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NL DIVISION SERIES: BRAVES v CARDINALS


October 6, 2000


Bobby Cox

Kevin Millwood


ATLANTA, GEORGIA: Workout Day

BOBBY COX: We did not want him to sit around any longer, he threw the ball very well that day and the last start. We have a lot of confidence in Kevin. For tomorrow's game, we have two other real good pitchers to go out.

Q. Would you comment on the fact that it is a must-win situation you have not had the best year you could have had, just talk about what it feels like to go out tomorrow?

KEVIN MILLWOOD: It is exciting. I mean, being in the Playoffs is exciting in itself. Being in a situation like tomorrow makes it all that much more exciting; that is what it is all about. It is all about having a chance to help your team along, maybe in a rough situation or even in good situations. Tomorrow I have that chance. Like I said, I am real excited about it.

Q. From your perspective what do you think the difference is between this year and last year?

KEVIN MILLWOOD: I wish I knew. I mean, if I would have known, you know, I would have had a lot better year. You know, I think I just had a few mechanical things that were wrong. It took me a long time to figure them out. This is the first time I have been through something like this. In the long run, it will help me out in the future. I think, late in the season, I started to throw the ball a lot better, get a little confidence, I feel like now I can go out and win on any day.

Q. Would you talk about the confidence you have in Kevin in the must-win situation?

BOBBY COX: Kevin has thrown the ball good this year, it is a lot better than you give him credit for. I can remember the first start in Chicago, he had a shutout, came out in the 8th, we blew that game for him. He had several games like that. He has been throwing the ball really well. I think he had, maybe not quite as good a season as last year, but certainly good. We believe in Kevin a lot, that is why he is going out there. As I said, I think he threw the ball very well this year. Maddux, there is no reason to pitch him up a day, to be honest with you. He will have his full rest going into Sunday's game. He will be stronger and be able to go longer, probably. We like the situation as it stands, it is the only situation we can be happy with. We won three games before. It is not as tough as you make it out to be; if you have the pitching, you have a good chance at it. We feel we have three very good starters out there.

Q. Can you talk about the similarities between where you are now and the 1996 series?

BOBBY COX: It is exactly the same. We need three ball games. If you look at it, with our starting pitching, we have a good chance to do that. It is basically the same team, we rolled off 15 in a row, quite honestly. The last three series of the season, they were running quality pitchers out there, a real good ball club, trying to qualify for the Playoffs, we ran into the Mets, we went 7-2 in those series, those were as big as it got down the stretch. Any team could have gone in that faltered a little bit. The one that faltered was not going to make it; it was Arizona at the time. Sort of the same situation right here.

Q. Losing the home field advantage, being one strike away, how much impact did that have, did it take anything out of the team?

BOBBY COX: I don't think it took anything out of the team. Once it was over, it was over, the next day. You do not reflect back on that. Certainly we were going after that hard, we were pushing hard for that. We wanted to open up here before our hometown fans, naturally, and have the home field advantage all the way through. If Randy Johnson beat the Giants, we would have had that, if we won our ball game. It was a little bit of a let down that particular day. After that, there were pluses opening up on the road, too. But, it is something we have not dwelled on. I have not heard it mentioned. We just did not play our best baseball in St. Louis. They were swinging and getting base hits and hit the ball awfully hard yesterday. You have to remember, they have a very powerful team and a good ball club, play great defense, their pitching has improved so much over last season. When you pick up a Will Clark and do what he has been doing ever since they got him, it is just, it is phenomenal, to me. He has really made that team go. Mark McGwire, I am sure, they hated to lose him, to get a guy to come in and pick that up, is really saying something. I think that that was one of the big acquisitions of the season.

Q. Sometimes when you lose players it gives you an emotional lift, they lost McGwire and Matheny, do you think it worked for them?

BOBBY COX: It could have. I don't know. We lost our share, too. You always try to pick each other up, that is what they are doing.

Q. You have not seen Clark in the last couple of years, is this the best you have seen him since when?

BOBBY COX: Since his early days in San Francisco, we were always trying to trade for Will Clark. All through the years, we always wanted to acquire Will Clark over the years. We were never, you know -- because of the type of player he was, required a lot to get him. But I -- I don't know, I don't think I have ever seen him this good. He is really good right now. We have to find a way to get him out.

Q. This team has done so well for so long, with consistency, in a businesslike manner. Does this team have what it takes, the fire, to go through this series?

BOBBY COX: We always have done well in the Playoffs, we won more Playoff games than anybody, as far as I know. There is a tremendous amount of emotion. Will we dance on the field? No. Are we going to run the bases backwards to show up the other team? No. If that is what you call emotion, you are wrong. This team is loaded with emotion. I do not see any reason to show up teams with it.

Q. You mentioned earlier your team did not play the best baseball in St. Louis.

BOBBY COX: You can have bad days. We had two pretty bad days. The first game, I was happy with the come back, we had a chance to win that game, after giving up six runs in the first inning, that is pretty good emotions in that dugout right there. Nobody gave up. We had a great chance to win. Yesterday's ball game was just, you know, they had good pitching and we could not recover.

Q. Maddux and Glavine have very different styles from yours, what do you take from watching them to face the lineup tomorrow?

BOBBY COX: Stay away from Clark.

KEVIN MILLWOOD: We are very different in styles. I feel like I can get away more with missing my location a little bit than those guys. I guess in a way that is a good thing. Maybe after seeing those two guys and being keyed on, changeups and location, maybe that will give me a little bit of an advantage, or, I hope it does. I will probably watch the tape tonight on these guys and have a game plan from that and go after them tomorrow.

Q. Bobby, do you plan any lineup changes for tomorrow?

BOBBY COX: If there is, it will be minor, but basically I think it will be the same. We have some guys not swinging so hot, maybe we will get fired up tomorrow. We will think about it. Probably basically the same lineup.

End of FastScripts....

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