Transcripts

BILL WAREHAM: Less than 24 hours after celebrating in Three Rivers Stadium, and about 24 hours from the first pitch of the 1991 World Series, Atlanta Braves players were taking their swings in the batting cage and shagging fly balls under the Teflon roof in Minneapolis. It's unfamiliar territory for most of them, but Game 1 starter Charlie Leibrandt made his share of appearances there when he played for the Kansas City Royals.

CHARLIE LEIBRANDT: I made my American League debut here, and I had some success without knowing about this park. And I think that's the way my teammates would rather have it not know much about this park, because the more about it, the more horror stories there are. Losing balls in the roof, high choppers going over, bouncing over infielders head, or guys not having enough time to throw a guy out. So the less I think the better off you are.

BILL WAREHAM: Leibrandt's current National League teammates won't be entirely blissfully ignorant of all the dome has to offer. Center fielder Ron Gant says he learned a thing or two during the team's hour and a half workout.

RON GANT: We've learned a lot of things. I mean, this is the first time most of the guys on the team have seen this place and it's different. I haven't really seen anything like it with a white roof before. And it's going to be a hard picking up balls. And from what I understand, it's going to be hard to communicate in the outfield and in the infield. So we're going to have to come up with some gimmicks to communicate out there, and it's not going to be voice wise, that's for sure.

BILL WAREHAM: Gant says baseball fans will likely see a lot of exaggerated arm waving as the Braves try to direct one another around the artificial turf.

RON GANT: We're definitely going to use that. Like I said, we can't communicate, so we're going to have to use sign language or something. I mean, if it's arms, legs, eyelids, whatever, we're going to have to use something.

BILL WAREHAM: What's clear from talking to Gant and some of the other Braves is that they haven't had a lot of time to delve into the specifics of preparing for Game 1. But the fact is the Braves haven't had time to look beyond the next day's game for weeks.

Unlike the Twins, who spent the last half of the regular season as division frontrunners and won their pennant five days before the beginning of the World Series, Atlanta came from behind to clinch on the regular season's last weekend, and similarly, came from behind to win the pennant in the maximum seven games, which begs the question, how long can they keep it up? To which Braves third baseman Terry Pendleton resoundingly answers, as long as they have to.

TERRY PENDLETON: Rest in November. Right now, you've got a job to do. And we've been through this all year long, where we haven't had an opportunity to sit back and relax at all. So I don't know if it'll be good or bad for us in this series, but I know we've been doing it all year, so it's nothing different.

BILL WAREHAM: Pendleton should have an idea whether it's good or bad later tonight, when either his Braves team or the Twins have a 1-0 lead in the 88th World Series. I'm Bill Wareham.