AL DIVISION SERIES: RED SOX v ANGELS

October 5, 2004

Johnny Damon

JOHNNY DAMON: Yeah. I think Pedro is going to be ready. I mean, yes, he has struggled down the stretch, but his pitches seem to be okay. I mean, he hit 96's the last outing. You know, he is -- I think he is just playing coy maybe, but he is going to be ready to pitch. He is acting like he doesn't have much left in the tank, but he has been great down there in the clubhouse, he has been talking, he has been having fun, and he is going to be ready to pitch.

JOHNNY DAMON: Yeah. I mean, if they can -- you know, they could get starting pitching, they are definitely going to be very tough. Their bullpen might be the best in the league, and their offense. I mean, they are scrappy, guys who can run, bunt, they hit and run a lot, and then they have the guys who can leave the bullpen, Vladdy, Garrett Anderson, Glaus, Erstad. They are a very scary team.

JOHNNY DAMON: Well, you do have to rush to go get the ball, definitely. You have to be ready to make a strong throw. They are that kind of team where you can't let up. You know, especially the guys like Figgins and Eckstein. Those guys are known to be scrappy. So you have to be ready to be throwing the ball to the base, and you have to play them in the right areas, too, because the minute they smell a double, they are going to try to take advantage of it.

JOHNNY DAMON: I think it was pretty good. I came in to Spring Training and no one really took notice of what I did for the team last year, you know, with the taking pitches of getting on base and, you know, playing pretty good ball, but people are more interested in the home runs and the runs driven in, but, you know, I am just one of those sleeper guys. And, people are going to look at the Mannys and the Ortizs and the Vlads, you know, the thing is, if I can get on base in this series, it's going to be a fun series for us because when I have done well, the team has done well. So there is a lot of pressure on me, and hopefully I can go out there and continue what I did during the course of this season.

JOHNNY DAMON: We definitely need to try to get a pitch on the plate. Once he gets ahead of you, he knows how to expand his strike zone. He has a great sinker that he can throw away, he has a sinker he can throw at left-handed hitters and come back across the plate. So we need him not to throw strikes early, and then it forces him to come back over the plate, but he is a good pitcher. He has been in situations like this. You know, this is going to be a great series. I think every pitcher -- I mean, throw out the stats of what happened this year. Both teams are going to be ready to play. Both teams are going to be ready to pitch. I mean, this is definitely going to be the most looked-upon series that's going on right now.

JOHNNY DAMON: Yeah, I think so. I think he is going to be a little -- he is going to be fresher. He is definitely in great spirits. He definitely -- when he made those comments, you know, he was just speaking. You know, he wasn't really just -- he was just so upset about getting beat by the Yankees that game, but he is ready to pitch, and he is ready to pitch in this series, and, if we get the Yankees again, hopefully we can get past the Angels, but he is going to be ready and he is going to show why he has been one of the best pitchers for a long time.

JOHNNY DAMON: Well, we know that we had some heartache last year. We felt like we had the best team out there. You know, and we were a bunch of cowboys out there last year, just enjoying every minute. Now we know we have something to prove. We don't want to be remembered as a team that, okay, we keep making it to the playoffs, but we keep having tough losses. I mean, we want to be known as a team that, you know, rewrites the history books. And I think everybody in there has one goal. We are in there and, surprisingly, we are kind of focused on the game. We are -- I mean, we miss you guys down there. It's not the same. But we are preparing, and I think we have a good shot. But we also know this Angels ball club is pretty tough. I think whoever wins this series, I mean, could go all the way. So this is definitely -- this is going to be a tough one.

JOHNNY DAMON: Well, it's nice him being focused all the time. You know, we are ready to play around and mess around, but he is somebody you don't want to talk to on the day he pitches. He wants him to be focused, and he has done a great job of it, and, I mean, it's -- you know, we are not the cowboys anymore, we are just the idiots this year, so we are going to go out and try to swing the bats, find the holes and, hopefully, good things happen. You know, we are -- this is definitely the best ball club that I have been on, I mean, that Oakland ball club in 2001 was pretty awesome. I mean, we were a bunch of frat boys there, and now this team is, you know, it's a little older, but we have that same attitude, we feel like we can win every game, we feel like we have to have fun, and I think that's why this team is liked by so many people out there. You know, the kids watching us out there, you know, we got the long hair, we got the corn rows, we got just guys acting like idiots. And I think the fans out there like it.