How did the World Baseball Classic change spring training this year?
RUSSELL: It’s been longer, obviously. It gives you a little more time to prepare. It gives you a little more time to get your pitching in order, to get guys playing time. That’s the biggest thing. … More than anything, it’s stretched spring training out another week, gives you a little more time for evaluation, time to get your players ready. SN: As a player, you were a catcher on teams with a ton of great pitchers — Steve Carlton, Nolan Ryan, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Goose Gossage. Who had the best stuff? RUSSELL: Hands down, I think everyone would agree Nolan had the best stuff. He was a very hard thrower. He had a breaking ball. Stuff-wise, he was the best. Other guys, Carlton, Kevin Brown, had great stuff. Jamie Moyer was finesse. Glavine was finesse. Smoltz had that power mentality. I was pretty fortunate to catch a pretty good gamut of pitchers. It helped me a lot in my career, and it helped me a lot in my managerial career, seeing how those guys operate. SN: How so? RUSSELL:
