Jose Oquendo

I wanted to give him one at-bat, because a lot of people came out to see him. But then I planned to go to Eduardo Perez. It meant a lot to him. He'd had among the fewest at-bats on the team.

Gonzalez did a good job. He came out aggressive in the strike zone, kept the ball down and moved it in and out.

Guys were aggressive on the bases and swinging the bat. I hope that continues into the second round.

We hope he can do something tomorrow. We'll see how he feels after he does some hitting work in practice.

It's a good opportunity for me. First of all I'll be managing superstars over there and there will be a lot of exposure.

That's a strong position. If we miss one guy (such as Posada), we'll have somebody who can replace him.

Bernie, he's a clutch hitter. That's the way he plays. He's proven it through the years. He hit a tough pitch back the middle. He's professional who makes clutch hits. He's always done it.

He is a great athlete. He has tremendous range. He has a good arm. A couple years ago, Womack worked hard and got better. With (Spivey), it doesn't end with spring training. You keep working all season. That's how you make big improvements.

I'm going to be careful with him. He's probably going to be in the lineup, unless he says otherwise. He's probably going to be a DH for us, unless he comes out and says he wants to play first base. I'll leave this up to him. He has experience enough that he knows how much he can play. I expect him to play.

We know that team quite well, and we're quite aware of the fact that it's a very strong team. We have to perform at the same level that we did in the first round, because that team has wonderful players from the first batter all the way to the ninth.

The passion is going to be a lot more than in the first round. This is what people were looking for. There's a lot of rivalry between islands. Fans are going to take it like a fight. We're going to take it as bragging rights and respect each other.

The things that I know from watching him in Milwaukee and Arizona, the thing we're going to work on is to charge harder. He kind of plays deep a little bit. He has tremendous range and a tremendous arm. Sometimes he has to charge the ball more and not lay back.

There has always been a tradition of competition between the islands, because they are so close to each other.

Be sure to ask him about Puerto Rico beating Canada.

The guys played aggressive baseball, but they were also being selective at the plate, unlike (Tuesday) when they were swinging at many first pitches.

They know how to throw strikes. And I want them to throw strikes. That's what I've been emphasizing. And they did a great job getting ahead of the hitters.

He's proud of what he's doing. He's not afraid to make a mistake. He trusts his ability. I believe he has always been confident in his defense, and he's getting the same way with his hitting.