	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

NL DIVISION SERIES: BRAVES v GIANTS

October 8, 2010

Bobby Cox

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: Game Two

KATY FEENEY: Questions for Bobby Cox.

Q. Bobby, there's been a lot of talk, maybe too much talk, about the generalities of replay. But I wanted you to talk specifically about when you have a play like you did last night. Are those the kinds of plays you would like to have reviewed?
BOBBY COX: I'm not sure I could have thrown a flag. If we have a flag from the dugout, we could not tell from the dugout. Any of the players could not tell if he was safe or out. And we didn't have any emotion from our infielders that, Hey, the guy was out! So, you know, if they have instant replay where you get a challenge or whatever you want to call it, I'm not sure I would have done it, unless somebody is running down from upstairs that had seen it on TV.

Q. If you could see that play, to challenge it, is that the kind of play that should be reviewed, though?
BOBBY COX: You know, I'm talking to more and more people that say we should have some type of review on plays. I'm not so sure it's a good idea, to be honest with you. I know it cost us last night, but -- and I would have to see the system.

Q. Bobby, Martin Prado has such a great season for you guys and he has good numbers against the Giants. How much you miss him in these playoffs, especially facing the Giants --
BOBBY COX: He's probably our M.V.P., and, you know, you miss a guy that's that good defensively and offensively and one of the team leaders. He couldn't come on this trip. He had to be -- he was with doctors the last couple of days. I wanted him on this trip badly, but I couldn't convince the doctors he should travel.

Q. Omar Infante has had a productive year. How valuable has he been to you guys?
BOBBY COX: He's had a great year, and he's one of the most valuable players in the league for me. He can play any position. And I know he missed a ball last night and all, but he's made great plays at third base and at second. He's really good.

Q. Are you concerned at all about Conrad's confidence defensively?
BOBBY COX: We're doing the best we can in trying to build him up and keep him moving. We wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for Brooksy getting clutch hits late in games. He's won us a ton of games and you stay with him.

Q. Is that one of the reasons that you talk about it would have been nice to have Prado here?
BOBBY COX: Yeah, he could help with that, probably. But Brooksy has always been a good defensive player. It's just recently that he threw a couple of balls away, important balls. We were going down the stretch and they get magnified, of course, and they're bigger than they should be, but it happened.
He was playing great defense, especially at third.

Q. Bobby, some of your players last night spoke about Lincecum adding a slider which made him more difficult. Did you see something different in him than you had in the past?
BOBBY COX: I don't know. To me, he looked the same, dominating, strikeout guy and could throw his off-speed stuff anytime he wanted.

Q. Bobby, with Hinske have you found, over the course of the season, that he's more valuable coming off the bench than when he got a chance to play --
BOBBY COX: Well, when he got a chance to play, he did pretty darn good.

Q. Like right now --
BOBBY COX: We haven't forgot him.

Q. You expressed your reservations about instant replay. What is it that concerns you about it?
BOBBY COX: I don't know. Umpires, for the most part, do a great job. Okay? Number 1.
Some of the replays that I've seen, I can't really tell if the guy was safe or out, so then the standing call would stand, the first call, of course.
Baseball is like -- it's unlike any other sport. Everything is bang-bang! It's a game of inches. Whoever said that 150 years ago was so right, and, you know, you can't see everything.

Q. Bobby, given the struggles of what remains in your lineup --
BOBBY COX: What?

Q. Of what remains in your lineup, the struggles.
BOBBY COX: What remains?
KATY FEENEY: With all the disabled list guys I think he means.
BOBBY COX: I don't know --

Q. I'll start over. Given the offensive struggles that your team has had, how much extra pressure is there on your starting pitchers basically to be perfect when they go out there?
BOBBY COX: They may feel it. I mean, almost -- right now, you can't make many mistakes. Sunday we banged out 13 hits and 8 runs out of nowhere. We could do it again with the same guys. But we've got some guys not swinging really, really good right now.

Q. Could you talk about Hudson and his recovery and what he means to you guys now?
BOBBY COX: Huddy has had a great year, and I think he would have been in the running for the CY. He had three or four games there where lately -- he gave up some runs. He pitched pretty good, but he gave up runs. He's come a long ways. He pitched last August, which helped him for this season, to get through it.
He's pitched like the old Tim Hudson, I think.

Q. Secondly, on the umps again, do you notice any additional tension between players and umps this year that would cause the two unions to be meeting in December to try and iron things out?
BOBBY COX: No, I have not. I haven't seen any of that, to be honest with you. No. I didn't know they were meeting. Well, there was some incidence I saw on TV, yeah, you're right, yeah.

Q. Next year at this time you won't be doing what you're doing now. What are you going to miss the most about this?
BOBBY COX: I'll miss everything. You guys, you're part of baseball. I enjoy talking to writers before games and things like that. Sometimes not a lot after games, but before a lot (smiling). And I'll miss everything. I've lived with it for 51 years, so it's hard to give up.

Q. Last night, could you have imagined in such a crucial situation going with so many rookies and them responding the way they did last night?
BOBBY COX: You have to have confidence in them, and that's the name of the game. I've got patience and I've got confidence, both. So they did a whale of a job, so -- ever since they've been up, they've done a great job, and we've been in a pressure cooker just about all season. It's not easy to come up and perform to their capabilities all the time, but these guys basically have.

Q. On your closer, the one thing that sticks out in my mind is that you got a lot of mileage out of Pena and other guys, but I don't think you had a guy like Wagner, what Wagner has done for you this year?
BOBBY COX: Billy, I think, has had one of the best years he's ever had as a closer. His innings pitched, hits given up, strikeouts, base on balls are all off the chart for me, and his arm has not been an issue all year long. He could easily come back next year, and I'm sure our front office is going to convince him to come back. But I think Billy has made up his mind, but he's had a terrific year.

Q. Where did you list him with the closers?
BOBBY COX: One of our best relievers was a guy that threw only a fastball, and he threw it 91 miles an hour, Alejandro Pena. He was kind of like Saito, kind of like Eckersley, he threw the ball 2 and a half to three inches off the plate on every pitch. And Pena was that way. But I would say Billy is one of the top guys we've ever had.
And the umpires would call it a strike every time (laughter)!

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297