AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: RED SOX v YANKEES

October 10, 2003

Dave Wallace

DAVE WALLACE: Buenos fuerte manana. (Very strong tomorrow.) (Laughter.)

DAVE WALLACE: A little bit of advantage. I had Pedro as a kid in the Dodger organization, so I know his personality and his makeup, which really helped. But from the standpoint of watching him compete, I've seen him over the years. I had his brother, Ramon, for a long time in L.A. So I've been pretty connected. But it's just amazing how he's grown as a pitcher over the years, his knowledge of dissecting hitters and picking them apart. Even on the days he doesn't have his best stuff, he's able to go out and compete. I wish could I say that everybody knew he was going to be as good as he is but that's not the case. I think he's surpassed everyone's expectations.

DAVE WALLACE: You know, I don't know. Maybe a little bit. But he was pretty good before this. So I don't know that it coincides. It's Pedro. I think sometimes inwardly, he has to have something, some kind of incentive built in.

DAVE WALLACE: Oh, he's great. He's great. He starts pulling jokes on you all the time. Especially me. He calls me an "Old Man" which is fun. He's great with Tony. Since Tony has been back it's been terrific. For him to be around and the guys to embrace him and love him and all that, so that's been good, too. He's been great.

DAVE WALLACE: I think as a purist, anybody can appreciate that match-up. Any time you have something like that, as a pitching person, you just cherish it and relish it and look forward to seeing how each guy performs and what happens during the ballgame. Isn't it really supposed to come to this? And I hate to be cliche-ish, like Game 5 and Oakland it should have been Pedro and Zito. It's great. I hope it works out to everybody's expectations. That's the problem. The expectations are so tremendous. What is really going to happen? I don't think anyone knows. This is a crazy game.

DAVE WALLACE: You knew he was going to be real good. I won't waste your time telling stories of rookie ball but there were certain things he did as a kid in the Minor Leagues that you knew he was special. He had that look in his eye that all of the great ones have and you just knew that. That's an innate ability I think that those guys have. And he had it from day one in Great Falls, Montana.

DAVE WALLACE: My expectations were he was going to be a very successful starting pitcher in the Major Leagues. He had the stuff and the intelligence and he certainly had the stomach and the heart for it. That's a pretty good combination of ingredients.

DAVE WALLACE: The old bow tie.

DAVE WALLACE: I think you can call it intimidation, you can call it pitching inside, you can call it a lot of things. I think in today's game, it's a little bit more delicate just because of coverage, but you need to get in there and move hitters off the plate, because as you can see in the last so many years, the offense is part of the game. Guys are starting to dive out and look at the pitches down and away, ever since I think what's happened in Atlanta and they have established that down-and-away pitch. And it's a great pitch. But also you have to set it up. Those guys are pretty good at setting it up.

DAVE WALLACE: I think that's the whole secret of trying to get through a season with most starters. But you're right, especially with Pedro. We try to limit his pitches on most occasions. There were a couple times late when we let him go a little bit beyond just because we were in circumstances that called for it. That's what you're trying to do. You're trying to get your pitching staff so they're real strong from August 20th or so to the 1st of October because it's just our belief that if they stay strong until that time, that you have a better chance of succeeding.

DAVE WALLACE: There's one I can't win if I say no, then I'm done. Of course you feel that way. I know Wake and Burky and Pedro everyone and, but again, that's a tall order, because Pettitte and Roger and Mussina and Wells, they have been there. That's the thing that I think if there's a separation, that's probably it. Those guys have been in that position many, many times and there's something to be said for that. But our guys, Wake the other night came up big. Hopefully Burky will have a good one. Pedro has been there. And Derek Lowe certainly is undertaking some things for us in the last couple of weeks. Yeah, you feel good about matching up with them.

DAVE WALLACE: I think any great pitcher somehow builds in some incentive in important games and whether it's proving the people wrong, if it's going against the "we want Pedro" request last night at Yankee Stadium, whether it's shutting out the media or whether it's having an internal problem somehow that he's got, all of those idiosyncracies I think that are self-induced provide an incentive for Pedro, and they are good ones.

DAVE WALLACE: Yes. He's still not a guy -- last start I think was more the result of coming off a 130-pitch game than letting him go beyond 100 pitches. Yeah, I think he's going to hit a wall at a certain pitch count. And I think it depends on the previous start, what may come up in his next start and how difficult that particular start was. For example, you know, you can pitch seven innings and 90 pitches and it's pretty easy. Or you can pitch five or six innings on 105 pitches and you have to get out of jams every inning and it's really, really difficult. There's a lot more fatigue I think that sets in.

DAVE WALLACE: I think it's an innate ability that the great ones have. When you sit in pitcher's meetings -- and Burky has it to an extent, too. But any successful Major League pitcher has that. But I think the great ones really -- it's just above anybody's expectations. It never ceases to amaze you. I think Orel Hershiser had it, I remember him in his glory years, just so intelligent. They sit back and question you sometimes to keep you on your toes as a coach.

DAVE WALLACE: Does Pedro remind me of anybody?

DAVE WALLACE: Probably a combination of Marichal and Tiant. Sandy was more of just a fastball/curveball guy. But I think Juan was more of a combination of some power and some finesse and deception, and of course Luis, everybody knew Luis here. So I think probably more those two than anybody else.

DAVE WALLACE: Yeah, you know what they do, and it's not so much taking pitches. They are really good at making the pitcher work and fouling off that pitch, that 1-2 pitch or that 2-2 pitch, that's that bastard pitch that pitchers try to make. And I think that's what gets some guys into trouble more than anything else. So to counteract it, if there was a concrete way to do it, I certainly would document it and make some money selling it. I just think that sometimes you have to roll the dice and pitch according to the scoreboard. If there's a five-run lead or a one-run game, which is the likelihood, you have to do what you do and not take away from your game. And that's not a secret. That's fairly prevalent knowledge.