AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: RED SOX v YANKEES

October 14, 1999

Jimy Williams

JIMY WILLIAMS: (laughs).

JIMY WILLIAMS: I didn't know I was smart there, I will be honest with you. Not trying to be smart, we are just trying to play baseball.

JIMY WILLIAMS: Normally -- maybe I should slough off the question, but I think about the NBA and about the NFL and I think about watching a game -- college basketball game where there is a tipped ball that goes out of bounds, two players, and one official, the closest one says the ball goes the other way. But there is another official who is farther away from the play and he has a different angle. He comes up and he immediately reverses the call and the ball stays at that end of the court. There are those passes that players are parallel to the ground and the closest official says it was a catch, another official who was farther away but has a different angle, he immediately says, no, that was a trapped ball and the ball is called incomplete. We had a play, if you watched our series in Cleveland, Travis Fryman hit a ball in the second inning off of Saberhagen that I couldn't tell if it was going out of the park or not or just off the wall, but I knew it was not catchable. So I went immediately to the umpire down the left field line, he went like this. Which meant no catch, but the ball is in play. So the opposing manager went out and argued the play and an umpire from second base who had a different angle came out and made a statement and told me that the ball hit the rail, so it is out of the park. His statement was: I just want to get the play right; which as it turned out, was the right call. With that in mind, we were the Red Sox, we are a team, we are held accountable for what we do on the field. Myself as a manager, the same with Joe Torre and his club and certainly you have six umpires who are a team, at least that is the way I look at them, they are a team, they work together. I don't know a lot about umpiring, but I do know that the closer you are to a play, the tougher it is to see everything. As former coach at third base the farther I was from the play the longer time I could take to make a decision and maybe help a base runner advance to the next base, which in fact, coaching third would be homeplate or whatever. If a ground ball is hit slow, and there is a play at second, so you then as umpire would think that your priority would be to make sure that the base runner doesn't beat the play, so you look at the bag, you have to look -- if the ball is hit hard, they are going to want to make sure you are going to catch the ball. Only way you can see both things is you got to have friendly eyes that are looking at each other. That is what I call friendly eyes. They are always looking at each other. So with that in mind, the ball was hit slow, so his focus was probably on the base to make sure that the ball -- that the man was on the base and either by sound or whatever, peripheral vision, he saw the ball, but he couldn't concentrate on the glove. I don't know whether the call was right or not, that maybe another umpire, part of their team -- if in fact the ball was caught, why didn't somebody come up and say: "Well, hey, Jimy, the ball was caught. He was taking it out of his glove. He made the right call." Similar situation, '95 World Series in Atlanta, Cleveland/Atlanta, second base, same play, asked the umpire to ask another umpire for help, he wouldn't ask. I guess I didn't ask him to ask another umpire, so maybe that was my fault. But why should we in baseball have to ask when in football and basketball they don't seem to have to ask another official to step in and correct a mistake. I am not pointing at Rick Reed, but they are in fact a team, and I am certainly not trying to tell the American League how to run their umpires. I am not mad up here and I am not saying we would have scored. But when I think about what Jimmy Joyce told me in Cleveland, we just want to get the play right, and whether it is in a playoff game or if it's the 85th game of the season, it shouldn't matter. That is just my opinion. I guess I have talked long enough.

JIMY WILLIAMS: I have asked before. I guess I had a brain lapse. Whatever, I don't know, I just didn't ask.

JIMY WILLIAMS: I think the human element in baseball is beautiful. Maybe the game is a lot like life, so why put something like that in there. I don't really think I would advocate, you know, a replay. I know these are big games. I mean all games are big, but maybe it is the right thing to do, but I really wouldn't advocate it. I like the human element out there because I think that is why so many people come to games during the course of the seasons everywhere.

JIMY WILLIAMS: You have to have outstanding physical skills to get to this level of play and to take it a step further, to get to this level of play within the course of a season. Then you have the mental makeup, so they both go hand-in-hand. Now which one is the most important one? The physical ability gets you here, but to me, your mental stability is what keeps you here. If you get a group of kids that think a lot like that, then you have a chance to have a good team.

JIMY WILLIAMS: I will be honest, because I feel uncomfortable with that mike. See the one thing I do understand is this -- these games, they are going everywhere, they are going probably to a lot of countries; correct me if I am wrong. So it is a show, that is put on by a very good sports company TV network and they are just trying to put people who have never been in a dugout, who will never be in a dugout -- give them an opportunity to see maybe what happens a little bit. I can understand that. Then there is the almighty buck too, getting down to the almighty dollar here. See that is not what we are about. That is not what the Yankees are about. This is about competition and trying to win a game. It is very basic, very simple. But because of the media, because of the press, it basically helps all of us too who are in uniform. So I have a respect for them for that. I don't necessarily like to do that and I wouldn't do that again. But I don't know if that answers your question, but that is how I feel.

JIMY WILLIAMS: He is not available tonight. Certainly we don't play tomorrow. I don't think unless rain or something happens, but he will be ready in a couple of days.

JIMY WILLIAMS: They are both baseball players. They both happen to play the same position and they are both wonderful to watch. I enjoy watching Jeter play. I think he is tremendous. This kid is tremendous. But along with his skill, just the kid himself, those of you that have talked to him -- I have only said hello to him a couple of times, but what an impressive individual. Nomar the same way. Whether they play shortstop or they are catchers or centerfield -- whatever they are, they are very special players in this game and they exemplify what I think, you know, a lot of ballplayers, maybe wish they were, but it is just honest, it is sincere and it is natural for them to do what they are doing.

JIMY WILLIAMS: His arm is a little bit -- maybe a little tired, but he will be all right in a couple of days.

JIMY WILLIAMS: See, maybe we should ask Jeter that too. They have a heart beat and a pulse just like you and I these kids. They make great plays, but it just didn't work out once they let go of the ball. How do they catch them damn balls in the first place? You know? Errors happen during the course of a game. Both those kids want the ball hit to them and they are going to try and catch that ball and get an out to help their team win. That is their whole focus. They are not perfect, you know, he has -- his wrist is fine.

JIMY WILLIAMS: Pedro is fine.

JIMY WILLIAMS: They are ready to pitch, need be.