AL DIVISION SERIES: MARINERS v WHITE SOX

October 3, 2000

Jerry Manuel

JERRY MANUEL: It was a very difficult decision for us to make, but the reasons that we decided to go with Josh Paul was simply versatility. We only took one backup infielder; Josh Paul plays some third base. At some point he has played some leftfield. He's probably one of our better base-runners that we have in the organization, so we felt with, you know, the status of Herbert that if we did not take the extra infielder then we were almost in a position where we had to take someone else that was versatile. He fit that bill pretty good for us. I mean that was -- it was a difficult thing in bringing in a guy that had been with you all year and had performed well all year, and I think, too, Josh Paul, when he was sent out, if you recollect, was probably at that time performing better than Mark Johnson. So people say the guy has been here all year, but not to think of the fact that the other young man had to go down before that. That was also a difficult decision, too. So hopefully we get to the next round and (inaudible).

JERRY MANUEL: Not at all. Both those young men grew up in the organization. They are both very well liked in the clubhouse. They both bring a lot to the table. It just so happened that the versatility of one at this time when you are limited is a little bit more important than a guy that's just pretty much relegated to one position.

JERRY MANUEL: Well, it's not a situation where you are saving anything, if that's what you mean. I think we're in a situation where we have a number of people in the pen, and if the matchups appear favorably early and our starter's in trouble, then we have issued a warning to the bullpen to be ready at any point, at any time. So it will all really be decided dependent on how our starting pitching goes. If they begin to struggle, obviously, with the pen that we do have, we'll go to that immediately just to control the damage.

JERRY MANUEL: Well, I think the decision is a combination of his and mine basically. We put up a lot of different scenarios, hash them out and obviously they have to be somewhat validated by how they're gonna be used and kind of what I'm thinking. So in the case of a Harold Baines, when would you use a Harold Baines? You know, just like I've used him all year, if I feel that a Chris Singleton is not swinging the bat well or even Charles Johnson is not swinging the bat well, then he'll be a guy that I won't be afraid to put up in there against a tough right-handed pitcher.

JERRY MANUEL: Well, you know, any time a situation such as that, definitely, before anyone knows you call him in and sit down and talk to him and explain to him the situation that we're in and the reasons that we're going in the direction that we're going. He seemed to understand it. Obviously, you know, he was somewhat disappointed because he'd like to play. But in this short series that we're in, there would have been no other catcher that we're gonna use. Charles Johnson's gonna catch every game for us, whether it's a day game after a night game, what have you, Charles Johnson's gonna catch every particular ball game. So possibly either one might not be used and just because of the versatility of the other one, we just decided to be safe. And we feel comfortable with both of the young catchers; there's no doubt about it. We've been working with them for most of the year.

JERRY MANUEL: Well, that's -- I'd like to be prophetic and say they're going to handle it well. But that's really the uncertain factor that's really going into the playoffs for us, is how will we respond first inning, the first game, the first out and so forth and so forth. But I think and hope that once we begin a game that it's the game that's bringing the attention versus all the peripheral things that are involved. So it's going to be regardless, one way or the other, it's going to be a great experience for this team. Hopefully we can continue to sustain a good level of play and continue to play well and continue to play on and on and on.

JERRY MANUEL: There's no doubt that he is the catalyst for our team. He is a guy that starts the engine up. When Ray goes, normally we go pretty good, pretty well. And that could mean both offensively and defensively. He's making plays, he made a play here opening night that might have been one of our best plays of the year, to rob a guy of a hit. He's gotten big hits in the cross-town rival series with the Cubs. He's gotten big hits against the Yankees. He's gotten big hits against the Seattle club. I think he hit a home run our last time there to win a ball game. He is very, very important to this team as far as being a catalyst. It's not to put pressure on him because we do have a good offensive line-up, but he's definitely one that initiates the startup.

JERRY MANUEL: Yeah, basically that was the thing. He was still somewhat sore, and we felt instead of continuing to wait it out to give him more time, which has been only fair to him and to the team.