NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: METS v BRAVES

October 17, 1999

Robin Ventura

ROBIN VENTURA: No. I saw it go over and then I just ran to first. I saw Todd Pratt running back at me. I don't know, as long as I touched first, we won. So that's fine with me.

ROBIN VENTURA: Maybe tonight when you guys go home, I might do it.

ROBIN VENTURA: I wouldn't say it's 100 percent, but again, you just do what you can do. We worry about the rest when that happens. We haven't really said what it is, and nobody's telling me I have to have anything. But as long as I can still play and this team wants me to go out there, I'll go out there.

ROBIN VENTURA: Yeah.

ROBIN VENTURA: I've been in a game that's probably that long, but I don't think one of the magnitude that you go home, if you lose. So I think Shawon's at-bat really did a lot. He fouled off a ton of pitches, and then got a base hit and then Matty went up there and had a good at-bat. I think the guys feed off of that. It was a great job by them.

ROBIN VENTURA: Well, I think it's different when the bases are loaded and the guy -- he's already walked a guy. He can't really fool around and throw a bunch of pitches in the dirt. So I'm just trying to get a ball in the air so the guy can score.

ROBIN VENTURA: It's a team that doesn't -- that obviously doesn't quit. I think we've been in quite a few situations like this during the course of the year, and we don't really have a reason for it. It just seems like this team responds to dire situations. We just play another day. It seems like we've been saying that for about a month and a half now, but it's the truth. We can't lose another game. We're happy to just be playing another game.

ROBIN VENTURA: Obviously, the people you play with, the people that come out here and sit through rain for that long. It's the organization. There's a lot of reasons. And pride and everything else. I think everybody that plays on this team has a lot of pride, and it's a fun group to play with.

ROBIN VENTURA: You want to get a hit, first of all, but I think it's one of those things where if you try to swing harder and do things harder, you end up complicating things and overswinging; you're just anxious to get a hit. And I think finally there it just -- I don't know what it was, it just seemed like my swing got a little smoother, and hopefully, that continues.

ROBIN VENTURA: Especially as many innings that nobody scored, it doesn't look good. But strange stuff has been happening this year. I think everybody just was going to see what happens. I don't think you can sit there and guarantee that you're going to win that game when you go down. But everybody is going to go down swinging, and we did.

ROBIN VENTURA: Well, I think after we lost the game the first night here, I think everybody basically felt you can't win four games in one night. So last night was obviously a big win. And the comeback, we're just kind of scratching and clawing. But you can't win four games and you can't win two games in one night. You just come out and win the next game, and hopefully, you can scratch something out.

ROBIN VENTURA: You know, I don't think you can just say there was a feeling you're just going to do it. But I think with Shawon's at-bat, that's just one of those things that you get a good feeling when guys put on an at-bat like that, leading off an inning and getting on. And Matty had the same kind of good at-bat and so did Todd. So when guys do that, you sense that we might have a chance.

ROBIN VENTURA: Not that I can remember.

ROBIN VENTURA: I think after Todd's at-bat, it obviously puts them in a tougher situation having just walked the tying run. Now you only need a sacrifice fly to win the game. I was just looking for a pitch I could just get in the air, and fortunately, it happened.

ROBIN VENTURA: I rather envisioned us being up three games. But we're just taking anything we can. It's been fun to go through all this. And again, we're just playing another day, and I guess we like it that way.