AL DIVISION SERIES: TWINS v ATHLETICS

October 1, 2002

Joe Mays

JOE MAYS: I felt great, you know, throughout this past -- since I came back, really then just preparing myself for the post-season, just trying to work on some things. Mechanically, trying to get my confidence back, relying on the fastball a little bit more. And, basically, that's all it's been this second half is getting prepared for the post-season. Once I came back, I pretty much knew that we were going to be in the post-season, just a matter of getting myself ready for it.

JOE MAYS: You know, I really think it did at one point. You know, we had our September call-ups, and giving them a chance to get in there and play, and settling down our starters a little bit, giving them a little rest, rejuvenation. But as of late, the past about week or so, we have been starting our starters and giving them at-bats, and playing them five, six innings, getting them used to seeing pitches again, getting their rhythm and tempo down. I think these guys -- we played an entire nine innings, and that's what's so great about our team. Even though we are up so far, or down by five, or up by five, we never shut it down, and that's what makes our team so good.

JOE MAYS: You want me to spill the beans straight up, don't you? No, just kidding. Obviously the NVP season, you really got to watch for him, he is the one guy you don't want to hurt you, Chavez can hit the ball a long ways, but, basically, if you do your pitches and throw them where they need to be, and keep the ball down, these guys are very aggressive, they swing the bat, they are not up there really to take too many walks. There is a couple guys on there, you got Ellis, he will take quite a few pitches, you know, those guys. You have to be careful with him. Durham, he tries to work the count. Getting them where they are a little more defensive and make them swing the bats. Other than that, I think if you execute your pitches, you are going to have a pretty good chance.

JOE MAYS: Yeah, it was pretty probably my better starts. I mean, since I have came back I have had -- I have thrown against Pedro twice, Mulder twice, Burly [ph] two or three times, so I have matched up some pretty good pitchers. Again, I am going to match up Mulder tomorrow, and the thing is, you got limited space. Your margin for error is not very big, especially going up against a lineup like that, and going up against a pitcher like Mulder, so you got to execute your pitches and try to stay focused the entire nine innings, or entire time you are out there, because once you relax or take your mind off it, that's when you are going to get hurt.

JOE MAYS: Yeah, like you said, he has been around. Mike Jackson has been through it, Bobby Wells has been through it. I mean, these guys are guys that you kind of get their experience by talking to him, and Reeder, he is one of those ones you sit next to him and just talk to him. Last night during our workout I talked to him a little bit about it, and he says it just gets magnified, everything you do is magnified to the enth power, so you try to relax and try to stay within yourself and not change anything because you are here for a reason, and what you did throughout the season is why you are here, so there is no reason to change.

JOE MAYS: Obviously, I love throwing on the grass. It's going to keep my -- throw a few more ground balls with the sinker. I have a lot of confidence in the sinker right now. Actually, my last bullpen it was moving quite a bit. It's just a matter of not going out there and try and throw 95, just staying within myself and throwing, you know, the 87's and 89's that I usually do, and allowing the movement to take over again. During the day, as you know, the ball does fly out of here pretty good, you do got the sun to fight against, but then again, we have a pretty good defense, and that's what I am going to really rely on is throwing the ball over the plate allowing my defense to play behind me and, therefore, I believe I will give my team a chance to be in the game.

JOE MAYS: Pretty much. Obviously, you know, everybody in the clubhouse, you don't see many changes. The guys are very relaxed, still playing our cards, playing our dominos in there, you know, playing our music, trying to stay in the program, and the stuff that we have been doing the entire season. Obviously, like I said, this is magnified a little bit and, you know, sitting in here and talking to the press, I mean, this is the first time for me, but then again, you can't let this stuff get your mind screwed, you got to stay out there and stay after it and not get all caught up in the moment.

JOE MAYS: I believe so. It's going to be hard. Obviously, if Brad goes out there and throws a great game today, and we come out on the better end, I think I will be able to come out there and relax a little bit more tomorrow, but then again, if we go down 0-1, I think that game is more important than what it would be if we was up one, and I think that's going to add a little bit of added pressure, but then again, like I said, I am going to try my hardest to stay relaxed. It, obviously, is going to be hard, but once I get out there behind the lines, it's game time, and I get my bulldog's face on, and whatever it takes for us to get a win, that's what I am going to do.

JOE MAYS: Yeah. I don't know who it helps more, us or them. Obviously, they have seen us as of late quite a bit, but then again, we have seen them. So they kind of cross each other out. They have seen us pitch the last four or five, six games here as of late, and then again, we have seen their hitters quite a bit. But again, this is the post-season, and everything they have done during the season, everything we have done, is marked off. I mean, everybody is back to zero beginning today, and everybody's ERA is zero beginning today, so we just got to go from there. If our team goes out there and relaxes, swing the bats like they know how to, try to be patient, you know, Hudson is a great pitcher but so is Brad. It's going to be a fun game, it's going to be a fun series. I am looking forward to it.

JOE MAYS: I wish I knew that. I wish we could pack the dome up and take it with us wherever we go. People really don't understand how to play on the turf right off the bat, it takes them a game or two to get adapted to it. We played there all season, we could see the balls in the roof, we know how fast the ball moves on the turf. Then again, we go on the road and the game kind of -- it slows down a little bit. You know, those ground balls don't get through the infield as quick, and with the team speed that we have, those balls that get through the infield, those are doubles a lot of times unless they are right at somebody in the outfield, but on the grass those ground balls that usually get through the holes are getting ate up, and guys are making great plays on them, so I think that has a little bit to do with it, but then again, the elements change. I mean, we are outdoors and when we are in the dome it's always 70 degrees so we know it's perfect.