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AL DIVISION SERIES: TIGERS v YANKEES


October 7, 2006


Joe Torre


DETROIT, MICHIGAN: Game Four

Q. I guess just start by telling us what you're thinking. I know you judge by effort as opposed to results. What do you think of what you saw?
JOE TORRE: I missed the last part.

Q. I know you judge by effort as opposed to results. What do you think of the last two days?
JOE TORRE: Well, it's certainly disappointing, and everyone in that locker room is disappointed. They outplayed us. They outpitched us. There's not much else you can say.
We were certainly ready to play when we came into this series, and we felt pretty good about ourselves. They showed that good pitching can stop good hitting.

Q. What would you say specifically about Jeremy Bonderman's performance this afternoon?
JOE TORRE: You know, we've had some success with him in the past, but today he -- well, he was perfect for a while. He kept the ball down real well, changed speeds real well, and, you know, got ahead in the count.
I mean, he was a pitcher's dream today as far as seemed to do whatever he felt he was trying to do at that point in time with about every pitch. He used every pitch. You know, he went hard, slow, in and out.
You know, he was a perfect example of just keeping hitters off-balance.

Q. 11 of your first 19 batters took strike one, so it wasn't a matter of patience today; correct?
JOE TORRE: No, we were ready to go up there and hit. Again, there's strike one, and the pitcher, obviously he threw in a location he wanted to. When you're hitting -- and I didn't see the video or anything -- but when you're hitting the first strike or two, you want something you can drive somewhere. Obviously he was good with his location.

Q. Obviously being eliminated is fresh, but what does this team face over the winter now in the off-season and going forward?
JOE TORRE: Oh, I don't know. You know as I said before, we felt pretty good about ourselves. But again, that's something for Cash and I and other people to talk about.
But right now, it's just -- it's just tough.

Q. 162-game season, come to a best-of-five in the first round; is the playoffs too short the first round?
JOE TORRE: Well, I mean, the way they pitched today, I don't think five or seven would have made a damn bit of difference. The last two days, Kenny and Jeremy pretty much dominated us.
But yeah, I would like to see a seven-game -- but you're right, you play 162 games and the best teams go to the post-season because that's a pretty good barometer.
You get to the post-season, and you have to be the hot team going in. We felt pretty good about that. You just have to be able to perform, you know, and we didn't pitch as well as we expected to. Obviously they did.

Q. I know that you've got your own concerns here, but what do you see between Oakland and Detroit in this next series?
JOE TORRE: You know, it's so tough for us. We haven't seen Oakland in I can't tell you how long. But watching them on TV, they are pitching their tail off. They seem to be getting healthier. You know, they have got their closer back.
This ballclub is a little more explosive probably offensively. But Oakland is playing with a great deal of confidence.
It's just, they probably should be hard-fought games, because they both have a pitching staff that's pretty deep and both managers are pretty proud of using these guys any time he wants.

Q. Other than the obvious disappointment of losing and having your season end, what's the most disappointing aspect of this loss?
JOE TORRE: Well, because we didn't -- we really didn't exhibit what we feel we're capable of.
We're pretty proud of our hitters. We just weren't able to mount any kind of a threat. You know, it's surprising more than disappointing. I'm never disappointed in these guys, because in order to get here they had to work very hard and take nothing for granted. And we certainly didn't come into this series expecting that we were going to get something for nothing.
But I think it was just the fact that, you know, we felt we were going to be a little bit more explosive offensively, and we couldn't beat them.

End of FastScripts...

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