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AL DIVISION SERIES: RANGERS v RAYSOctober 12, 2010Joe MaddonTAMPA, FLORIDA: Game Five Q. Game 5, do you change your rock and roll habits driving in? JOE MADDON: Went right to the Stones, man, real loud, as soon as I walked in today. Felt really good, gets you in the right zone. Actually printed out the lyrics for You Can't Always Get What You Want for John Jaso. We had a discrepancy on one of the verses, and he was right. Mikey might be about 20-some years old, but he's really good at ancient music. He's really good. Q. Can you talk about the decision to put Kelly Shoppach in instead of Jaso? JOE MADDON: Well, it's kind of what we've been doing all year. Plus Shopp and David have been working together and more recently they knew that Shopp was going to catch today. So I didn't want to pull a last-second thing. And furthermore, with Johnny hitting against left-handers hasn't been as good, so I didn't want to just force him into a role that he's not used to today. It was one of those things that I didn't want to just trick anybody at the very end, just leave it as it had been, feel good about it, and of course Mikey is there for later in the game. Q. You said yesterday that you really were paying attention to how the team was reacting and intertwining with each other, the chemistry and all that. How has it been as you've looked in on the clubhouse today? JOE MADDON: Real good. I brought a bunch of tacos in today to just get them together, so they're eating tacos today and having good conversation. They've been good. They've been really good since we got off the deck in Texas. We had the big inning late in that third game, and they've been chirping a lot better. I like their interaction a lot better. We were just too quiet early. I couldn't understand it, why we were so quiet. That's not who we are. So we're a little bit louder now and I like that, so I have a pretty good feeling about us playing a good game tonight. Q. We talked a few days ago about the unlikely case of Jaso starting a playoff game considering when he started the season in Spring Training. It's kind of similar, an unlikely scenario with Johnson starting three playoff games considering where he started the season, where you thought he might be at this point? A. You're actually right, DJ, Danny Johnson, to his credit went back to Durham and had a wonderful year, all components, hitting homers, RBIs, batting average, et cetera, and he's just kept himself ready. Came up and had a huge impact on our September, had some really big hits, including homers. If you break DJ down, he's actually pretty good against left-handed pitching, and being that Cliff Lee trends more to the neutral kind of pitcher where he's not dominant to one side or the other, and the way DJ does swing and just looking at a lot of different pieces of information, I felt good about him playing tonight and keeping Willy on the bench. I know it doesn't -- from Willy's perspective, I know he'd prefer starting but I really like having that switch-hitter on the bench just in case. Now, you prefer not having to use a pinch-hitter late to get back on top, but I like DJ in this moment and we'll see how it works out. Q. Game 5 at home, the excitement, the buzz around town for this one. Just your thoughts on this opportunity, this moment. JOE MADDON: Well, you always look for these moments. I mean, that's why you come to Spring Training, to get into the playoffs, and then all of a sudden you're there at the final elimination game. It's very exciting. I mean, we've been there before. This is our third elimination game in, what, three or four days now. So we've done it this year, we've done it in the past with the Red Sox a couple years ago. I'm really confident that our guys are going to go out there and play a good Rays style game of baseball. I feel good about that. That's all I can ask for. We're facing quite a pitcher from the other side. There's nothing he can do regarding controlling that except having good at-bats. We need to pitch well ourselves. We need to run the bases well. We need to play defense in order to beat them and him tonight. So that's who we are, and I feel good about where our guys are showing up today, and we'll see what happens. Q. You had B.J. batting second the first time around against Lee. Just his success in RBI situations in Texas the reason you wanted to move him? JOE MADDON: Yes, very good. You look at -- I'm always looking for protection, and again, we don't have the static lineup, we don't have the luxury of putting everybody in the same spot every night. I know some people really argue in that regard that they would prefer seeing us do that, but I truly don't believe we would be in this position had we done that based on our personnel. Just looking at each pitcher we're facing, and we have some guys that are very versatile, and B.J. being one of them, liked the idea of getting behind Carlos just tonight against this guy. Now, there's -- different lefties present different challenges. Wilson is entirely different than Lee regarding the kind of challenges that he presents. For right now, it is Lee, and going in -- Zobrist had a nice game against him last time, and I think earlier in August or September he did, too. So I like him up on top trying to set the table. And B.J. has this ability, it just seems, to knock in a big run now and then. So putting him in the thick of things in the middle may permit him to do that. Q. You talk about how you anticipate good Rays baseball tonight. To what do you attribute the way that the guys played in Games 1 and 2 then? JOE MADDON: I honestly don't have a good reason. This is what I thought: I thought when we got into the playoffs, not as the division winner, just getting into the playoffs, I thought we would really relax and just take off in all areas. I thought I was going to see -- we were going to see even better hitting, better starting pitching, defense. I thought everything was going to take off at that moment because everybody would exhale a bit, but it didn't happen. It just did not happen that way. We had to fight through -- we fought through Baltimore, then we had to fight through Kansas City and weren't playing our normal game, although we did fight to get to where we are. The first couple games here, we just didn't have that same life about us, and believe me, it baffled me a bit, too. I don't have any strong reason as to why. Fortunately, though, we have righted ourselves and now we're in this position again. It's just one of those things sometimes that occurs, and I don't even know that you can't answer it. It happened that way. But we've been that group that has maybe had those -- it's not through a lack of effort. It just happens. But we've been able to right ourselves in those moments, and it seems like we have. So just like to guard against that in the future if we are lucky enough to advance, but honestly I don't have a good answer for that. Q. How much freedom does David Price have in calling his own pitches or turning down shop? Has it changed any from his last outing? JOE MADDON: I really believe in a lot of freedom for a pitcher to call his own game. I believe you attempt to provide him with as much pertinent information prior to the game without confusing him. I mean, there's a lot of -- there's some guys that like more info, there's some guys that like less. I've been around some pitchers that have kept notebooks, maybe Schilling or even Timmy Belcher. I was around Belch a lot; Belch was a big note-taker and would really want to break things down that way, and good for Belch and Schilling, and et cetera, they were really good pitchers. There's other guys that I think don't like to do all that. They would prefer more just studying the other side and maybe becoming more of a feel kind of thing, pitching to their strength, et cetera. Part of it is execution. Guys like Schilling and Belcher are really able to execute their thoughts because their command was so good. David is still getting to that point, David being more power-oriented. So I think it's a combination of studying the other guys, but at the end of the day, I would prefer that our guys pitch to their strengths first according to what they feel as opposed to trying to break down the other guy's weakness, especially with a 96 to 98 mile an hour fastball. I'd rather him go with that first and utilize it, because David has got good off-speed stuff but not become over-thoughtful, just go out there and pitch. Q. For all the years you spent in the Minors, how much do you appreciate the balance that you guys have established here the last three years, especially with winning and developing talent and how challenging is it to sustain this for the future? JOE MADDON: Honestly, it's very gratifying to see all that, and believe me, I thought about that before I came here. Having been a Minor League run for so many years and having been a part of some really good stuff that occurred on the Angels in the mid '80s that eventually led to the '90s, which eventually led to the team you see there today, we really turned it over, I thought, with some great players and staff members. So when you see what we're doing today, it's not just about being here in this particular moment, but it's about the entire picture with scouting, developmentally speaking, the kind of organization we have to be, and that's who we are. We have to rely on all these different sources and not just go out and spend an exorbitant amount of money to make up sore misgivings or mistakes. We have to be right as often as possible, which I love. I really love the pure form. I'm a big Branch Rickey disciple. I've read a lot about his stuff, about what he did in the early 1915 and 1916 as he began with the Cardinals and moved onto Dodgers, and eventually the Pirates and how he did things. Really, I mean, we're accused of being a little bit progressive, but at the end of the day we're very basic. We're very basic. We're very much like that in regards to what we want. We want to be that team that is consistent from rookie ball through the Majors Leagues, that if somebody were to get hurt, we could replace him from within the system. And we want to play a particular style or brand of baseball, and that's what we're trying to do. So it's not complicated at all, and although we've been accused of being complicated, I think we're actually very simple. And if you really want to look at the blueprint, look at Mr. Rickey what he did, and more so -- in the more recent times, I've always been an admirer of the Dodgers even though I was anti-Dodger being an Angel, and I've worked with a bunch of Dodgers in Anaheim. But nevertheless they did things right, I thought, for a lot of years. If there's a schematic or blueprint out there, that's that we're looking for, and I think that's what we're on our way to do. Q. Was there a moment this year, last year, when you saw that David Price would develop into your big game pitcher? JOE MADDON: You know, there was a time there where people were really confused. There's always been this talk about leaving David in the bullpen or why would you ever want to start him. But you're seeing why you would want to start him. We're just talking about development. You've got a guy that young with that kind of ability and that kind of makeup, you have to give it time. You have to give it time to take shape and gain form and become what it's supposed to be. It's so easy when young guys are not doing well to really jump off their bandwagon, but when you see the rare combination of ability and makeup that he has, you've got to be patient right there. So there was a time that David did struggle as a starter here last year and really had a hard time commanding the strike zone or did not have the really good breaking pitch. There was a lot of concerns. But if you know him and how he is, and he knew that, also. So he had to work to make that better, and he has. David -- I've talked about this recently, too. He's still not as good as he's going to be. There's definitely room for growth with him, and he's going to keep getting better. I believe that. I mean that and believe that very sincerely. What you're seeing with David is just this wonderful athlete with great makeup more if anything into this wonderful pitcher, but it does take patience and foresight. Q. This team has had a lot of ups and downs and been written off, come back from the dead. Can you talk about the character of this ballclub that got you to Game 5 today? JOE MADDON: Obviously to be down 0-2 and go to Texas with all those white towels and the lint actually falling at home plate while you were taking the lineup card looked like it was snowing at home plate and the way they went about it, the Texas fans and the vibe within the ballpark, I really appreciate our guys a lot. You've got, what, 20-some guys, 25 guys fighting against this crowd of 51,000 plus the other side, and being in such a hole, I loved it, absolutely loved it. Regardless of what happens tonight, it just really speaks so strongly about the character and makeup of our group and speaks to just talking about trying to develop this method of play within Tampa Bay and with the Rays that can perpetuate itself over a period of time through good scouting, player development and acquisition. So all of that was there in those couple games in Texas, and then just have a strong belief that it will continue tonight. Q. You alluded to a change you've seen with your team over the past couple of games. Have you noticed anything from the Rangers, as well, over the past two games? JOE MADDON: Not really, no. Not really. I just thought that we finally got the upper hand. They had the upper hand on us in the first two games. We finally got the upper hand and we were able to get to the better, meatier part of our bullpen, what you always want to do. I thought Matt and Wade pitched really well there, and I just -- no, I think they kind of looked the same. We just did a better job of starting pitching in general and were able to secure a lead. I think that's the biggest difference. That's really simplistic, but you're always looking to get on top in these moments and really try to garner the momentum and keep it on your side as well as you possibly can. I think that's what we did in the first two games and we did in the last two, and that's why it's tied up at 2-2. End of FastScripts |
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