Oct. 22 Bruce Bochy pregame interview

Q.  After all the talk about the rain forecast for today, to see the sunny skies, no worries, delays, is that a relief not to have that concern?

BRUCE BOCHY:  It is.  I know it rained all night.  And I think the field is in great shape.  I'll check it out once we take batting practice.  But it's good not to have that being an issue in a big game like this.

Q.  You said you had not been out there much today to check it out yet?

BRUCE BOCHY:  No, I haven't yet.  But I'll check it out during batting practice.  This ground crew, they do a great job.  If there were any issues with water you'd hear the machines going.  As far as I know it's in great shape and all set to go.

Q.  Might sound ridiculous at this point, have you allowed yourself at all, you and Dave, to think about how you might set up your rotation or go with Game 1 if things work out?

BRUCE BOCHY:  No, we're not even talking about that.  This is a pretty big game tonight we're thinking about.

Q.  I think this is your first Game 7, if I'm correct.  But you've had a lot of elimination games obviously this October.  Just what's your personal mindset on days like this and games like this and what really do you want the team to be focusing on?

BRUCE BOCHY:  Well, I think that the guys, I do myself, I think you need to appreciate what's ahead of us here tonight and how hard you worked for it, how difficult it is to get to this point.  You start in Spring Training and it's a lot of hard work and you're trying to get to postseason, and now you're playing for the pennant.  So it should be an honor.  It should be exciting for you.

Sure, it's a big game, but you have to remember how hard that you did have to work to get here.  And particularly this club, with what we have been facing here in the postseason.  So we could really consider ourselves fortunate to bring it to this point.  And I want these guys to enjoy it, savor it, and it's going to be intense out there.  But you have to appreciate what you've done to get to this point.

Q.  Do you have a brief pregame meeting, perhaps relay the message that you just told us?

BRUCE BOCHY:  I may.  We've had little meetings throughout the postseason.  I'll get a feel, the mood, the tempo of the club and see where we're at.  But I think they're all set to go.

Q.  When you see Hunter roll in and out of the clubhouse on his scooter, do you have any concerns that might not be the safest way to get to the ballpark day‑in and day‑out?

BRUCE BOCHY:  He's a pretty good athlete.  I know Wilson does it, too.  I really don't think about it, to be honest.  I don't see him roll in.  I've heard about it, but these guys are going to live their lives and you want them to have fun, as long as it's under control.  I think he should be able to handle that.

Q.  What did you learn in 2010 that might be carrying over now?  Do you reflect on those things when you make decisions now?

BRUCE BOCHY:  Hard question.  I think you draw from all your experiences, whether it's during the season or postseason.

What I've learned?  It's a pitch at a time.  And also I think, again, as I mentioned earlier, appreciate where you're at and have some fun with it.  And that's what we're trying to do despite what's at stake every game we've been facing, including tonight's game.

But as far as the game management, I really can't tell you.

Q.  As a player you had 84 fifth game down in San Diego, how much different is it as a manager to manage in one of these games as opposed to playing in it; is it anymore exciting, any different?  The second is:  In 2010 you clinched all these series on the road.  This is the first time you get a chance to clinch at home.

BRUCE BOCHY:  Well, as a player, I was a role player, so I didn't have a lot of say what happened in those games.

But as a manager you probably have a lot more going on as far as things you want to do.  Of course, dealing with the media.  Your mind is going constantly.  You're trying to think of ways to help your ballclub, either before the game or during the game.  And the games stay with you I think longer as a manager.  I think all managers will tell you that.

But ultimately it's up to the players.  They deserve the credit with what's happened here.  But I will say for me, there's a lot more time spent thinking about the game on this side than as a player.  Once the game is over hopefully you wash it off and come out and play the next day, where we're thinking about lineups and things like that.

The second part, I forgot.

Q.  As far as being able to win this at home.

BRUCE BOCHY:  Well, it's great to be in this situation, to be at home.  That's where the record came in handy.  We stumbled here at home in the first series, but we've been playing better here.  We're excited about having our fans here and being at home in the 7th game here.

Q.  As you've gotten to know Pagan this year, have you considered him a classic change of scenery guy, or maybe a fresh start helped him rediscover that talent, after the year he had?

BRUCE BOCHY:  Yeah, I think it's always good for a player sometimes, a change of scenery can do them well.  They occasionally will, I hate to say, get stale, but they seem to become a different player sometimes with a different club.  Same with the player that could be with us that moves on.  You see that happen a lot.

With Angel, we really thought he was a really good player with the Mets and he did a good job over there.  And we gave up a couple of good players for him.  But we wanted a player like this to help us out in the lead‑off spot or even the 5, 6 hole where he was earlier in the season.  I think he likes it here and he's enjoyed his time here and his play showed it.

Q.  After Game 3 you were talking about Pence being down on himself.  You mentioned that you, yourself, maybe had some decisions that you looked back on and could have done better.  Does that reflect the tightness of these series, maybe the razor's edge?  Do you feel it a little more as a manager in these games than you've felt in some of the past ones?

BRUCE BOCHY:  I'll get back to the previous question, the difference between a player and a manager is that exact thing you're talking about here.  As a manager you're always thinking something you could have done different to help win that ballgame.  And you have a little bit more say in some of the things that could happen occasionally out there, whether it's a pitching change or you're putting a runner in motion, things like that.

So that's what I take time to do occasionally is say:  Well, what could I have done different to help the ballclub?  I don't know if I would have done anything different as far as the postseason has gone so far, but I'm just telling Hunter, we all do this, but we don't just hold ourselves responsible for not winning that ballgame.  We all need to try to do something to win the game, including the coaches or manager.

Q.  Brian Wilson in 2010 was such a big contributor on the field.  This time around what's he been like during the playoffs, and in what ways is he finding to contribute?

BRUCE BOCHY:  I try not to watch Brian, to be honest (laughter), I've got enough to watch during the game, and he can distract you in the dugout.  There's some things going on, I know, and sometimes ‑‑ you're better off turning your head and not watching him.

But I'll say this, he's been there for the guys.  He's pulling for them.  He's been a great cheerleader.  He does a great job of keeping the guys loose and having fun with this.  So it's been nice to have him around despite what's happened with him, he's really pulling hard for his teammates.

Q.  Among other things you might not watch, the pregame huddle in the dugout with the players jumping up and down, Wilson and Pence are part of that.  How have you seen that evolve and is it carrying over on the field?

BRUCE BOCHY:  Yeah, it's right there in front of you, or me, so you see it.  Guys get together and have a little chat there.  They have fun with it.  It's a way of all of them getting together and letting each other know, hey, we're all here together, we're pulling for each other, and just getting themselves ready for the game.  It started in that Cincinnati series and they have a ritual now, and it's been working.

Q.  You went into the season with so many disparate parts and you've got a starting lineup really that has only one guy in it from 2010 and your starting rotation was a lot different, no Wilson.  How much different was it to manage this team and get to this point than it was two years ago?

BRUCE BOCHY:  Well, I'd say it's similar in some respects.  Two years ago we made some changes.  We tweaked the lineups, we brought Buster up.  We had Pat Burrell help us out, Cody Ross, and similar with this year.  We made some changes, tweaked the lineup, Pagan went from the 5 hole to the lead‑off spot.  Blanco was in the lead‑off spot.  We've gone with a set lineup, and that's made it easier than in 2010, where if you look at the World Series, I end up sitting Pat down, Schierholtz started, we tweaked it a little bit, where now it's pretty much the same lineup that we're writing down every day, and that's an easy thing to do.