MLB WORLD SERIES: YANKEES v BRAVES

October 24, 1999

Brian Jordan

BRIAN JORDAN: Well, it kind of surprised me, you know, it's unusual for a World Series to change the line-up so dramatically. I know the guys who aren't playing were pretty surprised. But I guess Bob's trying to mix it up, make things happen. We only got one or two hits yesterday, so we need to get something going. Not to say it was an easy pitcher yesterday to get a lot of hits off, but we'll see what happens.

BRIAN JORDAN: It can. We found a way to win against the Mets, you know, a couple games we didn't hit the ball well, but we still won. I think once you get in the post-season, you don't find too many hits any way. It's great pitching matchups, great fielding. You don't find too many mistakes made in the post-season. If you get five, six hits a game, you're doing really well.

BRIAN JORDAN: That's exactly what we say:, "what the heck." We all got to go out there and give 110 percent. You know sometimes a line-up shakeup is good. I sure hope it's good tonight. But I mean you don't worry about those things. I mean that's going to happen. You got to go out there and do your job. And those guys who are sitting out, they got to be ready to play. And sometimes it works out.

BRIAN JORDAN: I don't think so. We've done it before in the normal season, give guys rest, trying different things to break up the monotony, I guess. But I don't think it's going to take anything away from our moral, we all have one goal and that's to win a ring. We're all fighting for the same thing.

BRIAN JORDAN: Well, I mean you really have to be patient against those guys, you know. I think when you see a lot of different arm angles, it makes players -- hitters jump. You find yourself out in front a lot. But I think the important thing is just trying to be focused on standing back and seeing the ball first before you move. That's why they're so effective, El Duque and David Cone, because they give you so many arm angles that it really kind of knocks your game off. You're not as patient as you should be. So I mean that is a -- I think that's what helped Mo out there at the end. Changing his arm angle, livening up his ball a little bit. It definitely helps and makes it difficult for the hitter to sit back and be patient.

BRIAN JORDAN: He blew me away last night. He's a great closer. One way to beat him is to not let him get into the ball game. And I mean he's a dominant closer. When he gets on the field, he's very confident and he comes right at you. You hit him, you hit him. If you don't, you don't. That's his attitude. And I don't like to face him and I'm quite sure my teammates don't like to face him. So hopefully we'll get a big lead and keep him out of the game.

BRIAN JORDAN: I tell you, at this point, you should know how to approach any pitcher. I mean sometimes you want to get in the video room just to see how this guy pitched the last time so you can have an idea going up to the plate. But the bottom line, the key is just being patient, seeing the ball first before you make any movement or react. So at this point, I don't think films or anything is going to help you.

BRIAN JORDAN: I think so. I mean, you know, El Duque is very tough. He comes at so many different angles. David Cone is similar to that. I think it's to our advantage to be able to perform. This guy's going to come with the same arm angle. We saw it yesterday, so now we should be kind of used to it and hopefully we can be effective against David Cone.

BRIAN JORDAN: No. It's the best out of seven. We've been down before, but we're confident in our talent here. Believe me, yesterday we had all the opportunities in the world to win a ball game. So we were right there with the Yankees. A couple of mistakes cost us. Yesterday's came could have went either way. Our confidence is not down. We know we can come back being down 1-0.

BRIAN JORDAN: It was feeling okay until the cold weather hit. I mean it gets stiff, you know, in this cold weather. I know last night it started getting stiff as the game went on. Because, I mean, the weather just started getting colder and colder as the night went on.

BRIAN JORDAN: Yes. No, it was my right wrist, I'm sorry.