MLB WORLD SERIES: PADRES v YANKEES

October 19, 1998

Sterling Hitchcock

STERLING HITCHCOCK: No, my approach to every game is to go as deep as I can and to keep us close. And that doesn't change, regardless.

STERLING HITCHCOCK: Physically, I'm fine. I feel a little congestion, but it's no big deal.

STERLING HITCHCOCK: Certainly, I started the year in '95, they gave me the ball and gave me a chance to go out and prove myself. And they let me pitch the last game of the season there with basically the whole season on the line, trying to get us into the playoffs. I'm very thankful to the Yankees to give me an opportunity to play at this level.

STERLING HITCHCOCK: No, it doesn't matter if we're playing the Bad News Bears right now, it's the World Series, it's an opportunity to pitch in it and as a kid that's what you dream of.

STERLING HITCHCOCK: Certainly. It's not like going into another game saying it doesn't matter if we win. Obviously I want to win every game I pitch. That's how I approach the game.

STERLING HITCHCOCK: Pretty much learning how to pack my luggage and leave (laughter.) There wasn't a whole lot of correspondence that way.

STERLING HITCHCOCK: I didn't go to camp with him in '92, I went to Minor League camp, I was called up out of Double A. And the only time I was around Cone, it was the second half when we brought him over from, was it Toronto? So he was a big influence. He and Jack, both, when they were there, just two gritty performers, took the ball every fifth day and didn't want to give it up. Wanted to go to bed with it that night. They had a big impact on me, just as far as gritting it out and trying to go as long as you can and as deep as you can into the games.

STERLING HITCHCOCK: It's just fun. It's 65,000 people in your face, wanting you to do well. And you don't want to disappoint them. They get up on their feet. They're loud and they're cheering for you, you know they're behind you, you get a little extra drive, a little extra adrenaline going there.

STERLING HITCHCOCK: They can hit. Bottom line, they can hit. I'm just going to have to stay within myself out there, get the ball over the plate and go after people.

STERLING HITCHCOCK: I'm 27, I've watched baseball for 20 years, maybe, I don't know. Obviously 114 wins stacks up there pretty good. It's put it into a historical view, I would imagine that they would have to be one of the best ever, but, again, I've never seen the '27 Yankees. So it's kind of hard for me to say that. Again, it's just down to making my pitches, and giving us a chance to win.

STERLING HITCHCOCK: They're pretty good. They're pretty good.

STERLING HITCHCOCK: I think I'm pretty close to where I was in '95. I think '96 and '97 I got away from it a little bit. With battling some arm soreness in '96 and '97 both, I changed my pitching style a little bit. And I think this year with the aide of Stu and just my mental focus and intensity out there, I've gotten back, and I'm probably a little better now mentally, and physically able to throw the ball where I want to than I did in '95.

was that a wake-up call for you, and how did you respond to that?

STERLING HITCHCOCK: No, I sat down with Kevin and Stu and Boch and it wasn't a slight on me as far as my ability, it was an opportunity for me to fill a need that we had in the bullpen with Vosberg going down in spring and needing the surgery. We had a hole down there, they felt I could fill it temporarily and at that time coming out of camp I knew we had a pretty good team and had a good chance to go pretty deep into postseason, and I wasn't about to ruffle any feathers, so to speak. I just wanted to do whatever I could to help this team out and everything worked out for the best.

STERLING HITCHCOCK: They can hit. It's a good hitting line-up. I've got to go out and do the same thing I've done all year long, which is throw strikes and go after people.

STERLING HITCHCOCK: Pitching back then was pitching not to go to Colombus, basically. I was fighting for my life out there then. At this point in time I'm enjoying this, this is a lot of fun. This is what I've dreamed about. So it's different. This is a fun type of atmosphere and a fun type of game, where before it was just trying to survive long enough to put some thoughts into somebody's mind that I could pitch at this level.

STERLING HITCHCOCK: Yeah, I think they're important team-wise, more than anything. Basically against Houston and Atlanta I wanted to go out there and give us the chance to be close. I knew I was going to have to be pretty good to get by Johnson and Maddux and Glavine. And the same holds true for tomorrow with Cone out there. I've got to try to limit my mistakes, and have some fun with it.

STERLING HITCHCOCK: Considering I couldn't hit Little League pitching, now I've got Major League fastballs and sliders coming after me, I'm still learning. I think if you ask around I'm night and day from last year, but I still stink (laughter.) It's a battle. It's certainly not easy to do. And taking 11 years off between swinging bats didn't help any.

STERLING HITCHCOCK: Yeah. This team has survived all year on our pitching staff and our defense. And we've got to get back to throwing the ball like we're capable of. And I think things will turnaround. I've got a lot of confidence in the guys,

and I think it will.

STERLING HITCHCOCK: I think getting ahead in the count, throwing quality pitches. If I throw a lot of pitches, I throw a lot of pitches, I've got four months to recover. It really doesn't matter to me.

STERLING HITCHCOCK: No, we're taking this thing one at a time. And if we lose tomorrow we've still got another opportunity to win the next day. And that's really all we can look at. You can't get ahead of yourself. And this is such a pitch-by-pitch game that when you start looking at the big picture instead of the little things in front of you, that's when you start losing focus.

STERLING HITCHCOCK: I think more so after I left. You look and they had Pettitte out there, they had Jeter out there, they had Bernie out there, they brought Mariano up to pitch out of the bullpen then, and I think it's important for teams to try to build from within. And they've done a great job of that, of just bringing in young talent to go along with a good veteran nucleus.