November 4, 2000 Glander Press Conference SALEM, NH - Salem Cowtippers manager Mike Glander was cornered by the press following his team's sudden departure (again) in the first round of the BDBL playoffs. The following is a transcript of that press conference. PETER GAMMONS (ESPN, Boston Globe and the $20 bill): Mr. Glander, here we are again. How do you feel? GLANDER: Oddly enough, not bad. I kind of expected this, Peter. Last year was the year we thought we had a real shot at the title. This year, our expectations were pretty low. HAROLD REYNOLDS (ESPN): What was up with that funky-ass strategy in Games One through Three? GLANDER: Harold, we were just trying to do whatever we could to win. When you're 7-17 against a team, you need to do something radical or you're going to lose. REYNOLDS: Uh...but you DID lose. GLANDER: Thanks, genius. We lost, but not because of that strategy. KENT BROCKMAN (Springfield News): Okay, so why DID you lose? GLANDER: Well, Kent, in a word: pitching. You look at our starters and their starters on paper and we seem pretty even, right? Yet look at the differences both in this series and all year long. Then you come to the bullpens, and there's simply no contest. Their guys don't make a mistake. The only thing our bullpen does well is make mistakes. That was the difference in this series. JIMMY OLSON (Daily Planet): Why about the hitting? Both teams scored 21 runs in this series. That seems pretty even, right? GLANDER: That's because we won one game 11-4. Take away that game and it was a nightmare. You want a more telling stat than that? Try this one on for size: we drew 11 walks in this series. They drew 23. CHRIS "MAD DOG" RUSSO (WFAN, New York): How do you compare this Los Altos team with the Zoots team that beat you last year, Mikey? GLANDER: They're actually very similar in many ways. They both have unquest- ioned strengths: the Zoots' starting pitching and the Undertakers' bullpen. The relief pitching the Zoots got in the OLDS last year was surprising, as was the starting pitching of the Undertakers in this year's OLDS. And both teams surprised the hell out of me with their hitting. I'm still trying to cope with the fact that we're sitting out of the OLCS again because of Terry Shumpert, Rich Aurilia, Bret Mayne, Jerry Hairston, Hanley Frias, Shawon Dunston and Jeff Barry. BOB COSTAS (former baseball announcer): Isn't this just another case of a small-market team not being able to compete in today's environment? GLANDER: How so, Bob? COSTAS: I don't know. Salem's pretty small... GLANDER: Next question. BIP CAREY (brother of Skip and Chip): Last year at this same time you said you regretted sacrificing future talent for the post-season. Do you feel the same way after trading so many good, young players this season? GLANDER: Not really. We knew it was a long-shot, but how many shots do you get? We had no strength, yet we built one through trade. We had the strong- est bench in the league this year thanks to pick-ups like Harold Baines, Armando Rios, Damian Easley and John Vanderwal. We improved our starting lineup to the point where I felt it had no weakness. And the addition of Knoblauch was key not only for getting to the playoffs, but he did a heckuva job for us in this series. Is it frustrating to lose so early again? Of course. Would we have done anything differently if we knew the outcome? I think we pretty much knew all along what the outcome of this season would be. But like I said, it was worth a shot. Anything can happen in a short series. The only problem is, it never happens in our favor. I still believe we have the deepest and best farm system in the league. Our day will come. BOB ABOOEY (Salem Free Press): When will that day come, Skip? GLANDER: It's hard to say, Bob. It seems we're always building toward next year. But "next year" never seems to get here. BOB ABOOEY: So...you're saying we'll win the World Series next year? GLANDER: Um...no. ROB NEYER (ESPN.com): So, what is the outlook for next year? GLANDER: I think if we did nothing all winter, we'd have a good enough team to get back to the post-season. We've got two very good hitters - Tim Salmon and Shannon Stewart - and two decent hitters - John Olerud and Jeff Cirillo. We have three very good pitchers - Eric Milton, Darren Dreifort and Javy Vazquez. And we have two decent relievers - Danny Graves and Derek Lowe. In other words, we have just enough talent to get us to another first-round exit in next year's OLDS.