It's a good feeling to come in here and play the first two games well. This team has played us very well and given us a battle each and every night. Right now, it's the stretch run, so we need to play every game as hard as we can, leave it all out on the field and have fun out there. |
It's not a simple nursing home. It's a safety net for people who have nothing else. |
Mel was wonderful for our pitching staff. He worked very well with the veterans as well as the young guys, which was really big for us, especially with what we went through early. We could have been down in the dumps, but we could count on Mel and [manager] Joe [Torre] to keep us together. Things worked out well. |
Our bottom line is the quality of the care there. It would probably take 6 to 9 months to close it down because we don't want to abandon the patients. |
That kid -- is it Gavin? I watched him the last two times he?s pitched, and to me he reminds me of Roger Clemens with his arm and the way he can locate pitches. He went and did it again today. |
That's always a good thing, especially late, to see where you are. A couple of outings ago, I got threw a total of 25 to 30 [pitches]. That's when I knew I was getting over the hump, and starting to build up my arm. |
The inning was good, my tempo was off a little bit. The feeling out there came back quicker to me than I thought. It really felt good. |
They probably think no matter what the score is, they can beat us. |
To some degree, (closing) is similar to being a setup man. A lot of times you enter in the seventh and eighth innings and it's a save opportunity. The different aspect is you have to have the makeup, the attitude and a short memory. One day, you're the greatest thing and the next day you stink. The good thing for me is I've done it and had success. |
We all want to be out there. Still, you have to use a little common sense. The more he pitches, the more he has to monitor himself. Making so many pitches affects your stuff. Once it affects your stuff, you can give up runs, and then you're kicking yourself. Your body has to tell you. Your arm might feel good, but then your legs might not feel so great. It's a delicate balance. |
You might as well call the kid 'Crash,' because that's what he's going to do. [He] crashes into everything he can out there. When I see a ball hit anywhere close to center field, I know he's got it. |