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AL DIVISION SERIES: TIGERS v YANKEES

October 5, 2011

Jim Leyland

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Workout Day

Q. Jim, one thing that's kind of stood out from your regular season was the ability of your players to kind of focus just on the next game and not look too far ahead or dwell too far behind. Do you think that outlook carries over into a winner-take-all scenario like this?
JIM LEYLAND: We got one game or several games left. It's that simple. Actually, I don't know what happened from 12:30, 1:00 last night till now. We had a nice plane ride. I don't know what I'm doing here, because nothing really happened (laughter). I appreciate everybody that showed up. We went on Delta, we had coffee and we had donuts and everything on the plane. It was wonderful. I appreciate all of you coming out.
We'll respond. Like we always do. We got a big game with the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. It's a great scenario. It's great for baseball. It turned out to be a five-game series. I wish I could tell you what's going to happen, but I don't know. But we feel good. I'm sure they feel good. We have hopefully nine innings to play and we'll see what happens.

Q. Jim, what do you expect from Fister tomorrow, learning from the first outing he had here?
JIM LEYLAND: Fister is a really good pitcher. I have no idea what's going to happen. Nova is a good pitcher. He beat us in the first game here. Actually, the start of the first game here, when we picked it up. Both of them are very good pitchers. It's one game. I don't know what's going to happen. Somebody can get a good bounce or a bad bounce. Somebody can hit a dramatic home run. Somebody can make an error.
I can't predict that.

Q. Jim, Cabrera after you guys lost to Nova said that you guys might have helped him out a little bit with swinging at certain pitches. Do you guys have to be a little more patient when you face him the second time?
JIM LEYLAND: Yes, I think that's a great point. I think anytime you see a pitcher for the first time you're really not sure. I think we really got out of the strike zone a little more in this series than I had hoped we would. Hopefully now that we've seen him we'll have a little better idea the second time around. I think that usually holds true. So we'll see how that plays out.
But he's good. And our guy's good. It should be a good game. Last night's game was sloppy at the end. It's been a very good series. It's tied up 2-2. It's great for everybody. It's great for the TV. It's great for the nation to see it. Perfect.

Q. Jim, Brett Gardner has had a few big hits in this series, five RBIs. Has it been a surprise how productive he's been in the bottom of the lineup?
JIM LEYLAND: No, in fact, I talked about that with my pitching coach this morning before we left. He's done a great job. He's been real pesky. I think sometimes you get through that big part of the order and all those big guys, and maybe you lose your concentration a little bit. He's a bear-down guy. He's a real hard-nosed player and everything. A real determined guy. We're going to have to do a better job. Martin got a couple of big hits for them last night to get things going.
That's what I talked about. Their lineup is so stretched out, it's so good. There's no breathers. Once in a while in a lineup you find a breather here and there. With this lineup there's no breathers.
The other thing is Gardner is real dangerous because he can generate a run with his legs. He can steal a base, go first to third, score from first on a gapper for sure. He's a good player. We have to do a little better job with him.

Q. Considering the pressures that come with Game 5, are you more willing to go with a veteran like Brandon Inge at third base, even if the match-up doesn't play in his favor?
JIM LEYLAND: I'm playing Don Kelly at third base tomorrow, and Magglio OrdoÃ±ez in right field.

Q. One other question about Magglio: It's obviously been a rough year for him. What do you think about the way he bounced back? And obviously he didn't have a role in your team for a little while there.
JIM LEYLAND: I think he's done a good job. I think he got freshened up a little bit. I think the ankle was sore for the first part of the season and his playing time got cut down. I think it actually helped him a bit. I think he stayed fresher. I think he feels better. He was already told yesterday he would be playing in this game tomorrow, if there was this game. So he'll be ready to go, and Don Kelly will play third base.
It is what it is. We got what we got. They've got what they got. And we're going to play this game tomorrow and see how it turns out. I think everybody is excited about it. I'm sure New York is. I'm sure the Yankees are. They're back at home with their fans. We had great support in Detroit, as all of you saw that were there, with the excitement and everything. This is what baseball is all about. We have a fifth game at Yankee Stadium. It doesn't get much better than that.

Q. Jim, will Scherzer be available tomorrow?
JIM LEYLAND: Scherzer would be available.

Q. The same question about Verlander.
JIM LEYLAND: No.

Q. Verlander will not be available?
JIM LEYLAND: No.

Q. What are your game-day superstitions?
JIM LEYLAND: I don't really have any game-day superstitions. I don't know. I'll come on the bus tomorrow. I won't do anything different, really.

Q. Jim, just following up on the question on Verlander, is it disappointing the way it's worked out just by this whole rain-out schedule and everything that you don't have Verlander available even for a bit tomorrow?
JIM LEYLAND: I don't think it's disappointing at all. I think what happened is you saw him and CC in that game at home. I think it was electric. I think certainly everybody got their money's worth. I would assume the TV ratings were good. You saw 100 mile-per-hour, 101 mile-per-hour fastball. No, that's just the way it played out. I don't think it's disappointing. I'm thankful everybody got to see him. To be honest with you, our fans got to see that game that Verlander pitched. So it worked out pretty good. No problem.

Q. Jim, can you talk a little bit more about Kelly, what you saw last night, and why you made this decision?
JIM LEYLAND: Well, I just think if you saw the game last night, Wilson struggled. He had a tough night offensively. Kelly has been actually pretty hot, swinging the bat pretty good. He's a very versatile guy. The plan would be, as always, if we could -- we're fortunate to get a lead, at some point put Kelly in right and put Inge at third. Going with a little bit of a hot bat. I think he's played well. It's a short porch for Wilson obviously, but it's a pretty short porch for Kelly as well. So that was why I made that decision.

Q. Jim, can you pinpoint the cause of Albuquerque's troubles in this series? And will those struggles affect how you use him tomorrow possibly?
JIM LEYLAND: I basically think because he's been so idle. He really hasn't pitched much lately. I think it's caught up with him. He's not sharp. Needless to say he's not sharp right now. I think the time being away and not getting out there on a more consistent basis with the injury that he had has really hurt him as far as how he's throwing right now. You know the stuff is just not as crisp. The control is just not as good.
Basically, being totally honest with you, I would like to get through this game tomorrow with Fister, Coke, if necessary, Benoit and Valverde. There's no secret to that. That's what we would like to get through the game with.

Q. Jim, correct me if I'm wrong, was Larry Rothschild on your staff in '97 with Florida?
JIM LEYLAND: Larry Rothschild was the pitching coach in 1997 for the Florida Marlins when we won the World Series and I was the manager, yes.

Q. Is his real value with the pitching staff sort of the way he works with them behind the scenes?
JIM LEYLAND: He's as good as it gets. He's got a great demeanor. He's very bright. The combination of a Major League pitching coach in today's world has changed a little bit: You have to have a good feel for mechanics, working with guys and all of that type of stuff, but you also have to have a good feel for how to get hitters out. You have to look at much more video than they ever did in the past. He's tremendous with a game plan. He's as good as it gets.
Plus he has a great demeanor with people. He's a good people person. Good personality and very, very low-key. He's the total package for a pitching coach. I thought he was terrific.

Q. Jim, do you approach a game like tomorrow's any differently now than you would have when you were ten or 20 years younger?
JIM LEYLAND: No, I don't think so. I think you might have to do what I did the other day; you might have to go to Benoit in the seventh, something like that. But, no, you don't really coach the game -- I have to do what I have to do to try to win that game tomorrow, just like Joe is going to do. I'm sure he's feeling pretty good with Robertson sitting there rested and Mariano sitting there rested and his starter. And we feel pretty good about our combination that we've got. That's certainly not to slight anybody else in the bullpen. It's just I think that would be my game plan hopefully to get by with those three guys or so, four guys, possibly, but three. If you're using long men and all that tomorrow, you're probably in trouble.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you for coming in.

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