AL DIVISION SERIES: TWINS v ATHLETICS

October 1, 2002

Ron Gardenhire

RON GARDENHIRE: We don't make three errors, we just don't do that very often, and it was -- honestly, it was at the point early in the game, it was kind of comical. We had guys coming in saying come on, what are we doing, and you just have to keep them calm. You didn't know what to expect with a young baseball team coming into a playoff situation. The game was getting a little crazy on us, we had to gather ourselves and get ourselves under control early in the game. Coming back like that, that's the way we played all year. We do that -- that's our forte, try to stay close, and then we always feel that we can get you if we stay close enough and get our ballpark involved, but the three errors, that's not our baseball team. The fly balls, they were comical, the whole day seemed like every one was a looper in between, nothing was easy. I think everything got thrown at us, so if you are talking about playoff experience, I think we experienced everything today.

RON GARDENHIRE: Yeah, I would have a hard time finding three innings this year that we played like that. I know our last series in Chicago we got whomped pretty good, but we didn't miss the ball, they just knocked it all over the plays, missing the ball, missing the cutoff. I think it was just nerves. Koskie makes a play and throws it in the dirt, and Doug has made that play all year, that's not normal, but you know what, anything can happen in the playoffs. We came out a little tighter than I thought we would, or maybe a little "jitterier," and we gathered ourselves and kept playing. We always talk about nine innings and, fortunately for us, we got back in the game.

RON GARDENHIRE: I don't think I ever talked about a split. I don't do that -- we talked about coming out and winning every baseball game. Maybe some of our guys talked about that, we come out to win every baseball game we play, we always do that, and as soon as the game was over today, that's the first thing I said in the clubhouse, we have won a baseball game, we have got another one to play tomorrow and it's just as important as this one is today. This is a great baseball team over there, they don't win 100-plus games for not being a great baseball team. They have got Mulder going on the mound, as tough as anybody in the league. We have got our work cut out for us, but we know we can play. We got some stuff out of our system today. We were game on as the game went along, but we have to win another ball game. I don't like that talk. I am not into that at all. We have got to it's all about winning every game.

RON GARDENHIRE: We saw a lot of situations, we had those left hitters in there and you can tell yourself bring a right-hander in to face this guy, but I have all the confidence in the world. Our left-handers can get anybody out. Santana, here is a young kid out of the bullpen and facing some great hitters out there, and I had chance to bring a right-hander in, but I feel that J.C., Santana and Guardado can get anybody out. I never brought a righty in because I thought they could get lefties or righties out and they did it.

RON GARDENHIRE: There was a lot of things going on. I thought the Koskie homerun was a huge pick me up. When Koskie hit that homerun, there was some unease in the dugout, there was some guys walking around screaming let's go, and I was trying to calm them down, and Koskie hit the homerun and everything fell back into place. Right then I think our guys said, hey, you know, we got a shot here, keep playing, boys,. But I thought that was huge.

RON GARDENHIRE: I have got to believe so. I have got to believe, and only time will tell, but it was huge. We knew it. We embarrassed ourselves for the first three innings, not catching the ball and looked a little bit like folly. So yeah, we come back and win a baseball game like that, tough situations, that's got to help, do nothing but help, but I have been proud of these guys all year for playing nine innings. We talk about playing nine innings and that's what we did today. Well, actually, we played six, we were there for three and we played six. I will give you the first three and then we played six.

RON GARDENHIRE: After everything that happened today, I can't remember A.J.'s play at the plate, and that's the truth. I know he got some big base hits, led off with a base hit to left field off Lilly, that was huge, and then we put together a few hits. A.J. had a good day. He was battling through some tough situations. We were missing the ball. Nobody said anything about Radke. Radke pitched his butt off today. That he was probably the best five innings a guy can pitch, and Radke kept us in the game for five innings. That could have been a real blow-up. And A.J., you always have to tip your hat to the catcher, too. He stayed after the game. We didn't do too much right, but A.J. has done it for us all year. He is an All Star this year. He deserves it. He is a tough at bat. May not be pretty all the time, tough hitter, he gets some big hits for you and he did it again today.

RON GARDENHIRE: I would lie if I said no. Absolutely it does. You know, you think about that, last time we were out here (Inaudible) hit a homerun to beat us and I think hit three homeruns to take the lead, so you start thinking about those things but Rick Anderson, my pitching coach, right away we just looked at each other and he said "I am going to go talk to him." And I said, "Absolutely, calm him down a little bit, gather himself, throw the ball over the plate and take our chances." And that's what Eddie has been doing all year and I knew he was really excited, pumped up today. I looked in the ballpark a couple times in the 7th and 8th and he had his head down, I think he was praying, I really do. He got through, but he was a little too fired up, but he got through it.