AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: RED SOX v YANKEES

October 14, 1999

Paul O'Neill

PAUL O'NEILL: I mean, two great games. I am tired. Everybody is. We are exhausted. One-run games, they are pretty gut wrenching, but I feel great. It was a great game. Both games could have gone either way. We got some breaks tonight. They hit the top of the wall a couple of times. We ended up getting a bloop hit. Pitching has been the name of the series so far both for us and them. Obviously when you are up two games to nothing you feel good about the team.

PAUL O'NEILL: Sure, a lot of people don't realize Yankee Stadium is always known for home runs -- if you don't pull the ball down the lines, Yankee Stadium is one of the bigger parks in baseball. It is cold, the ball is not carrying real well. Those guys get on base, then you have to credit your pitching because they don't score. That is the big story. You get guys on, bases loaded, guys on third with one out, they don't score, I mean that is our pitching. That -- as a player playing behind that, I mean, you can't -- it is huge.

PAUL O'NEILL: I don't know if it affected the game. I thought it was a pretty well-played game. Obviously it is cold and windy, but I don't know what effect it had on the game. Going into the game you wonder maybe what effect it will have on Cone because he usually pitches the ball better when it is warm, he feels the ball better. What can you say. He threw a big game for us in a big situation.

PAUL O'NEILL: I don't think you need to be reminded. Cone has thrown big game after big game for us, but coming into the game, he hasn't thrown in -- I don't know, ten days, two weeks. A lot of people don't understand how hard that is to do, then go out in this type of atmosphere in a playoff situation and throw the way he did and get out of some jams and give us an opportunity to score a run here or there. Believe me, we would love to go out and score, 4, 5 runs early and just watch him mow them down. You got to credit their pitching. They are pitching well too. We did get some breaks tonight, but that is part of the game sometimes. But our pitching was the name of the game today.

PAUL O'NEILL: Obviously he is 0-2. As a hitter, you are just trying to put the ball in play. He is not making mistakes. He is on the corners on both sides of the plate. I watched him pitch Tino from when I was on second base with bases loaded. He is making good pitches. To put the ball in play and have it fall in that situation, sure, it looks great in the paper, but I am as happy as anybody, believe me. But that was pretty much a big break for us.

PAUL O'NEILL: Obviously the more you face a pitcher, the more you can track his release point or whatever. But I mean you can throw everything out from the season in my book, in my mind. When you get out in the Playoffs you just try to focus in on hitting the ball hard and hope good things happen. The postseason and regular season are so different that it is hard to bring all the computer statistics in here or there, you know.