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NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: METS v BRAVES


October 12, 1999


Bobby Valentine


ATLANTA, GEORGIA: Game One

Q. Bobby, are you surprised they've had such a hard time selling out this game in Atlanta?

BOBBY VALENTINE: I'm surprised to hear they're not selling out the game.

Q. There's tickets available right now.

BOBBY VALENTINE: Right now?

Q. Good seats still available, as the phrase goes?

BOBBY VALENTINE: There's no chance of me scalping my tickets, then?

Q. Does it surprise you?

BOBBY VALENTINE: Seems like it's a pretty big series. Pretty big series to me.

Q. After some of the things that some of the Braves had to say about your fans, do you think that says anything? At least your fans show up.

BOBBY VALENTINE: Our fans were great the last two weeks of the season. They were there in force. They were very supportive. But then again, they haven't had an opportunity in ten years. Just about everybody in this community probably has seen a playoff game in the last ten years. A little different.

Q. Bobby, is it tougher managing the three-of-five series than this is going to be?

BOBBY VALENTINE: Speaking from experience (laughter), I haven't had any; so I'm not sure about best four-out-of-seven series as compared to three-out-of-five. But it seems that -- that would be a dumb statement, too. Seems like the team that gets out of the chute in the three-out-of-five series, and Boston is playing the Yankees; so that doesn't make any sense. So I don't know.

Q. Don't you have to make tougher decisions in a three-out-of-five than if you've got the two extra games?

BOBBY VALENTINE: It seems that there's more urgency in I-take-three-out-of-five. So the decisions become more magnified than during the regular season. Again, I'd have to wait -- I hope it's nine days, to give you a true comparison.

Q. Is the Braves success down the stretch against you all, where they won five out of six, come into play whatsoever now?

BOBBY VALENTINE: Well, I certainly hope not, nor their success since this building has been built, nor their success over the last two years. Obviously, I hope none of that comes into play. But it's probably some factor there that you have to factor in. I heard Joe Torre say, "You're supposed to rip up what happened in the past once you get to these playoffs." I like that statement a lot.

Q. Bobby, could you just talk about Kevin Millwood and whether or not you feel that he is on the level of the other three premiere starters?

BOBBY VALENTINE: If he's as good as Maddux and Glavine and Smoltz, yes.

Q. What about him particularly is difficult for you guys?

BOBBY VALENTINE: He throws it where he wants to. He throws it with very well outside; he throws breaking balls when behind in the count; throws both sides of the plate. A lot of times you look up "good pitcher," and that's part or all of the definition.

Q. Bobby, when did you make the final decision on Mike Piazza coming back in the line-up, is he 80 percent or 90 percent or is he 100?

BOBBY VALENTINE: This morning before noon, I got a call from our trainers who had gotten a call from Mike -- actually, I think they even saw Mike, who said that he was fine. He had no -- it was even a little better than it was yesterday, and yesterday was good enough to play. So at that time we set our roster for this series, and being that he was healthy and on the roster, I decided to play him.

Q. Because you and the Braves battled so tightly down the stretch, do you feel there's any more animosity between the two teams than say somebody else that might be playing?

BOBBY VALENTINE: A lot of people would question whether or not we played them tight. They beat us five out of six. So I believe it's going to be a very competitive series, with two very talented teams, leaving it out on the field, just the way the fans in baseball would like to see it done.

Q. Bobby, in the six-game series, one guy that didn't pitch was Kenny Rogers, and is there any advantage as far as the Braves not seeing him in advance, him pitching in the second game?

BOBBY VALENTINE: If he makes his pitches, it will be a definite advantage. Their hitters are all professional hitters. They don't have young guys who are baffled by a left- and a right-hander. There might be an at-bat or two that he gets away because they don't know how sharp his breaking ball is, or they don't realize he pitches inside or what kind of sink he has on his fastball or change-up. I think that a lot of hitters calculate and see pitches in their mind and visualize them, and that make it easier to hit. Then sometimes, when it's a bad pitch, you can see it for the first time and hitter, he can out of it.

Q. Bobby, as soon as Game 2 was over and you guys had lost, back home a lot of people started bringing up Kenny Rogers' history in the postseason. What do you about think that? What do you think of him and his makeup to pitch in the postseason?

BOBBY VALENTINE: His makeup is fine. What he needs is pitches. I think he'll have his pitches. In that game, whatever, after Game 2, that wasn't a poorly-pitched game; it was more like the gentleman said earlier, the urgency of things to take him out. Remember, there was a high hopper down on third -- whatever, it's history. He pitched well, and he competed, and that's all we need him to do tomorrow.

Q. Bobby, a lot of your players have said that they're kind of playing pressure-free right now, do you believe in that?

BOBBY VALENTINE: It's hard to say, but if, in fact, they are pressure-free, meaning they are playing more carefree, relaxed baseball, that's the good news. I'm proud of the way they've played since the first day I saw them together, and I think they've come together as a team quite nicely. And maybe they just feel more comfortable that they can all rise above the situation and get through a one-game playoff, and now a five-game playoff. It's nice to have that under your belt.

Q. Bobby, as a follow-up, in losing five out of six games, probably every at-bat that your team had was a pressure at-bat, would you tend to look at your at-bats in this series more carefully than you did at that particular time?

BOBBY VALENTINE: I'm not sure. I'm not sure how to answer that. I'm really not sure what I would do if I was looking closer at them or neglecting them. The guys will have their at-bats. They'll go about their business. And as long as they're giving their best, the players that have worn this uniform, their best has been good enough for me, whether we've won or lost.

Q. I guess the question I'm trying to elicit from you, is would you tend to be more patient at the plate?

BOBBY VALENTINE: I think I addressed this a little yesterday, and it becomes the old Catch 22 with the Atlanta Braves staff. Everyone knows that the longer the count goes, the tougher pitch they make in that early in the count, they give you a pitch to hit. And when they give you a pitch to hit and you don't get a hit on it, it seems like you're impatient, rather than just following a plan. So I watch the intensity of it. I don't like giveaway at-bats, and I haven't seen many giveaway at-bats from our team. I've seen guys have a plan, work their plan, at times not execute it properly because of the physical competition that's at hand.

Q. Bobby, with Chipper Jones doing so well in that series a couple of weeks ago, do you plan to pitch him any differently?

BOBBY VALENTINE: We played a series here and he had a lot of success. Then we went to New York, and we played a series there. So we've been through that pitching differently thing already. And we have to make our pitches to this team. The reason this team has won over 100 games, the reason they're here again, the reason they have the titles they have is because they're a good team. Chipper is a good player. But you have to pitch to all the players, you have to make your pitches. It's a simple situation that you make them, you do okay; and you don't make them, you get them next time.

End of FastScripts…

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