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MLB WORLD SERIES: RANGERS v CARDINALSOctober 18, 2011Ron WashingtonST. LOUIS, MISSOURI: Workout Day Q. We've talked about this a lot again, but could you reiterate the great job that Daniels and Ryan did to fill in the holes in the off-season for this team. RON WASHINGTON: Well, it was an excellent job, really. We lost Cliff Lee, which we thought we had him there for a second, but then we decided that we was going to go after Beltre, and when we got Beltre, what a move right there. He brought leadership, brought tremendous offensive capability and tremendous defensive capability and leadership, also. And then we got lucky and got Mike Napoli. We always knew what he was capable of doing as far as getting on bases and punching the ball out of the ballpark, but here we had another guy that was a leader, and he turned out to be a tremendous receiver. Helped our young pitching staff make it through the year because they took on a load that they haven't experienced before, and he was able to help them get through it. You know, it was obvious that we had some weakness in the bullpen as the season started and progressed until the trading deadline, and then it got us two pieces to help settle down the bullpen, and put people in position where they always knew where they would pitch when an opportunity presented itself in the ballgame, and from that point on we began to play the type of game we knew we were capable of playing, complete, and here we are. Q. Nolan went on Galloway's show and said "Rangers in six." What do you think about that? And how do you go about trying to finish the job this time? RON WASHINGTON: Well, I don't question what Nolan said, but we understand the game has to be played on the field. We know it's a seven-game series, and we're looking for each and every game to be tough, and all we can hope for is that we do enough to win each and every one of them, at least enough to win the World Series. And what was the second part of that question? Q. Just being able to finish the job this time, getting back to the World Series, versus last year. RON WASHINGTON: Well, I think Hamilton put it as perfectly as it can be put: Right now we expect to win, and that's the attitude we have. I don't think if you have that attitude, you shouldn't be here in the World Series. We'll just go out there and play our type of game and try to play to what the game asks us to do on every given day, and hope when it's all over, nine innings, that we've got one run more than the St. Louis Cardinals. Q. The Giants are sitting home right now, and getting back to the World Series year after year is so difficult. Coming in this year after being there last year, what was the mindset to get back in 2011? RON WASHINGTON: Well, three words: Attitude, commitment and effort. On November the 1st we committed ourselves to trying to get back here because we knew we had the potential in the clubhouse to do it. A lot of times people say a lot of things that they like to do, and they don't usually live up to it. But the character inside my clubhouse, they lived up to it. Each and every day they just tried to be the best baseball team on the field that day, and it worked out for us. Once again, here we are getting an opportunity again to play in the World Series. Q. Do you ever lose focus? RON WASHINGTON: I don't think you can go through a full 162-game season and then the tiers of playoff that we're playing and somewhere along the line focus leaves. But the thing is you always know how to gather it back. You know, this is a tough game, and each and every day to go out there, you're playing against tough opponents. There will be things sometimes that happen that's out of your control, but you have to do one thing on a consistent basis, and that's show up every day and pitch, show up every day and catch the ball, and be ready to perform according to what the game asks you to do on any certain day. It's not always the best team that wins, it's the team that plays the best on that day, and we just try to be the team that plays the best on that day. Q. Have you set your rotation beyond C.J. and could you share it? RON WASHINGTON: We've got Colby and we're still up in the air as to where we'll go after that, but Colby will throw the second game. Q. What influences Colby? RON WASHINGTON: Well, he's well rested, he's ready to go, he's been throwing the ball extremely well. With him and C.J. back to back, it worked all year, and we finally got back to that one-two punch right there. Q. How tough is this Cardinals' lineup? RON WASHINGTON: Well, it's a very tough lineup. They can swing the bat. They can make things happen in many, many ways, and we're certainly -- our starting pitcher will certainly have to be on top of things to get through this lineup. But we've got through some tough lineups in the American League, and we're looking forward to this challenge, and we'll see what happens tomorrow night. Q. What's it going to be like matching wits with Tony La Russa? RON WASHINGTON: Well, I don't think I can ever live up to matching a wit with Tony La Russa, but what I will try to do is put my players in the right position, and if my players perform, I don't have to worry about matching wits; they'll take care of things. Q. The starting pitching during the regular season dominated in both leagues. In both LCSs they were kind of beat up. Any explanation? RON WASHINGTON: Well, I don't have an explanation but I do expect my rotation this time through to get us deep in the ballgame. That's the expectation, and they expect the same things out of themselves. We'll just play and see what happens and whatever necessary moves have to be made, we'll make them. Q. To play off of that just a little bit, when a team has got a good bullpen, a manager often says you can shorten the game to six innings. With your bullpen right now, do you feel like you can shorten the game less than that? RON WASHINGTON: Well, I think the circumstances will dictate that. You know, if we get into the sixth inning, get through the sixth inning with a lead, yes, we do believe we can shorten it. But I think anything prior to that, you just have to wait and see what happens. You know, you certainly at this point of the year, patience is not a virtue. You have to do what you have to do when you have to do it. I can't sit up here right now and say when I'm going to have to do that. But my intention is for our starters to go deep, as they've done all year, and then we can go to the bullpen and do what we have to do after that. But it's tough to say when that will happen. Q. After seeing a very close series and playing a very close series against the Tigers, we saw a lot of solo home runs, dominated bullpen series. What kind of series do you expect this one to be against the Cardinals? RON WASHINGTON: Well, I expect it to be a great series. You've got two great teams that are playing against each other. I know the Cardinals got here through the wild card, but they earned it, or they wouldn't be here. They went through some pretty tough foes to get here. Same with the Texas Rangers. If everything falls into place and their starters do what they want them to do, and our starters do what we want them to do, I think we can match up in the bullpen with anyone, just as the Cardinals can match up in the bullpen with anyone, and then we'll see where it goes from there. But if there's a lot of mistakes made, you think you'll see the ball flying out of the ballpark, I think you'll see hits all over the place, I think you'll start seeing some exciting baseball. But we depend on our starting pitching, and our bullpen is solid. We have the tools to go to work, it's just a matter of how we've got to use them when the opportunity presents itself. Q. What challenges are presented when you haven't played a team for seven years like you have here with the Cardinals? How tough is that to prepare for? RON WASHINGTON: Well, just the unknown, and you have to learn on the job. That's what we're willing to do. We have all of the paperwork that our scouts have done out here, and we know exactly from what they've seen what we should look for, some tendencies or whatever. But once you get in the ballgame, I think you have to go with the flow. So we'll see what happens. But the advantage, I don't think anyone has an advantage. I think you've just got to go out there and play baseball, and baseball is something we play very good. Q. Another roster question: Extra reliever or third catcher, have you made that decision yet? RON WASHINGTON: No, we haven't discussed that yet. We just arrived, came right into the interview room. We still have a workout to do, and then we'll get involved in discussing that afterwards, but I have nothing for you on that right now. Q. Finally, on C.J. Wilson, obviously he hasn't had the post-season he would have liked. What do you think is the key for him to pitch like he has in the regular season? RON WASHINGTON: Just keep the ball down in the zone. Through the playoffs that we've played so far to get here, he just elevated the ball too much. He knows what he has to do, and I expect him to do it tomorrow. You keep the ball down, use his pitches the way he's used them all year, he can be effective against any lineup. Q. Do you have a lineup for tomorrow night's game? RON WASHINGTON: I have it, but I haven't talked to my guys yet, and there's one or two guys that I want to let know before I put it out there. Q. As you're making all these decisions, putting lineups, rosters together, can you talk about what kind of impact or how you have to change your construction of things not having a DH in these games? RON WASHINGTON: Well, I don't have to change any construction in my lineup because my DH will be in the game. I just hope that the opportunity presents itself that my pitchers can drop bunts when I need them to drop them. Other than that, I'm running the same lineup out there I've been running all year that got me to this point. Q. Given the history, recent history in the post-season of pitching dominating, do you think there's a tendency for managers to play for one run in this setting, and does that go out the window given the way that these teams are hitting? RON WASHINGTON: Well, I think you make that decision according to how you feel the opposing pitcher is able to dominate. You know, for instance, Carpenter, if I get a runner on second base and Elvis comes up, I'm going to get him to third. It's just that simple. Because if those guys are dominating, there will be a premium on runs, and you have to get as many runs as you possibly can when the opportunity presents itself to get them. We'll just, once again, play according to what the game asks. If the game asks that I have to bunt, I'm bunting. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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