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AL DIVISION SERIES: RAYS v RED SOXOctober 8, 2013John FarrellTAMPA, FLORIDA: Game Four Q. Talk about the pros and cons of this facility and playing in this venue, obviously it's not ideal for baseball. But what are the pros and the cons of it? JOHN FARRELL: Well, the pros are you know you're going to play at the designed time every night. And there's some benefit to that. Every ballpark is going to have its quirks, its intricacies, whether it's a speaker hanging above home plate or whether it's a wall in left field. I think everyone that comes in here and plays a number of games is well aware there is other things they have to contend with; rings in the ceiling to a different turf and dirt combination on the infield. Both teams play on it. So there's nothing in our minds that is a detriment to playing a game here. Q. What's the team's mood after last night's tough loss, and can you talk about Jake tonight? JOHN FARRELL: As I mentioned last night, our guys are eager to get going for tonight's first pitch and looking forward to the challenge of Hellickson and their lineup. And Jake, we know he'll pitch with a lot of enthusiasm. He'll probably be screaming at himself, as we've seen on the mound. And it will be a matter of how we navigate through those two or three situations inside of tonight's game that will require a big pitch to be made. This is the stage in which we acquired Jake to come in and contribute to, and we're looking forward to him taking the mound. Q. In what ways is the responsibilities for the closer a little bit more challenging when you get to the postseason? JOHN FARRELL: Responsibilities of the closer? Much like every other aspect of the game there's more focus, there's more pressure on it. But with Koji, feel like we've got a guy who's well equipped for the situation that we're going to put him in. The ability and the flexibility to go multiple innings with him because he is efficient. And that was unfolding last night until the last pitch was thrown. It felt like he gives us that flexibility to bring him in on a tie game on the road knowing that it's not out of the realm of possibilities for him to go two innings. Q. The number of stolen bases that you had this year, how much of that was just the personnel that you had and how much was a conscious decision to try to do more of that this season when you had the opportunity? JOHN FARRELL: Well, it's a combination, clearly. We've got guys that have got base stealing in their past, whether it's Jacoby, Pedey, Victorino. But I think the one thing our other base runners have bought into is when there's an opportunities, when they might not have thought about a stolen base, to be aggressive in those situations. The bottom line is we try to outline things for guys that they have a hundred percent assurance in their own mind that they can steal a base. And we outline what unloading times would give them that ability to. And it's a matter of having our communication in the moment, that they know what the keys are on a given pitcher and they know what the times are with the combination of the guy behind the plate and the guy on the mound. And then it's the trust in themselves that they can get there without ‑‑ caught stealing. But our success rate probably says that we've been doing okay at that. But more importantly it's the buy‑in from the players. Q. This isn't germane to tonight's game. I know you've had three boys go through college and play college baseball. Just a quick update on their careers. Do they ever offer advice on how the old man should manage young players? JOHN FARRELL: Well, they're blazing their own path. Two are playing, one is in the front office with the Cubs after his career is over. So yeah, there's a lot of baseball conversation that goes on. And they probably have a little bit more freedom to critique me or cut me down than maybe some others. But it's all part of being in a baseball family. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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