AL DIVISION SERIES: RED SOX v INDIANS

October 5, 1999

Pedro Martinez

A. I don't mind. I've been through that and especially early in the season we normally face cooler weather or whatever, and so far the results have been pretty good early in the season. Last year I had the chance to pitch here in the playoffs one game. I don't remember really how cold it was but I think it was about the same time as this year and I did pretty good. So I'll take my chances no matter what the weather looks like.

A. That's the fun part. I mean, that's the way it's supposed to be. That's what the fans deserve and they pay for. I'll just go out there like I go every day. I go out there and I battle myself against the other team 100 percent and I'm sure Colon is doing that and looks up to me and he respects me a lot. I tell him the same thing. Even though he is not on my team I try to teach him, you know, the right things and tell him how to do it because so far he's been good to me. So I would like him to learn the same way and he seems to be doing it because he makes it tough for me every time I face him. I hate to face him again and again and again every day, but if we have to, it's part of the game. So we just have to go out there and do whatever we can to help our team and from there on just leave it in God's hands.

A. I'm just going to try to adjust to them, whatever they do. I'll just go out there and do what I know so far, what I have done to be successful against them. I'm going to go out there and somehow I got to stay around the strike zone and somehow they have to swing. Because the strike zone doesn't change and I have to be around there. So I'm just going to go out there, do the best I can to hold them off. It don't matter what I do, I'll try to adjust to what they do and just the way they are thinking about adjusting to me, I'll see what they bring up to the table. If it doesn't work for them, it might be too late.

A. Why make it so complicated? So far the way I played against Cleveland, I don't need anything else. I don't need to change right now. They're going to have to prove to me that what they're going to do is going to work for them because I'm not going to change my approach. I do what I do against every team and against Cleveland. I'm going to just go out there and do what I know how to do, pitch, and if they want to run, they can go ahead and run. I have the ball in my hands and if they want to run pretty much, it will make things easier for me. If they want to hit and run, let them do their thing. Whatever is possible in baseball they can do. I will get plenty of work in spring training and during the season.

A. I can't say that. Every one of them is strong. Every one is a big league team and every one I consider as strong as they can be. So to me this year, the strongest team I can probably think of would be the Florida Marlins. They got me for nine runs. So I'm not going to put that in my mind. I'm just going to go out there, know that I am going to face a good team just like every other. There is no difference between this team and whatever other team you want to think of.

A. Surprised I'm not. I'm a living example of the mistakes that the Dodgers have done. I don't regret the Dodgers giving up on him because I had a chance to play with him again and he's doing pretty good for us and the Dodgers are back at home and they're going to be watching us on TV. You know, I'm not surprised that they gave up on him. He was something to respect. This is business, and from the business point of view, they did what they had to do to save money and, you know, in order to pay a guy, Kevin Brown all that money, you might as well get rid of someone. I'm not surprised and I'm really happy to have him around and I'm more relaxed and it makes my game a little bit better. It makes me more relaxed than I would normally be.

A. Cleveland lost Game 1 last year and they went on to beat us in the next three games. Why would I feel like that? Do we have handicaps pitching after me? The guys that are pitching after me are as capable as I am. If you need a sign or something or proof, just look at the record for what those guys have done before. So I wouldn't be too pressed, I mean, about the way those guys are going to do it the next day because I know those guys are as good or as better than I am.

A. We have a little bit of confidence, you know, by knowing that we are able to beat them. But you know what? Those games are already played, those days are gone. Those were regular season games. This is the playoffs. So we're not going to put anything in our mind but we know that we have to start over. This is a whole new attitude and a whole new thing. There's no tomorrow on this one. So we're going to have to say forget about the fact that we had them before, we have to have them right now.

A. I can't answer that because if you're going to compare one pitcher to the other, at this stage I would say I am because I'm wiser, because I understand more about the game. But if you're going to compare seasons, I don't know if this season was better than the '97 season and forget about the fact that I only won 17 games. My '97 season was as dominant as any other season that you can think of and I don't know if this one is, you know, at that level. So at this stage I consider myself wiser, more experienced. I guess I'm more relaxed than I used to be. But I don't know if I'm a better pitcher or not because season by season you can be better one season than the other.

A. I'm not afraid of that because of the way I pitched all year, no.

I'm not thinking about anything like that. I would like to help this team as much as I've done this year and I hope that it's a good year overall, not only in the regular season but in the playoffs also and make it an all around good season. I hope it keeps going the way it has.