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NL DIVISION SERIES: GIANTS v BRAVES


October 3, 2002


Gary Sheffield


ATLANTA, GEORGIA: Game Two

` Q. Now that you have gone through a season with Bobby Cox, is he still the manager you that dreamed of playing for?

GARY SHEFFIELD: Yes, I stated all along when I first got here how much I respected him and wanted to play for him. He's treated me with a lot of respect here, just let me go out and play my game. First thing and most important thing he told me, just go out and have fun because you deserve that.

Q. Would you talk about facing Kirk Rueter and what your approach is with him?

GARY SHEFFIELD: It's the same as facing Glavine. He's our guy to try to run the ball off the outside part of the plate. He might throw a little bit harder but the thing is, breaking ball to go along with it, you really have to stay back and use the whole field.

Q. Bobby Cox mentioned yesterday that you are a lot like Maddux and that you played the game before it's played in your own mind. How do you go about doing that?

GARY SHEFFIELD: I just try to approach it as knowing the pitchers. I just try to go out there and stay with my strength. If they stay away from my strength, I have to make adjustments each and every at-bat, pitch-to-pitch. If they come in that box I have to be ready. I can't get away from my game plan, just stick to the solid box and just go from there.

Q. Pitchers like Rueter and Glavine sometimes might have a little advantage in that they are more off-speed and the hitter can be too aggressive; how do you avoid that?

GARY SHEFFIELD: Sometimes it's hard to avoid it. You want to do something big in this series and these games, it's a lot of fun to be out there playing these games. But when you have pitchers trying to frustrate you, the most difficult thing to do is be disciplined. You just try to stay within yourself and not go out of your game plan, and hopefully they make a mistake.

Q. It's been five years since you were in a playoffs. How does this year's Braves team compare to the Marlins?

GARY SHEFFIELD: The Florida Marlins team was a lot of rah-rah guys. You had Darren Dalton and Alex Fernandez, guys like that. There was a lot of rah-rah guys. This bunch is laid back, a lot of confidence, expect to win and never take anything for granted.

Q. When you were with the Dodgers, you expressed that maybe the Dodgers needed some more of that spirit that the Marlins had. If this team doesn't have it, is it necessary or is it just a difference in teams?

GARY SHEFFIELD: Well, I think guys within, they have the rah-rah in them but they just doesn't express it where everybody can see it and write about it. If you see Maddux behind closed doors he's the most intense person you'll ever meet but when he's on the field he'll try to keep his exposure. But I'm sure you hear those mikes every now and then.

Q. You were with Livan and Nen. How are they different on a championship team as when you were with them before?

GARY SHEFFIELD: I think with Livan, I think he's a lot more of a finesse pitcher now. Back then, he was a guy that threw in the upper 90s and he would set up with his fastball. He would throw a breaking ball or whatever and then you see his fastball, it looks like it's one hundred miles an hour. With Nen, he was throwing one hundred miles an hour and he would come right at you with his fastballs. Now, I think coming into it, he's a lot smarter. With a one-run game, he doesn't just throw you a quickie in case a guy might catch up to it. He'll set you off with a slider.

Q. What's it been like getting to watch Andruw Jones play centerfield for a full season?

GARY SHEFFIELD: It's probably the most amazing thing I've ever seen. I had the luxury to playing next to Devon White and it was similar, but just seeing Andruw from day to day. A lot of times, Chipper and I, we have to move ourselves a little bit. We get so caught up in watching him we don't go after the ball. We have to remind ourselves to go get it because we think he can catch everything.

Q. Could you talk about how your personal and professional life have come together this year?

GARY SHEFFIELD: I think now, you know, being a family man, it kind of puts everything in perspective. Things don't bother me as much with baseball anymore. A lot of things people say and do to you, they really don't bother me because when you have a loving family to go home to, these things really don't matter to you.

Q. Talk about how it was going out to the Bay Area and working out with Barry and how that has helped you this season?

GARY SHEFFIELD: Barry talks a lot about passing the torch. He's been on me for years to come out and there and train. He called me lazy, but the thing is, I work hard, but until I seen his workout, I realized I wasn't working hard. He's one of the most intense guys. His work out -- right now, I feel like it's April. I can go through another 162 ballgames; that's just how I feel. So with that in mind, I'm going back out and doing it again.

Q. Have you and Barry Bonds had any contact during the series?

GARY SHEFFIELD: Yeah, he's the godfather of my son. He wouldn't let me hold my son the whole series; he's been taking over.

Q. When you watch Barry swing the bat, what amazes you most about his performance?

GARY SHEFFIELD: Just the discipline he has and his balance. He never goes out of his way or chases the pitcher's pitch and things like that. Even when he's hitting, I'm learning something and I'm watching things and trying to take it to my at-bats. You know, when he keeps his balance back, that's probably the most impressive thing, is because you've got so many guys throwing different speeds and different angles, it never seems to phase him.

Q. Do you have a sense that Barry is under a lot of pressure because of who he is -- there as a mention of when he made an error yesterday, somebody on television said, "Oh, his post-season woes continue." Do you have a sense of that?

GARY SHEFFIELD: Me and Barry talk about it a lot. We just know that we are in that position. There's nothing we can do about it. It's one of those things where we are not going to let anybody take away from the fun we have on the field. Like I said, you can write what you want to write and say what you want to say, but Barry is not feeling any tension whatsoever in this series. Like I said, it's the family life and all of the other things you've got going on in your life that are really important to you that you don't really care about it.

Q. Did you think that the fans were a factor yesterday, either positively or negatively?

GARY SHEFFIELD: Oh, very positive. That was all the difference in the world. It was so loud and when you're hitting, it makes you relax a little bit. I know there was a lot of pressure at Robb Nen at the particular time, but it just goes to show you what kind of closer he is because he was there to put it out of his mind and make a great pitch.

Q. Describe your swing.

GARY SHEFFIELD: Well, I have a hard time figuring it out myself. It's one of those things where I have a lot of families coming up to me and say their son is emulating my hitting, things like that. First thing I ask them, "is it working?" It's one of those things where I wouldn't teach it to anybody. It's just something that happened naturally for me. I really can't describe it.

End of FastScripts�.

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