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AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: MARINERS v YANKEES


October 13, 2000


Paul Abbott


SEATTLE, WASHINGTON: Game Three

Q. What did you learn in your last start about pitching in the post-season?

PAUL ABBOTT: People are awfully noisy. (Laughter.) This time it will be different because we are home. Chicago, those people were pulling for the other team, and they were awfully loud. Really, it's just another game, the routine I've been sticking to all year and that's basically what I tried to do all week leading up to it and that's what I'm trying to do to get ready for tomorrow.

Q. Have you ever had this much attention paid to you before a start before?

PAUL ABBOTT: No. (Smiles).

Q. You have not exactly had the smoothest path to here. Was there ever a point where you wondered whether you would get a chance to pitch in a game of this importance?

PAUL ABBOTT: Actually, that was on the after-burners. Main thing was to get healthy. Rehab from various injuries, and just try to get back to the big leagues. So post-season was not really the goal; just to get to this point, and fortunately I got to be with a team as talented as the Mariners.

Q. Does the anxiety level increase at all because you are at this stage?

PAUL ABBOTT: No, because we were playing in the last two weeks in must-win situations. My last two starts were against Oakland and Anaheim, and they were playoff-type games. And in Chicago, obviously, if you don't win that series, you don't get to here. It's all the same. Same intensity, same anxiety, same everything.

Q. The reverse of that, because of what you have been through, do you think maybe this is all gravy?

PAUL ABBOTT: Exactly. Cherry on top. Everything. If I had not pitched well in 1998 after my elbow surgery, I would not have had a chance to come back from my knee surgery last year, and if I didn't pitch well last year, I wouldn't be asked back to pitch this whole year. So yeah, those starts were probably a little bit bigger than these, really.

Q. Looking back at your career and all of the twists and turns, if you had not had all of those injuries early, what kind of other career do you think you might have had?

PAUL ABBOTT: I really don't think about it, because -- what I do think about is the rehab. Coming back from those injuries taught me a lot. Work habits -- I didn't have the best work habits when I was younger. So I may have if I would have floundered like I did in Triple-A maybe. I would have learned a little quicker. But definitely coming back from those made me stronger, as an individual, not taking things for granted. Some day, obviously everybody has to quit playing sometime.

Q. Do you ever think of all of the time missed, the opportunities missed; that things would have been different if you had approached it differently?

PAUL ABBOTT: Absolutely. I wouldn't have been -- had my first full year at 33 years old, I know there's for sure. No, I was 32 all year. (Laughter.)

Q. What have you learned by watching the Yankees the first two games of the series as far as hitters' tendencies and watching some of your pitchers throw? What are some of the keys?

PAUL ABBOTT: I think they kind of mirror our lineup. Without Canseco or Glenallen Hill in the lineup, really, the power threats are not as great. Like us, they need to put the ball in play, make things happen, score runs. So a lot different than the White Sox, a lot different from the A's. They are going to bunt, they are going to move the runners up and try to make things happen. Mainly just make sure you throw strikes and get ahead and not put guys on base and give them an opportunity to do that.

Q. Do you look forward to a time where you don't have to repeat your life story and just be referred to as Paul the Journeyman?

PAUL ABBOTT: I'm waiting for the process to ditch the Journeyman title. Been like that for the last three years. (Laughs).

Q. What's the difference pitching with the roof closed or the roof open?

PAUL ABBOTT: Well, if you ask the hitters, they definitely want it closed. Pitchers definitely want it open. There's a lot more elements obviously with the roof open. You get more of the wind currents, and the ball -- you get more of the air outside there, and the ball doesn't travel as well or as far. A little bit more hitter-friendly. It's still a great pitcher's park, regardless, but the ball does travel a little bit better.

End of FastScripts....

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