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MLB WORLD SERIES: RANGERS v CARDINALSOctober 26, 2011Ron WashingtonST. LOUIS, MISSOURI: Game Six (Postponed) Q. Since Tony La Russa is a hanging out with Bill Parcells, Rick Carlisle and Bobby Knight, who do you get to hang out with? RON WASHINGTON: I get to hang out with Mike Maddux, Jackie Moore, Gary Pettis, Dave Anderson, Coolbaugh, and my team. That's it. Q. You've already said in the past you plan on going with Matt Harrison in Game 7. Does that still stand? RON WASHINGTON: Nothing changed from what I said earlier, so I'm just going to leave it at that. Q. Derek Holland had said the other night that he expected at that point that he'd be available in relief for Game 6. With the postponement, would he definitely be available in the bullpen tomorrow, or would that just be if there's a Game 7? RON WASHINGTON: No, he'll be available out of the bullpen tomorrow. Q. Were you guys just itching to go in there? I imagine one game from a championship.... RON WASHINGTON: Well, we were supposed to play today, so you want to play. But we're not playing, so we came in and we got some work done, and once we finish everything that we wanted to do today, we'll get on the bus and head back to the hotel and come back tomorrow because we will play baseball tomorrow. At this point when you're able to play, you play. We're not getting antsy, we're not getting ahead of ourselves. We just have to wait. So that's it. Q. Tony said he was going to go see Moneyball tonight. I was curious, given what Jon Daniels has accomplished and the faith that he showed in you, do you think they made the movie about the wrong person? RON WASHINGTON: No. You know, I was in Oakland when all of that happened, and to me it was a great movie about a general manager that was hamstrung as far as dollars go, and he had to find players and put them together under a formula that he thought would work. That's what the movie was about. You know, I realize they didn't mention Eric Chávez Miguel Tejada, Zito, Hudson, Mulder, but that wasn't what it was about (laughter). I liked the movie, and I'm a big fan of Billy Beane. He gave me an opportunity to become a Major League coach, and he trusted me with his young talent. I think I got this opportunity to manage because he gave me a rounding review to the Texas Rangers, and Jon Daniels and Mr. Hicks loved what I brought to the table and gave me an opportunity to manage a Big League club. As I always say, the things that you accomplish in life, it always comes from other people extending themselves to help you, and he's certainly been a big part in my career since I finished playing baseball. Q. You mentioned the other day that Josh Hamilton was swinging the bat better. How much would he benefit from having these two days off? Or is his the kind of injury that would just take a lot longer to heal from? RON WASHINGTON: Anytime you're dealing with nagging injuries, any time you can get a break, it's a positive. How positive, I really don't know, because it's not going to be easy trying to deal with Jaime Garcia tomorrow. But anytime he can get a day off of it is beneficial. So we'll know more tomorrow on how he reacts when the game starts. Q. I wondered in more general terms what buying two days off for guys at this time of year can do, and what it means for your bullpen as far as availability. RON WASHINGTON: You know, you wouldn't want two days off, so it just happened. So our bullpen was available full strength going into tonight. Everyone was going to have an opportunity to pitch if the situation presented it, that I could bring someone in. So it's just giving them another day to rest. It's not going to affect us one way or the other, really. We still have to go out and play good baseball. Q. Is there anything about Mike Napoli's approach or his attitude that you think translates particularly well at this stage and under these pressures? RON WASHINGTON: Nope, I just think he's a baseball player. You know, if you ever stood in the box as a hitter and you got 51,000 people chanting out your name, and you're already a focused player, it just brings that focus into play even more. And at this point of the season, it's more about focus than it is about the physical part of the game, because everyone at this point is physically tired. He's just a baseball player. He really is. It's to our advantage that he's been given these opportunities to come up in situations and he's delivered for us. Every time at this time of the year someone shows up, and for us it's Mike Napoli. He just seems to be the guy that's in the right spot at the right time, and he's been delivering along with his other teammates. You know, I always say a superstar cannot be a superstar unless the surrounding guys do their job and give him an opportunity to be that star. So without his other teammates, he wouldn't have that opportunity, and that's the type of team we are. We believe in each other. Q. You guys had your share of rain-outs and rain delays in the ALCS. Do those have any kind of a different feel than rain delays during the regular season? RON WASHINGTON: No, I don't think they do, because we're looking at things for each day that they arrive. We know we're in the World Series, but our mindset is just to go out and play our type of baseball game. And although we're in the World Series, if we play our type of baseball game, we feel pretty good about it. And that's the mindset, and that's the only mindset you can have. You know, we can't play today, so we do what we can do, we go home and we come back and play tomorrow. That's about it. Q. You've been pretty definitive that it will be Harrison if you get to Game 7. Given the fact that there's a rain-out today, would you give the reason for that thinking and why you wouldn't consider Holland? RON WASHINGTON: Because Harrison is my Game 7 pitcher. Harrison has been a big part of this team all year. I am not changing the things that I've been doing all year. That's why we are where we are, and that's why I'm saying Harrison. Q. Do you think it's sort of a luxury then to have Holland available in relief in Game 6 or a possible Game 7? And how much does it help the fact that he has pitched in relief for him to be accustomed to that spot, if he is used there? RON WASHINGTON: Well, it helps tremendously because he has pitched in that spot before, so it won't be anything that he has to search for. He knows what he has to do to get loose, and he won't come in and be in awe of what's going on. Each and every one of our starters are the reason that we are here. We are here because of our starting pitching, and Harrison has been a big part of that starting pitching. It just hasn't been one guy; it's been every single one of those guys that takes the ball every fifth day, and every single one of those guys that comes out of that bullpen on a daily basis. We all have been in this together, and we're going to all stay in it together. So he certainly gives us a lift if a situation arises that we think his repertoire can be good for us at that moment on the mound. Q. Were you asked for your own input on tonight's decision? If not, what kind of input would you have given? RON WASHINGTON: I want to play. I wasn't asked. But I want to play. But I understand the situation. And because the situation is the way it is, once again, I changed my mindset from playing a ballgame to getting work and getting back to the hotel. That's it. Q. It isn't important for Game 6 or Game 7, but getting back to Moneyball, my favorite scene is when you're with Hatteberg and you contradict Billy and say about playing first base that it's incredibly difficult. Did that actually happen? I'm just curious. RON WASHINGTON: Yes, it did, but it happened in Phoenix. Of course it's Hollywood, but those words were definitely spoken when Billy told Hatteberg that it would be a very easy transition to first base, and then when he sent it to me, I've always been a matter-of-fact guy, and I just point-blank told Hatteberg that it's going to be difficult. "But if you're willing to put in the time, we can get this done." And I think anyone that knows Scott Hatteberg, he's not a timid guy, and he certainly turned himself into a very good first baseman that year because of the work and the dedication and the commitment that he put in. So that did happen, it just didn't happen in Hatteberg's home. Q. What's C.J.'s availability? RON WASHINGTON: He should be available tomorrow out of the bullpen. Certainly if not tomorrow and we go 7, he certainly will be available for the seventh one. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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