NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: METS v BRAVES

October 13, 1999

John Franco

John Olerud

JOHN FRANCO: No comment.

JOHN OLERUD: Well, I think both those guys are good tough left-handed pitchers. Rocker, he's got a great fastball and a real good slider, and you've got to be ready for the fastball, but then he can also throw the slider for a strike. So I think having two real tough pitches like that makes him effective, and he can throw both of them for strikes.

JOHN OLERUD: Yeah, in the past he has thrown me quite a few breaking pitches. And last night, he just came at me with fastballs, and threw the fastballs in good spots, the first one up and in, and the last two fastballs were on the outside part of the plate. So, yeah, he definitely pitched to me different. I'm not used to seeing all fastballs like that from him.

JOHN OLERUD: I think most hitters would like to hit outside, but hitting in the cage is fine. You just want to get some swings, get loose, that sort of thing.

JOHN FRANCO: Al just takes it real easy. He's very emotional. He's been in big games before in Toronto, Florida and here; so he knows what it takes to prepare himself for these type of games. He's been around a long time. He's been around a lot of great pitchers; so just the way he prepares himself I would say gives him a little bit of edge amongst most of the guys in the locker room because he's been there before.

JOHN FRANCO: Because he's left-handed.

JOHN FRANCO: Me, personally? I had no problems with them last night. Last time we were here, it was a handful of people in the bullpen that were nasty to myself and Dennis Cook. Well, all the guys down there. They start drinking and get sauced up, and that's what happens. But most of it was all in fun last night. But the last series we were here, in the 16 years coming here, that was probably the worst I've seen.

JOHN FRANCO: All of them were great to me. I'm a pitcher; so I love every play he makes. He's a highlight. You can't really pick one out. I remember when I first got here in 1990 when he threw a pitch and a ground ball was hit, you were afraid to look back, you would just go by crowd reaction. Now, when you throw a ground ball, you want to see the plays the guys make. John, being on all other end of the great plays from Rey, you can't just pick one out. He's the highlight film, and time and again, you don't know how he gets to the ball or makes the plays, but he makes them.

JOHN OLERUD: I would have to agree with John. You can't single out any one play. He's made great plays going to third base, made great plays going up the middle, charging balls, balls where he's -- seems like he's rolling on his back and makes a throw. And I would say probably the thing I appreciate most about Rey is that with all the off-balance plays he makes, he hits me in the chest more often than not with the throws; so as first baseman, that's what you like. He makes my job real easy over there.

JOHN FRANCO: Yeah, when Alfonzo came up and they got Ordonez and they signed Johnny and they signed Robin. Before that, it was average, but now these guys are in a class of their own.

JOHN FRANCO: When Mike was here, he didn't have a role, he was between starting and relieving. And I don't think felt comfortable. He's now a middle reliever, short reliever, set-up for Rocker. He's always had a great arm. Coming over here and watching the veteran guys over here, he's probably picked up a few things, how to pitch a little more. He's older, more mature now, and learned to pitch watching Glavine and Maddux. And those guys here that have a tendency, I'm sure, to pick up one or two things from them. And with Leo Mezzone, too.

JOHN FRANCO: They'll probably treat them a little crazy, I'm sure, whether it's 1-1 or 2-0. The Met fans have been waiting a long time; so I don't think it will be anything out of the usual that we haven't seen in the last ten days or two weeks at Shea with the big crowds we have there.

JOHN OLERUD: Yeah, well, I think the New York crowd, especially the last few home games we played at, they've been great. They're standing on their feet from the first inning on, rooting on a strikeout or the guys to get a big hit. So I think it can be intimidating to the opposing team, and in the same way, pump up the home team.

JOHN FRANCO: It means a lot. Growing up as a Mets fan and being here probably the longest, of the players in the locker rooms, not being in the playoffs it meant a lot just to get in there. I'm getting tired of being the longest active player not in the playoffs. So finally that you're in the playoffs, you can wipe that slate clean, now. But I've had a lot of people contact me and said they played against me. "I hit a triple or double off of you," and so on, same old stuff. Just yes them to death, make them feel good, and just go on.

JOHN FRANCO: I don't even know. There's been so many things, I can't remember, to tell you the truth. Nothing really sticks out in my mind. I can't control how they feel or whatever. I've just got to worry about doing my job on the field. I can't control whether they say nice things or bad things. I just can't worry about that.

JOHN FRANCO: I laugh every time I'm out there. I laugh inside to myself. But I can't really remember.

JOHN OLERUD: I don't know. I think the thing that makes this pitching staff good is they pitch. They throw the ball to the corners, they change speeds, and I think that's one of the things that he does real well is he hits his spots. He keeps the ball on the outside part of the plate, and he also changes speeds out there. He makes a lot of his pitches look the same, and they'll move differently late, and I think that's what makes him so tough.

JOHN OLERUD: Well, I think that's the way it is. You want to play against everybody. Anytime a team makes a mistake, you want to capitalize on that. They're good pitchers; so they're not going to get rattled. When they have a mistake, they're going to still try to make good quality pitches. So the at-bats are tough, against any team. You're going to want to capitalize on them. Do you feel like you have to take advantage of every one? I don't know. You'd like to, but that's not always going to work out, and you know they're going to pitch you tough; so you have to try to

-- you want to make the most of every opportunity, definitely.