NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: METS v BRAVES

October 17, 1999

Bobby Valentine

BOBBY VALENTINE: Kenny is available today in the bullpen. And what we'd like to do is win this game today and have an off day to make any decisions we have to make for Game 6.

BOBBY VALENTINE: He's only threw a hundred pitches, and it is conceivable.

BOBBY VALENTINE: Yes.

BOBBY VALENTINE: Probably. Roger Cedeno has a pretty severe spasm in his back, and right now the trainer said it doesn't look good. We're holding off on the line-up until we see Roger out on the field.

BOBBY VALENTINE: I was in the training room and he was in the whirlpool. That's the first I heard of it. He's been bothered now for about, Barry Haden said, about the last week with recurring stiffness. But today he came in with a pretty severe spasm.

BOBBY VALENTINE: I think Rickey was coming in as I was leaving. And as I said, the starting line-up is not out yet.

BOBBY VALENTINE: I dare say that that should be somehow clarified. I don't know if I can totally clarify it. But I can tell you this: There were no bags packed, without a doubt. I can tell you that he was in the clubhouse after I did an interview on the field, without a doubt. Now, I think that there were some bats put in a box, and one of my coaches told me that as they were coming in from the bullpen, and they were late because Orel threw at the end of the game. And as they were coming in, Rickey was walking down this hallway. And there's a lot of talk about some things that were said, and I have no firsthand knowledge of any of them. I can tell you about firsthand knowledge, from what my coach told me when I saw him in that his bags, which are things that he would put his equipment in, his shirt, et cetera, were in his locker, over his locker, just like everyone else's at the end of the game.

BOBBY VALENTINE: Absolutely not.

BOBBY VALENTINE: He was dressed at the end of the game, as is commonplace for Rickey and many other players.

BOBBY VALENTINE: Well, we have played that game before, I think, and I think the same thing occurred.

BOBBY VALENTINE: It didn't concern me in Cincinnati. I think the same thing happened. When we played the one-game playoff in Cincinnati, he came out for defense, and he was dressed at the end of the game in the clubhouse. When we played the last game here against Pittsburg, or maybe the second to the last -- those are all the same games, if we lost one of those games, for all intents and purposes. One of those games, he came out and he did the same thing. So if there was a problem, I should have stopped it then. I didn't see it as a problem.

BOBBY VALENTINE: I talked to my coaches about that today, and the timing of that was very bad, and in particular, for a player of Rickey's stature. And I expressed those concerns yesterday to him, and I think to you, even though some people who quoted me didn't get the entire quote in where I said that I would not like anybody to think anything less of him than of the Hall of Famer that he is. Some people decided to leave that out of the quote. So my coaches thought that for a 20-year veteran -- some of my coaches thought that it was improper to take him out at that time. I believe that my job is to do what's proper to win the game, regardless of timing. And as I explained to some yesterday, who cared to listen, that it was my fault in that I had Melvin ready to go in, he was at the end of the bench. I was talking about who else to get up in the bullpen. Rickey went out on the field. Bruce came in off the field. And Bruce is usually my bench coach who complements my thoughts, when he got in, he said, "Melvin is still down at the end of the dugout." Melvin, being the young guy, isn't going to go in on his own. And I said, "Whoops, Melvin, you're in the game," which I think was the right thing to do to win the game.

BOBBY VALENTINE: I think it's real early for me to read the whole situation.

BOBBY VALENTINE: If Roger can't play, it's a definite consideration of starting him.

BOBBY VALENTINE: That's why he's on the roster. Obviously, he would be a possible starter, yes.

BOBBY VALENTINE: Absolutely. And I would have to consider that, yes.

BOBBY VALENTINE: Well, in three years with Bruce as my bench coach, it's never happened. I would have to guess chances would be less, yes.

BOBBY VALENTINE: Yes.