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AL DIVISION SERIES: RANGERS v RAYSSeptember 29, 2011Ron WashingtonARLINGTON, TEXAS: Workout Day THE MODERATOR: Okay, questions for Ron Washington. Q. You pretty much agree with what C.J. just said? RON WASHINGTON: Everything he said I agree with. Q. A lot of guys talked about just watching the games, not your games so much but the others unfold. What was that like for you last night? RON WASHINGTON: Well, I didn't watch very many of them other than when I got home and tried to go to bed. But it had to be -- had to be tough on Gonzalez in Atlanta and Terry Francona to perform the way they performed all year and to have it go like that. It had to be tough. The main thing I said to myself is I am glad I wasn't in that situation. Q. Where do you stand on Game 3 and Game 4 starters? RON WASHINGTON: I haven't made a decision yet. We know C.J. is going tomorrow and Holland is going Saturday. Q. What is Ogando's status for the playoffs? RON WASHINGTON: He is in the bullpen. Q. What was your reasoning behind -- RON WASHINGTON: We only can use four guys, and he's been a stalwart in our bullpen before. We still consider him a starter, of course. So him making that transition is good for us and it give us another power arm down there. Q. Can you talk about C.J.'s readiness to be the lead horse in this, if you will, and also your reasoning behind and your confidence in Derek Holland. RON WASHINGTON: Going down the stretch, C.J. has been our lead horse from the beginning. And he hasn't disappointed. And I don't expect him to disappoint tomorrow. I just expect him to do as always I ask my pitchers to do, keep us in the ballgame. And believe he will do that. And in Derek Holland's case he was one of our hottest pitchers going down the stretch, so we're going to ride the hot hand right there. Q. Wash, what about Tampa Bay concerns you the most? Is it the pitching or the speed or how disruptive they are? RON WASHINGTON: Their versatility. Joe always finds the way to get the most out of everything he has. The whole team concerns me. They can pitch, they can run, they can execute, they play nine innings. They do everything you want to see a ballclub do. And that's why they're here. Q. Ron, can you talk about this last year from J.D. to Ryan. It is very, very tough to get back into this same seat again. We saw that the Giants didn't make it back, but how did you preserve and keep it going with the Angels in your rearview mirror? RON WASHINGTON: The guys in the clubhouse, their commitment. Once we lost last year to the San Francisco Giants, we promised each other we would come into Spring Training and get committed. And they were committed the whole year. A lot of credit goes to the organization. A lot of credit goes to the coaching staff. A lot of credit goes to the players. We just stayed focused on what we had to do each and every day. We never let adversity affect what we had to do the next day. We learned from adversity and we kept moving on. And that's why we find ourselves here. That's not a formula, that's just a fact. The players got it done. Q. Wash, we know what the Rays had to do just to get into the playoffs and to get home field you had to win 14 of the last 16. Talk about playing a series, a rematch of last year when the home team didn't even win a game in the series and maybe the difference this year. RON WASHINGTON: The only thing I can say is that there is exciting baseball ahead. We more or less played the same type of game. We are very aggressive. We pitch, we do whatever the game asks us to do. I know personally I certainly rely on my players to execute whatever I ask them to do. And for the Tampa Bay Rays, to be back here, they had to do the same thing. Like I said, there will be some exciting days of baseball ahead. We are looking forward to it. Q. How important is momentum? You guys had a great September. What does that mean leading into the postseason? What did you see from your team in that final month that can be a harbinger of maybe things to come? RON WASHINGTON: You want to play baseball well at that time of year, and we did. And the only reason we were able to do that is we never looked behind us. We continued to grind. When you grind and you continue to do the things that the game ask you to do, a lot of good things begin to happen. And a lot of good things happened to us down the stretch. And we feel good about going into tomorrow. But there is no predicting in baseball. You have to play it between the lines. And I can say this: We are ready to go play between the lines. We have to just see what happens. Q. Wash, do you see any of yourself in Joe Maddon and the way he runs a game and handles a team? When you go against his team, what do you keep in mind when you are in the dugout? RON WASHINGTON: That you have to be aware of everything. You never know what may happen, what he may try to do. And I think you have to do the same thing with us. So we'll be aware of what everything that they does and just try not to hold our heads down and get caught, just try to play as clean and crisp a game of baseball as we possibly can. And if we do that, I like our chances. Q. Ron, with the way that Napoli has been sitting, will that mean less playing time for Torrealba? How will you handle that? RON WASHINGTON: I will keep the hot bat in the line-up. That's how I am going to handle that. Torre (Torrealba) will get some time, but right now it is about putting the best team on the field. If Napoli gives me that, Napoli will be out there. Torre played as great a part of being here as anyone on that team, so there isn't anyone getting shunned right here. We are about winning ballgames with the best nine we can put out there. Q. Ron, how does a year of playoff experience under your belt help you as a manager going into this series? RON WASHINGTON: Well, this is my second year as a manager, but I have been in the playoffs five years before I got here. So I know the game is played between the lines, and that's where your focus is. And that's where I try to keep my guys' focus, between the lines. Try to keep their routines the same. And the bottom line, you are just going out there and doing what you have been doing all year and been doing since you are a kid, playing baseball. The game ask you to do something, you do it. And if you do that, usually the baseball gods reward you. That's where I am and that's where my players are. Q. Ron, have you made a decision on the bullpen and who's going to be in it and how much pitchers you're going to carry? RON WASHINGTON: Well, we're going to carry seven pitchers. I made a decision on that. We talked to a few guys and they know where they stand. But until we put the roster out tomorrow, I am not mentioning anything. Q. Ron, you mentioned C.J. has been your lead horse all year long. How much different or how is he better than he was when he came to the podium here last year before last year's playoffs? RON WASHINGTON: I don't think C.J. changed his way of doing things. He never lacked confidence. He's always believed in himself. He's always believed in his teammates. And failure is not something that he expects. And so what you saw up here is the same thing I saw in C.J. last year. Except for last year he was our second dog instead of the number one dog. But today he's our guy that we are depending on to get us on the right footing to get started. And we believe in him and we think it's going to happen. Q. So you're going with the third catcher? RON WASHINGTON: Yes, we decided to go with the third catcher. It gives us versatility with both Torrealba and Napoli, with Napoli being versatile against left-handers, so we decided to go with the third catcher. Q. Did you say Torrealba behind the plate and Napoli -- RON WASHINGTON: DH'ing or first base. No doubt about it. Q. Against left-handed? RON WASHINGTON: Against left-handed pitching. Q. And against right-handers, Moreland at first base? RON WASHINGTON: Maybe, maybe not. It depends on what comes out of my pen that day. Q. Is your pen going to have a press conference? RON WASHINGTON: Nope, it's not. But it certainly writes on those cards. Q. Wash, you rarely had a five-man bench in your managerial career. What does having a five-man bench allow you to do? RON WASHINGTON: Like I said, allow me to have more versatility with my catchers. Both of them have been very productive for us this year, and I want both of them to stay engaged. And that's what it gives me. It gives me versatility. Especially with Napoli being able to go in the DH spot and play some first base. May want to DH Torre and catch Napoli, and I still have a catcher if something happens. I may have to pinch-run for them and I still have a catcher. Right now it works for us. THE MODERATOR: Okay, thank you, Ron. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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