THE MODERATOR: Mike Scioscia is here. We're going to get started. Who has the first question for Mike?
Q. The little-ball style you guys are playing, how much of that is you using -- displaying your own philosophy of how you want to play the game, and how much of that is adapting to the talent that was here when you got here?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: I think the largest share of it is adapting to the talent. Manager's philosophy, for me, is really neither here or there. It's what can your team do, what can they accomplish? Are they a team that has power from one to nine in the order, and you really want them to wait for pitches to hit, hopefully drive the ball, not want to run into any outs on the bases. Or are you a team with limited power that you have to play a little more aggressively to get the offense you need? It depends on the team. I mean, I don't think there's a manager in the league that says they don't like the stolen base or don't like to hit and run if the guys can do it. But you have to look at what assets you have and what's going to give your offense the best chance to thrive out there. For me, it's what the team can do. This team has shown that it has the combination of little ball along with some guys that can drive the ball that has given us this opportunity.
Q. Can you remember anything when you were a rookie and Baker was a veteran, that helped you along, any advice he gave you to become more of a professional?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: There were many things. As I came up in 1980, I was 21 years old, Dusty was not only a veteran on a championship-caliber club, he was the rock of that club. Dusty was the common denominator to everybody on that club. He connected with everyone. If it was a youngster coming up, Baker made sure that he was going to help you with some insights that were going to make you not only a better player, but a better Major Leager and let you understand what Major League Baseball was like on and off the field and try to prepare you the best he can. There were countless times, when we were on a plane trip, batting practice, that he would give you something that was going to make you a better baseball player. It's no wonder why he's been such an incredible manager, because I think it's just an extension of his make-up, his personality, what he's about from when he was a player.
Q. Can you recall the first World Series you followed as a kid, maybe some of the details of it, and what the words "World Series" meant to you as a kid?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: World Series probably meant more to me as a kid than before I ever really knew what the World Series was. I can remember being maybe five years old, playing in my backyard, and the thing that would come into my mind, "Seventh game of the World Series, here's the pitch," you swing and hit it. If you miss it, you had a do over, "Seventh game of the World Series, here's the pitch." My first World Series I remember was 1967 when the Cardinals played the Red Sox. My first memory of the World Series was really being in Catholic school and having a TV brought in and turned on so we could tune in to a little bit of the World Series. Next day, it was a radio. It was an event. Not knowing the specifics of the players maybe at the time, I was very young, but knowing it was a World Series and watching it, it was incredible. That's my first recollection.
Q. Remember any plays from it?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: No. I remember, looking back on it now, you can appreciate what a tremendous series it was, and all the Hall of Famers that have -- that were in that series. But, no, I don't remember any specifics of it.
Q. When you say "ready for 7"?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: He's ready for any role in Game 7, whether we need him to start or available in the bullpen, which, obviously, you get to Game 7, it's a staff game, if need be. But he would be rested enough to give us, hopefully, innings if we would need it.
Q. What are the conditions in starting time due to hitters?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: The shadows haven't been that, I would say, prevalent in the five o'clock games we've been playing. I understand it's supposed to be overcast this weekend, too. So I don't think it will be an issue. The games that we played at five o'clock out here, which we played, I think it's five of them already, I think, out here, it has not been an issue. So, a five o'clock game during the summer is an issue here, but it doesn't seem like it's been an issue as we've had these playoff games.
Q. When you were a Dodger, what was your perception of the Angels? Did you watch their games? Did you follow them? Did you even know they were in Major League Baseball?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: Yes, we did. We played them in the Freeway Series, and you've had a passing interest during the season because we knew a lot of the guys on the Angels, obviously. We had the utmost respect for the Angels as a team because they had guys like Don Baylor and Bobby Grich and Brian Downing and Bob Boone. They had an incredible score of talented players. So, as a player playing with the Dodgers, we had the utmost respect for the Angels and the type of baseball they played, how hard they played. And they were a championship club then, in '79, '82 and '86. So obviously, we knew what the talent was.
Q. What is your strategy with Barry Bonds? Do you plan to pitch to him at all, or strictly the situation dictate that?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: It will be situational. I think Barry is obviously a challenge. But that Giant club is more than Barry Bonds. Barry is an incredible player, he's going to be, obviously, key in this series. But that club is more than Barry Bonds, and there are challenges all the way through that line-up. We'll look at the situations and see what we need to do with Barry. But I think that if you are going to try to paint the series as, "Okay, you hold Barry Bonds down, you win," I think you're wrong. The club is more than Barry. Obviously, he's a key part of it, but we have challenges all the way through the line-up.
Q. Does this feel different than a Dodger series, before the World Series, the mood, the atmosphere?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, this is totally different if you're a player or you're managing or coaching. I really feel this game is about playing it. The thrill you get from achieving as a player is really not going to be duplicated from winning if you're a manager or a coach. So, for me, the ultimate was winning a World Series as a player, and I was blessed to win in 1981 and 1988. Although it feels great to be part of what's going on here in Anaheim and a championship club, if you're asking me to compare championships as a player or a manager, there's no comparison. As a player is the ultimate.
Q. Your players have said that they cannot recall this year that you got irate enough to throw chewing gum wrappers or a candy wrapper at anybody in the clubhouse. Can you remember anything about that?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: I don't know if it's going to be productive throwing a candy wrapper at anybody, but (laughing)... One of the things I think that's helped me in this position is to try to disconnect from the emotion of the game, that's easier said than done. But I think having played the game and knowing the patience you need to not only play this game, but I think to manage this game, you certainly try to temper your emotions and try to stay on an even keel. If there's some positive emotion you can show, I think that's something that's fine. But especially on the negative side, I think you have to try to temper that. Like I said, it's easier said than done. There have been times we've had some gut-wrenching losses this year, some exhilarating wins, so on both ends of the spectrum, I think you try to stay a little bit in the middle and let guys understand the importance of that day-to-day grind that you need to be successful.
Q. NFL coaches had a chart when they should go for two, when they shouldn't go for two. Is there any kind of system you can have in terms of walking Barry Bonds, not walking him? If it's before the seventh inning, in the eighth, or is it just spur of the moment?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: We have tons of information on Barry Bonds and what his stats are and what percentages will show. Sometimes in those percentages, though, the numbers are a little skewed because they don't take into account of just moving a base runner up. Some of them will say, "Barry Bonds, if you walk him every time for 25 at-bats, they'll only score two runs." Doesn't take into account running and moving the runners up, if they score. There will be a lot of things you have to rely on, the situation, the score of the game. No, there's not one chart that you can systematically look and say, "Okay, we're up by three runs, there's one out in the seventh, we can pitch to Barry Bonds or you can't." I don't think those numbers that are compiled are as accurate as the whole situation and what you're trying to accomplish. Yeah, there are those statistics and we've looked at them, but I think the whole story is not told in those statistics and you're going to have to use situational and some matchups that you're looking for either before or after Barry, if you're not going to pitch to him, to make decisions. Unless you have a chart, do you have a chart (laughter)?
Q. My thought is: Have you ever seen anyone like this? The fact that he hit 70 home runs is obviously a reason for doing this. This might not have happened 50 years ago, we don't know if it's happened with Babe Ruth.
MIKE SCIOSCIA: Was Ross Newhan in here? We can ask about Babe Ruth (laughter). I shouldn't have said it if he wasn't here. Now it's going to get back to him. I thought I saw him. I think just the fact that we're talking about Barry Bonds and the discussions we're having on doing things that you would never consider being done before -- certainly I've never run across this -- speaks to the magnitude of his talent. He has had the two best seasons, last year and this year, two best seasons in the history of baseball. There's nobody that can look at his numbers, on base percentages, slugging percentage, the home runs, to the impact he's had on games and say that anyone has had a better season in the history of the game. I don't know how you can argue that. So putting him in those -- in that light and bouncing names like Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams and the baseball immortals, and how he surpassed numbers that those guys have put up, I think just speaks to the talent that he is. So, just the discussions we're having tell you how incredibly talented Barry Bonds is. Of course we're going to have to take that into consideration, how it's going to impact our ability to win games. And we will.
Q. Some Japanese managers in Japan during the Japan Series said, "It doesn't matter, we can lose three in a row." That's their thought during the series. It doesn't matter from the beginning to third time, losing three games. What about your thought?
MIKE SCIOSCIA: You say if we lose the first three games?
Q. Yeah. Doesn't matter.
MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, you're a little ahead here. Hope we're not talking about this (laughing). But here's a way I feel about it, and I think the way our team feels, this series isn't over until that fourth win is accomplished by either side. I think there are countless examples of teams being down in a series. I don't know if it's ever happened being down 3-0 before. But I know it's happened 3-1. There are countless times when teams have been down and they've come back to win. Anything is possible in this game, and if you have a club that has that day-to-day focus, I think you'll find clubs that might get down three games and come back and win it. At some point, it will happen. It's a very, very difficult situation to put yourself in, but this series is not over until one team wins four games. That's the way we feel about it.
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