Do you get the sense that people still view Minnesota versus New York as a David versus Goliath-type thing? If so, is that no longer fair or applicable do you think? RON GARDENHIRE: I don't worry about it, to tell you the truth. I don't pay attention to it. It is what it is. You are dealing with a good Yankee baseball team that's been there for a lot of years, and we're a good baseball team. Yes, we've had our issues with them. We haven't beaten them. All of those things are out there, it's easy to see if you look at the records. But we had so many changes. It is about making a play against them, making a pitch against them. They get it done, they find a way and that's what we have to do. We have to find a way. We are doing pretty good at it this year and expect it to do it this year. Q. Have you decided go with a three- or four-man rotation? And at what point did you make that rotation? RON GARDENHIRE: We will have four, Blacky is going to go the fourth game, and I think we said that a few times. But yeah, Blacky is going to go four. Q. Ron, could you talk a little bit about the determination of this group, going all the way back to Florida. That they knew that this was a division that they wanted. They talked openly about World Series, something that they haven't maybe talked so openly about in the past, wanting to get there wanting to win one? RON GARDENHIRE: Well, we've been knocked out a few times. After you get knocked out of the playoffs a few times, you say enough of this stuff and let's see what we can do. And we went out and signed a few players, a few veterans to help us out. And Thome has been a big addition. He has come up with Morneau going down, which we didn't have last year. So we added some offense. And this club's been there. We've been through this battle before, and I think that's everybody's goal, is to win your last game of the year. And that hadn't changed. It hadn't changed from the first time I became manager in 2002, the goal was to get to the World Series and it hasn't changed any of these years. We just haven't got there yet and we are hoping this is the year. And guys are talking openly about it because we believe that every year that you have to have that goal. That's what it should be, win your division, get to the World Series. Q. Ron, sorry if I missed this, but is your roster set? If not, when do you have to set it and when are the last decisions? RON GARDENHIRE: It is like an hour before the game. We are basically going with 14 players and 11 pitchers. And we have one more pitching move, and I was looking for one of the pitchers to let them know in the clubhouse and couldn't find him. So before this meeting, we will make that move and let them know. And we will let you know tomorrow an hour before the game, maybe five minutes before the game. There you go, give me a call. I'll call you. Give me your cell number. Q. Gardy, how does opening here in Minnesota affect the series opposed to being back in New York to open the series? RON GARDENHIRE: Well, we're home. We like to be home and it's a good thing. And I don't think anybody can tell you how it affects, other than we are very comfortable at this ballpark. We feel good playing in front of our fans with our support. And that should be a little bit of a boost for us. But it's still going to matter who gets it done on the field and that's what we're hoping to do. We played very well here at home, hopefully it will carry into the playoffs and our guys are excited about being home. We traveled enough, let's play at home and see what happens. THE MODERATOR: We'll let Francisco take a few. Thank you. RON GARDENHIRE: Perfect, thank you. End of FastScripts |
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