NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: GIANTS v CARDINALS

October 14, 2002

Jason Schmidt

JASON SCHMIDT: Yeah it's the same routine. I don't want to pitch in St. Louis, obviously but if that's what we've got to do, that's what we've got to do. I'm going to go out and do the same thing I always do between starts.

JASON SCHMIDT: We have a good training staff. They keep us healthy. Whenever we have got the aches and pains, they get us through the exercises when we need to take care of ourselves. We have a pretty young staff for the most part, too. When you have youth on your side, you're a little more durable. I've had my ups and downs, but have found ways to get out there. That's just the key, make sure you can keep yourself out there.

JASON SCHMIDT: I was just thinking about that the other day. Here we are and of the choices that I had, obviously what we did last year, we were so close, and I knew we had a great chance to do it this year and I keep thinking back to what Reggie Sanders said when he signed here, was he had a chance to go back to Arizona as well. He just said I had this gut feeling when he signed with Arizona last year that we were going to win the whole thing. And I had that gut feeling and that's why I wanted to sign with San Francisco this year. We've made it this far, and I just keep going back to those two things, and here we are.

JASON SCHMIDT: I think we all prefer staying in California instead of making the trip over to Minnesota. We get to stay in the same time zone. We have definitely had some tough travel going back and forth from Atlanta and St. Louis and getting in at 6 o'clock in the morning. If we end up going to Anaheim I think it will be much easier on us. I think it will be exciting for the State of California and it will be good for baseball. We're looking forward to it.

JASON SCHMIDT: That's a tough question. Obviously, I think what we've done this year kind of speaks for the way he's handled the staff. He's done a great job. He never leaves you out too long and he seems to know the right time to take you out of games. He always gives you the opportunity to win the ballgame. He handles the ballgame really well. He definitely makes a lot of moves. He's always thinking. It's a chess game with him. He does an outstanding job.

JASON SCHMIDT: Just as crucial as Game 2 was. Just as crucial as tonight. Any time you give them a chance to come back and gain any ground, you definitely don't want to do that. So every game is just as big as any other one. I'm taking it just like I did my last start.

JASON SCHMIDT: You're facing the same team back-to-back, so I think it has its pluses and disadvantages. I'm going to go out there with the same mindset and you try to duplicate what you did in the past. Try to keep that same effort level. Obviously that's hard to do throughout the whole season, go out there with every single pitch and just let it fly. When this time of year rolls around, you just put everything on the line and try to do that.

JASON SCHMIDT: Actually I have not paid too much attention to it. We are all so glued into the game, we don't really realize what's going on around us. It's like when I'm on the mound, if you ask me what's going on around me, I couldn't tell you. Especially last night, that's one of the most exciting games of the year; I didn't even see what was in the stands or anything. But I am aware that everybody has them in baseball, and it's something new. We've seen it on TV in the playoffs and stuff like that. You hear them every now and then.