NL DIVISION SERIES: METS v DIAMONDBACKS

October 8, 1999

Al Leiter

AL LEITER: I hope some it is a good time to peak if that is the case. Obviously my last couple have been good starts and I am just hoping to do the same thing as far as my mindset and preparation for tomorrow's game. Just go about it. That is what I think I have been able to do as far as some of the bigger games of my career. I eliminate some of distractions, worry about making pitches. Did that against Atlanta and certainly in Cincinnati I did that again.

AL LEITER: Yes, we have a scouting system basically does a lot of video. We have a video room that not only tapes our pitchers but also pitchers throughout the league that have faced the Diamondbacks. Particularly for me would be to see a bunch of lefthanders and basically the last several weeks of the season they put together some footage of whoever the pitcher was, Glavine, Scott Karl, right on down the line. You kind of put together what they are doing and then you think about what you have seen as far as the last couple of games in Arizona and what you have done in the past and put together as to what you want to do to get these guys out. I think games and series you really watch out for guys that you want to stay away from. I know a lot was said about us Chipper against the Braves series, obviously backfired in Atlanta because he got a lot of key hits. But you think about guys that when it is a time when the runner is in scoring position who is going to hurt you, you want to make sure certain guys don't hurt you and I haven't decide who that guy or two is going to be yet. But you know, you just you are careful with it. I know last game Pokey Reese had hit me well and also Greg Vaughn I said if there is a situation where I don't have to pitch them I will walk them and face the next guy.

AL LEITER: I expect it to be crazy and obviously very supportive for us and hopefully Daal and the rest of the Diamondbacks will feel what a fanatical Met fan is like. We felt it during the Braves series even though we lost two or three here, it was very much like playoff atmosphere. I would expect it to be like that and hopefully more.

AL LEITER: Well, obviously you know what he looks like and he has got the little spiked haircut. One day he came in with it like partially bleached I guess before everybody started bleaching it. I just looked at him. I saw Vanilla in him. I said you look like Vanilla Ice. No. No. Leave me alone. I used to call him Vanilla Ice; not Iceman; Vanilla Ice. Call him Vanilla. Whatever I guess they took off here somebody in Florida started playing the song, and good kid, good guy. I guess it works for him. Not quite the same as Hoffman with the Hells Bells or whatever that is in San Diego, but I am sure it pumps him up.

AL LEITER: I think you bounce back by realizing -- well, obviously not hitters but I am sure some of the hitters will probably be able to explain it bet better. Obviously you can't replace Mike Piazza in the lineup and hopefully he will be ready tomorrow, but you must as a team think positive and realize that this is okay. Todd Pratt is an excellent catcher and you know, hopefully who knows. Stuff like this, crazy stuff like this happens where you don't expect something from somebody and it is my hope that Todd Pratt is the hero tonight.

AL LEITER: A day off is great. Even though it didn't feel like a day off I didn't know if I wanted stay up all day or go to bed by tomorrow or take a nap. Got in about 9 o'clock yesterday in the morning. So, the time was a little whacky, but I think just for the mindset for us to not have to think about executing a baseball game and worrying about a game was good. We needed that.

AL LEITER: Seeing the lineup tomorrow seeing a situation where if I know Matt Williams whomever is behind him or obviously it is going to be the middle of the order there, with Gonzalez and Williams and Finley. So well it was a situation I guess the other day with two out and we had Finley up with Gilkey on deck, mindset if you walked Finley -- he ended up getting a big hit but if you walked him had the rightie in Gilkey, stuff like. That it is all scenarios and match-ups that I would think. But it is obviously in the middle there, somewhere.

AL LEITER: Well, for one I am not great so I don't think I have any kind of ego that I can think I am some kind of great pitcher. I always think I am grateful and lucky for what I have. Seriously I take these games and realize that it is such a bonus and it is such a thrill and these are the times in games that you dream about. I always think of the downside of it; there isn't a downside. You go out and pitch poorly; okay, obviously didn't want to pitch poorly but the moment was something that you dream about. I guess I just focus so much on how great of a feeling it is to be in this position where a lot of much better pitchers than me have ever been in and just go for it. I think perhaps you are right that the pressure that a great pitcher puts on his own self because he is a Cy Young award winner, because he is a future Hall of Famer, et cetera, etcetera, that they get in these situations. Obviously there is a lot more tension and everybody talks about it and they add this exterior distraction that doesn't allow them to be the best they can be. I don't know. But I kind of winning it. I put together a game plan and think about how lucky I am to be in this position and let us go out and have fun and see how it works out.

AL LEITER: I haven't talked to Andy about that, but obviously we talked a few times about -- a little bit about pitching, but, well, it is true, you wonder, as a fan or as a club do you want a guy who wins you all those big games in April and May and doesn't do it at the end or kind of has a rough way getting there, but always comes up big for you. I am sure everybody would prefer a guy who steps up when it really counts.

AL LEITER: I didn't throw as much on whenever -- Wednesday in Arizona, normally I get a good 15, 20 minutes I get to a point where I am -- I will throw a few pitches at 100%. I didn't do that. My weight - I usually go through two days in between my starts with heavier weight and I only did one, so I watched a little bit. I do that during the year, too if there is a game or two that, you know, went a little bit longer pitch-wise than you'd like.

AL LEITER: I don't know. We will have to get Elias on that one. I am not sure.

AL LEITER: I don't remember it being bad where, geez, you know, Al threw a lot of pitches the last start; that is why he stunk today. I don't remember really that, so.....

AL LEITER: He has got to be number one, that is for sure. We have had so many great moments with all our guys, but Edgardo has really picked it up and done a great job, so without his great performance we certainly wouldn't be one-to-one right now. We might not even be here.

AL LEITER: Yeah, I am trying to think of a player that obviously is of star caliber as Mike Piazza.

AL LEITER: No doubt about it. And I think with a talented club -- now you can't replace Mike Piazza. I am not saying that at all. I am not downplaying the loss of not having Mike in the lineup. But having a good team, which we have, and the ability to have a Todd Pratt step in who is an excellent defensive catcher and can and may and hopefully will get a key hit tonight. Everybody else feels like it is their share now. Maybe -- who knows, maybe it is a good thing. Maybe it is not like let's not count on Mike tonight, let me do it. I don't know. I don't know. I am not -- I can't hit and I don't hit and I will never be able to hit.

AL LEITER: Again? (laughs).

Well, I was just -- I didn't start out too well and I kind of got on a little roll and obviously with that, my confidence elevated and I felt good about what I was doing and then just ups and downs, but I will tell you, if this ultimately for us, as a New York Met team, we go on to a World Series knowing that I didn't have a great season, I would take this year over last year any day. Last year was a career year for me, but I was home. I wasn't standing here. So you take personal numbers and achievements and you throw it out the window when it comes to being and having the opportunity to go to postseason and ultimately The World Championship.

AL LEITER: Very much so. He is a true professional. He does not showboat. He is a not a hot dog. He is a guy that just plays hard. He is a great teammate and great player. I like everything about him. He is very much that.

AL LEITER: Well, I have had some really good games with Todd behind the plate. He catches a very good game. He is very into it. This is not a knock, obviously he doesn't have the same career numbers as a hitter as Mike, so he really takes it that much more pride in catching a good ballgame. He really want to catch a good game and if Todd ends up getting some knocks, great, it is not downplaying his offensive side for him either, but I think he really, really understands and wants to call a great game and a lot of times it is just a matter of relationship and working with a guy. When Mike did go down earlier in the year and Todd caught a couple of weeks straight, there was a good relationship and a good rapport. He is a good catcher that knows hitters and pitchers meetings, he has always got a comment or two about certain hitters that he thinks you can get out and he is very vocal and he is an aggressive guy and he is perfect for the tools of ignorance.

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