NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: PADRES v BRAVES

October 14, 1998

Tony Gwynn

TONY GWYNN: It feels pretty good. It's been a long week. Coming in today's game -- the one thing I've tried to do in the postseason is not let my mind run away with things. And we got a 5-0 lead, things looked good; it reminded me of Game 5. But the guys, they stuck it out, and did what we have to do and now we're going to the World Series. I'm extremely happy. I'm extremely happy for those guys over there in our locker room, for our organization, and for the City of San Diego. We all have waited a long time, and the fact that we're going to the World Series again is great, but I'm going to tell you now, we want to win. It's a big thrill. I think getting to the World Series gets the pressure off. Everybody is working so hard to get there. And now that we're going there, I think guys on our side -- I know the Yankees want to win, and we want to win, too. I hope we have the same kind of series we have had here in Atlanta, with two teams scrapping, trying to win. That's what it's all about. When you're in the clubhouse and the champagne is flying and the emotion is flying; that's what the game is all about. So I'm thrilled to death.

TONY GWYNN: No, not at all. We walked into the clubhouse after Game 5, and for -- I don't know, ten seconds guys were just kind of sitting there, taking their uniforms off and then the radio came on, I knew everything was fine, because this has been a loose group all year long, but a focused group. They know what they want. And from the time we got here yesterday, during the workout, when we got to the park today, everybody is talking about: Hey, let's play our game. Let's do what we've done all year long. And so I think we came in with a lot of confidence; even though we're coming in enemy territory; even though we know the crowd is going to be more into it than they were the first two games of the series. We felt if we executed, we'd have an opportunity to win.

TONY GWYNN: I don't know if we relish it, but that's the position I think most people put us in. I'm sure we're going to be in the same position at the World Series, too. Not many people gave us a chance against Houston, or against Atlanta. The thing about it is there were guys over in our clubhouse that believe that we've got a shot. As long as we believe we have a shot and we go play like it, we think we're going to be fine.

TONY GWYNN: He's been unbelievable. Like you said, he started the season in the bullpen, and came in the camp really wanting to start. But when they put him in the bullpen, he said he will do whatever our club needed him to do. He started in the bullpen, and he had a chance to start, and the very first start, he threw the ball extremely well. And from that point on he's been in rotation. And as the season went on he's got better. The splitfinger he's come up with has been a great pitch for him. But the biggest thing I see is his composure, it's like nothing rattles him. He went to Boch two days ago and said, "I want the ball. Give me a shot." And what you saw today was a very confident Sterling Hitchcock going out and pitching his game. And he was, once again, very successful.

TONY GWYNN: Nobody thinks about San Diego. You're right, most people, when they think about southern California, they think about LA, about the Lakers or the Dodgers, and I think the Angels are kind of in our boat, too. But here we are. And these guys have fought hard all year long to get to this position. And we don't care if you don't think we're going to win or you don't give us any respect. But I think in the first two series, you've seen that these guys want to win. And they're willing to do whatever it takes to win. And I think we've earned it. I think we've earned the right to go to the World Series by playing really good baseball. We've won 7 out of 10 games here. And we have see some darn good pitching in those ten games. And we won this series 4-2, we won the last series, I guess, 3-1, and we've played good baseball. I think we've earned the right. Hopefully, people will watch us play and give us some respect. If they don't, that's okay, because we're focused in on doing what we came to do. And we came in here today focused on trying to win this game today, which we did. And so now we're going to the World Series.

TONY GWYNN: I don't think so. I think you go out trying to win every game, regardless of who you're playing. But it seems to me since the playoffs have started, we saw Randy Johnson twice; beat him twice. We saw John Smoltz, we beat him. We saw Glavine, and we beat him twice. We saw Maddux, not only starting in Game 3, but we saw him out of the bullpen the other night in San Diego. We've seen some tough pitching, and it doesn't get any easier going to the World Series, but we believe. We believe we can compete. And when you believe that you can compete, and you go out there and you play the way that we've played, we're going to be confident. I don't know if anybody else around the country will be confident in us, but we're going to have a lot of confidence, and we're going to go out and enjoy the game, enjoy the fact that we're going to the World Series. But we're going to go out and try to win.

TONY GWYNN: I felt like the rally of the 9th inning really showed the character of the club. When Tucker hit the home run to make it 5-4, Graffanino hits the double, and the ball bounces around and two runs scored. It would have been easy to fold your tent and say: That's the ballgame. But we didn't. We scrapped. Myers, in a two-run homer, got us back within one. And it shows the type of character those guys in the clubhouse have. They want to win. They're willing to do whatever they want to do. Even though we got beat at home that night, I think that rally really helped keep our confidence up coming here. We were confident already knowing that we had won two games here already, but the rally, I think, just kind of reinforced the fact that these guys aren't going to quit. They're going to play you tough. And whatever you get against us you're going to have to earn, because we're not going to go down without a fight.

TONY GWYNN: Our strategy was exactly like you said. We knew they were very good at what they did. And we felt like you can't go up to the plate and try to make something happen, especially against their starters. You have to really kind of take what they give you and try to do something with it. And tonight's game, especially against Glavine, you know he's going to nip on the outside corners, and you've got to be patient against him. And so the gameplan was to make him throw a lot of pitches, try to hit the ball where it's pitched and be satisfied that if you hit a ball good and you make an out, then you've done your job. That's what the approach should be all about. And once again, I thought we did a good job of that. My first time up, I hit a ball to the left side and I ended up hitting into a double play. I was going to try to stay back and hit everything to the left side of second base. I knew he wasn't going to come in. He was going to be out over the plate. And that was my gameplan, and everybody on our club had their gameplan as to what they were going to try to do against him.

TONY GWYNN: I have no idea. But I know that they love the Yankees there. And I'm guessing that it's a little bit different than playing in Shea Stadium. And so I expect to be treated just like any other visiting player would be treated.

TONY GWYNN: No, never been to Yankee Stadium, I'm looking forward to going, and looking forward to playing, but I know they'll be into the game. I know they'll be pulling for the Ys, and pulling for the Ys hard. And for me that's part of the game. You're probably going to hear some stuff out there you probably haven't heard for a while. And to me, that's part of the game. They're trying to take your mind off what you're supposed to be doing. But 17 years of experience, I hope, will help get me through it.

TONY GWYNN: No, I still suck, basically. Tonight I did exactly what I wanted to do. The only at-bat I didn't was the third at-bat off of Glavine. Started me out with a change-up, and I already had in my mind I'm going to try to hit this ball between first and second. And I was way out in front. All night long, I stayed back, and hit the ball left side of second base. That was my gameplan. All series long I've been out in front of things. I told our hitting coach I was going to let the ball get deep on me, and I hit the ball pretty good tonight except the third time up. But all night long I did what I wanted to do and hopefully, I can keep on that same path going into the World Series. I've never faced Pettitte. Cone I've faced a lot. El Duke I've seen on TV. I'm going to back it up as deep as I can, and let it go; try to use the left half of the field.

TONY GWYNN: None. And I know that's been a big topic for a lot of you guys. How is your Achilles; how is your knee; how is your thumb? It doesn't have anything to do with my stroke. It was just bad. I had more problems with the Achilles or knee, playing defense or running the bases. When it comes to hitting, it doesn't play a factor in it at all.

TONY GWYNN: This year, no? Surprised, aren't you? That's why I say I just suck -- when you stink, you have to admit that you stink. And that's been a big thing of mine. I'm not going to sit here and try to candy-coat it and say I could be better right now. You're hitting .220, or .210 coming into the game, you stink. And I admit it. I don't accept it. I keep working at it. But I've got to swing the bat a lot better, I think.

TONY GWYNN: Right now, I'm extremely happy. Like I said, I am so happy for those guys in our clubhouse, because they worked hard all year long. I'm so happy for our organization, because they have a lot of things on our plate. And we needed to have a good year this year for them to have the chance to get the things they want. But I'm happiest for the City of San Diego, because they've waited a long time, just like I have. To see the way they've backed us here in the postseason has been unbelievable. And the fact that I played in this organization my whole career, I feel like -- today, I probably feel more like a fan than I do a player, because we've waited a long time. And this is where we wanted to go for a long time, and we're going. And like I said before, we're going to celebrate tonight. This is an opportunity for us to blow off a little steam, get the emotion out. But come tomorrow we're going to focus in on how we're going to try to beat the New York Yankees.

TONY GWYNN: I think it was huge. Originally coming into the postseason, I felt like we had to go get out of the first round of the playoffs to have a shot. But I thought after going up 3-0, and then losing two games in a row, you kind of felt like maybe it was starting to slip. So the fact that we won this game today, I think, is a huge win, not only for us as players, but us as an organization, us as a city. We'll see, because our goal was to keep playing; play it to the last series in October. And we felt like we'd have a good chance at it. And even after winning tonight you're still not sure, but I would hope and we've played good baseball. I think we've earned the right. Hopefully people will watch us play and give us some respect. If they don't, that's okay, because we're focused in on doing what we came to do. And we came in here today focused on trying to win this game today, which we did, and so now we're going to the World Series.

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