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MLB WORLD SERIES: RANGERS v GIANTS

November 1, 2010

Bruce Bochy

ARLINGTON, TEXAS: Game Five

Q. What did Uribe say to Bumgarner after that opening walk last night?
BRUCE BOCHY: Oh, I couldn't tell you. I don't know if Madison could tell you (laughter) to be honest. When Juan goes up and says something -- but I can't answer that.

Q. A career baseball guy gets to this threshold, are you feeling butterflies? What are your emotions right now, one game from winning it all?
BRUCE BOCHY: Well, I think all of them are feeling a little something, whether it's butterflies. But you have to remind yourself just because you're on the verge of something, that you haven't done anything, and we have some work ahead of us. We're facing an outstanding pitcher and team, and we have our work cut out. But there's no question, I think there's thoughts that go through your head. But you have to realize you've got to go out there, play the same game, play the same way and go out there and just give it your all, and hopefully you win the ballgame.

Q. You said the other day you were aware of Burrell's issues with the DH in Tampa Bay. What went into your decision tonight to DH him?
BRUCE BOCHY: Well, probably more than anything it probably tightens up our outfield defense with Rowand out there and Torres going to right field, Ross in left, and with Pat being the DH, he does have experience. He worked on some things yesterday. We saw a couple little things hopefully that will help him. But it keeps our best defensive team out there with him DHing.

Q. Did you discuss with him his comfort level DHing?
BRUCE BOCHY: Not so much his comfort level, I just said, "You're going to DH. You've done it." And he's excited.

Q. Just following up on that, I mean, how do you think that the day off for Burrell will suit him today? And also putting Cody Ross in at cleanup and the reasoning behind that.
BRUCE BOCHY: Yeah, sometimes it's good to back off a little bit, just take a break when you have some rough games. Torres, we did the same thing with him. He came back and now he's seeing the ball better. That's what you're hoping with Pat.
As far as Cody going to the cleanup role there, basically I just dropped those guys down that I think are seeing the ball a little bit better. He goes behind Posey and Juan is hitting fifth, and Huff we've been hitting sixth against lefties. That's all that is, I just dropped him up a notch.

Q. There was the kid who shaved his head to look like Ron Washington in his costume. I was just wondering, what would a little kid have to do to make himself look like you and go as a little Bochy?
BRUCE BOCHY: Well, he'd have to blow his head up somehow. I don't know how he would do it. Put a lot of air in it, and he would get close.
I don't think you're going to find too many kids that could do that with me. But actually he did look like Ron. I told him it was a little scary. (Laughter).

Q. In the NLCS Lincecum had a chance to clinch in San Francisco and it didn't work out. Do you want that in his mind, be bugged by that and feel like he wants to do it in the second chance and this time to clinch the World Series?
BRUCE BOCHY: Yeah, I just want Timmy to go out there and be himself, go out there, compete as well as he can and try to win the ballgame. Don't think about what's happened in the past. He's got to keep his focus out there on tonight's game. Last game was a little bit different than we thought with he and Lee. I expect it to be different tonight, to be honest, than what it was last time they met up. You've got two great pitchers going at it, and with Timmy, hopefully he's not thinking about his last start or the start before, whatever. It's tonight that's got to be his focus, and just be yourself. That's all we want him to be.

Q. Obviously Barry Zito hasn't contributed on the field this post-season, but can you speak to the impact he's had on this young staff just by being around them?
BRUCE BOCHY: Yeah, and I'll say this about Barry, he's been great through all this. It's not easy not to have Barry on the playoff roster because he certainly played a major role in us getting to the post-season. But he's continued to work hard. He's faced hitters. He's still playing long toss and throwing his bullpen, staying ready.
But I think with his experience he has influenced our younger pitchers really with his work ethic and how he goes about his business. I mean, this guy has never missed a start until that one time I took him out, and it wasn't because he was hurting or something physical. But he stays ready, and so I think he has influenced the younger pitchers.

Q. You said thoughts go through your head, I know it's not the end of the season, but it could be very quickly. Have you thought about this group of guys breaking up? It's a tight clubhouse, a lot of personalities, and it's pretty unlikely that this personality group will be back together in a large percentage.
BRUCE BOCHY: Yeah, to be honest, no, I have not put any thought into that. I have enough to think about. I'll let my general manager do all the thinking there.
But it's a great group of guys. I love these guys, how they come out and play hard and play together and how they've coalesced into a group that has one thing in mind, and that's to win a ballgame and hopefully the World Series.

Q. Do you feel like it's an advantage having gotten to Cliff Lee in the first game, or does it more work against you?
BRUCE BOCHY: I don't know if it's an advantage. I mean, we've seen him just like they've seen our guy. But hopefully it does give them some confidence. As good as he is, you go up there and compete -- and I said this when we were facing him the first time, when you face a really good pitcher, hopefully you look forward to that challenge. And I thought those guys did. Maybe he wasn't quite as sharp as he's been, but I thought they threw out some good at-bats, and that can give the hitters confidence that they can hit him.

Q. You're a career baseball guy, have you ever been part of a team as a player, coach, manager, that you thought had a good chance to win the World Series before this? And do you remember how that felt? And also, what's it like the first World Series you remember?
BRUCE BOCHY: Well, I'll go back to '98 when I was fortunate to get to the World Series. Yeah, I thought that team was the best team in the National League, our division. We had a lot of talent. We had good pitching. We acquired Kevin Brown, who was our ace, and that changed that club. But we had talent throughout the order. We had some nice players, Finley, Caminiti, Tony Gwynn, Greg Vaughn, all those guys, Veras leading off.
But I think part of what has to happen is you've got to believe with your team when you start out that you can do this. It's not what other people think, it's what you think. I've had other teams, too, that I thought could get there. We didn't quite make it, but I certainly felt like that with this team, with this staff this spring, that if we played the type of ball that we're capable of playing that we could get to post-season.
What's the other one?

Q. Just talk about as a kid what's the first World Series you remember.
BRUCE BOCHY: I'd say I'd have to probably go back -- I was a Cincinnati fan, watching the Reds. They were always on the radio. My dad was a Reds fan, so I really enjoyed watching the Big Red Machine and watched them in the series.

Q. One of the elements that you always seem to look for from your team is swagger. Do you have swagger as a manager? And is that something that can be useful in your job?
BRUCE BOCHY: Well, I want my guys to go out there and be confident and feel like they're going to get it done. They're going to win that game or get a base hit. Do I have it? Yeah, in the respect that I believe in these guys that when they hit the field that we expect to win. We're not trying to just compete, but we expect to win when we take the field, just like I do when the game starts.
In my mind, I expect to win, and if that's swagger, then I guess I have it a little bit.

End of FastScripts

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