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WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: POOL CMarch 9, 2013Tony PenaSAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO Q. ﾃつTalk to us about your impressions of Spain after yesterday's game. TONY PEﾃ窶連:ﾃつ Well, I saw part of the game.ﾃつ They didn't get to score any runs, but they pitched well.ﾃつ I think the guy who pitches for them today, he knows how to pitch.ﾃつ We have some idea about him; he has a changeup, slider and sinker. They played well yesterday.ﾃつ One thing we saw, they only lost by three, against a real good ballclub like Puerto Rico. Q.ﾃつ First of all, you saw the game yesterday with Puerto Rico.ﾃつ What can you tell us about the Puerto Rican lineup that you're going to be facing in tomorrow's game? TONY PEﾃ窶連:ﾃつ I'll tell you, we are not thinking about tomorrow's game.ﾃつ We saw some of the game with Puerto Rico yesterday, but we're thinking about today's game.ﾃつ We have to take it day by day, and tomorrow if you ask me that question I'm going to answer it, but we're thinking about Spain today. Q.ﾃつ Spain is supposed to be the weak team in the pool, although it's a strong pool with three Caribbean countries that are traditional in baseball.ﾃつ What did you see yesterday that should be the mentality that you take for today's game? TONY PEﾃ窶連:ﾃつ The team is totally different, and as I said before, when you face a team that has a lot of Big Leaguers, you have an idea because you are seeing those players every day in the Big Leagues and you have reports in your hands.ﾃつ There are very few reports we have of them.ﾃつ I know they do not have very many players who have played in the Big Leagues, but in baseball there is no weak opponent.ﾃつ Everybody thought that Italy was a weak team, however, Italy went on to the next round.ﾃつ It's the only thing that you have to think about, that you have to play strong.ﾃつ Why, because these are teams that they say they're weak, those are the teams that are harder to play with than any other team. Q.ﾃつ The difference with this team, Dominican Republic team, this 2013 team has been extraordinary.ﾃつ We saw Spring Training games with the Dominican team and they looked extraordinary in the first game versus Venezuela.ﾃつ The chemistry has been different under your management.ﾃつ What can you tell me about the change in attitude of those players? TONY PEﾃ窶連:ﾃつ Well, we already have a past.ﾃつ One of the things that we did was in the three games that we played in the three days, we've tried to unify this team, and I believe that win or lose‑‑ if we lose‑‑ win or lose, I think thereﾃや冱 good chemistry in the clubhouse, and the guys are totally committed. When you see a ballplayer say "put me wherever. I want to pitch or catch or whatever.ﾃや敕つ And Volquez came up to us and said, "I only pitched an inning, I can be available," but we have those things in our hands that we have to take care of our kids. ﾃつWe are here representing our country, but we are also here to take care of our players, and that is my duty. But yes, the chemistry is extraordinary, and God willing, we will continue like that. Q.ﾃつ We surmise that Tony Peﾃδｱa has brought the winning experience with the Yankees or ﾃδ“uilas Cibaeﾃδｱas to the Dominican selection. TONY PEﾃ窶連:ﾃつ I'm a winner, and I want everyone who's around me to do the same.ﾃつ I hate to lose.ﾃつ That's why even though nothing takes away my smile, the sadness when I lose, I have it inside me.ﾃつ But I don't like to lose. But these kids are winners.ﾃつ Those guys in the Big Leagues, for whatever reason they're the kind of players that they are. Q.ﾃつ Because of the restrictions that you mentioned and this caution that you have to have with the players, what future do you see with the World Classic? TONY PEﾃ窶連:ﾃつ The Classic is here to stay.ﾃつ People think that the Classic is going to disappear; I doubt it.ﾃつ I think that what we have to do is try to‑‑ for the players that go to participate in the Classic to start working early so he can be in good physical condition so that there is no injury, because there is no training for us.ﾃつ I mean, there are teams like, for example, in Japan, Korea and all those teams that they're playing all year.ﾃつ Nobody supervises that. But for example, Latin America and the U.S., when Big League players finish their season, you lose the communication with the players and you don't know really what it is that those players are doing.ﾃつ So my impression is that I think that the players should stay in good physical condition, and that way not to get injured in the Classic because we're here to win.ﾃつ I mean, even if we take care of each other and we take care of the players, we want to win. Q.ﾃつ You told us that you wanted to go back to "street" baseball, small ball.ﾃつ We saw Josﾃδｩ Reyes, four hits, the top part of your lineup produced and was there.ﾃつ Is that the street baseball that you had in mind? TONY PEﾃ窶連:ﾃつ Well, in the beginning, yes, and you saw when Erick Aybar tried to bunt without signals.ﾃつ They simply did it on their own.ﾃつ And you can see the integration that they have in the team. And when the game got close I told them to play street baseball.ﾃつ Street baseball is you have to try to keep the lead.ﾃつ They gave me a lead and I want to keep it, even though it went crazy bringing in pitchers, but I wanted to get outs.ﾃつ All I wanted was to get outs.ﾃつ I started to use pitchers that I did not want to use at that stage of the game.ﾃつ But my mind was to keep the lead, and that's why you see I went with Dotel early, I went with Strop.ﾃつ But they were there to use early or late in the game. Q.ﾃつ Edwin Rodriguez told us yesterday that Carlos Beltran has a limit of seven innings on the Dominican Republic team.ﾃつ Is there any player that has any limit of participation by inning? TONY PEﾃ窶連:ﾃつ No.ﾃつ Those guys are completely committed to the game.ﾃつ As I said, I want those guys to enjoy themselves, and I'm going to play them all.ﾃつ I don't have anything else. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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