MLB WORLD SERIES: METS v YANKEES

October 23, 2000

Mike Piazza

MIKE PIAZZA: First off, I want to say I hope everyone kind of gets out what they have to ask, and then I just really think it's important to move on at some point. But what can you say? I mean, first off, the play was extremely bizarre. Secondly, I went out and confronted him and asked him what his problem was. And, thirdly, he... Whatever. I can assure you, if there was any sort of aggressiveness, if he would have said anything else to me at that point, it could have been a different situation. However, there was a little bit of -- so much ambiguity as far as the whole situation. I thought of every situation; and obviously, I first off wanted to get back and try and get a hit off him. Then, secondly, like I said, it was just a bizarre play. And knowing, as I said, as far as my confusions where the ball was and where the bat was, and once the bat got by me and it took me a second or two to comprehend what happened, I went out to confront him about it. That was it, like I said.

MIKE PIAZZA: No, I've never charged the mound. Like I said, to me it's a question of: I go out and I look at the guy. If he says anything to the point of -- that's basically my rule of thumb. I basically look at him. If he says anything like derogatory or obscene, to me, that's a problem. But he seemed extremely apologetic and unsure and confused and unstable. (Laughter.) I just, like I said, I mean if he had a problem with me at that point, I'm sure he would have been a lot more aggressive, and it would have been a different story. As far as our team, as far as him, is it intimidating? First off, it was idiotic. As far as intimidating, Roger Clemens has not intimidated our ballclub. It was not an act of intimidation. The guy pitched a good game, number one. I think it is obviously unfortunate that this is the incident that takes precedence over the ball game. Number two, what is intimidation? I mean, it's idiotic. Like I said, I went out to confront him about it; and obviously, he chose to -- whatever his excuse was. Like I said, as far as demanding an apology, an apology is only as good as where the source is coming from. So I really don't -- I could care less about an apology or anything else. Like I said, it was a stupid situation. What can you say? So we reacted -- you could argue left and right. You're damned if you do, damned if you don't. We punch him, guys get thrown out, we're selfish. We back down, we... Whatever, we look gutless. So what is there to say? It's the World Series. Obviously, we want to win a game. Now, being down two games is -- we're in an unenviable situation.

MIKE PIAZZA: I think that's premeditated, though. I mean, I think if a hitter is going to throw his bat at the pitcher, he has his mind made up. As far as myself, looking at the videotape, looking at the replay, it looks like he -- I don't know whether he was so charged up with emotion, or whatever, that he caught the bat. His first reaction was to throw it. Didn't know I was there; didn't know I was there. I don't know. Like I said, that's all irrelevant to me. But as far as, like I had said, I wanted to make sure that if he had a problem or he had a personal problem with me, if he still does or doesn't or whatever -- whatever he wants. I have no problem talking with him about it now. Whatever. So, like I said, the thing that our team is obviously disappointed about -- everyone's opinions are opinions. We can't change their opinions. But we're trying to win a World Series game. And as far as our team shows restraint, you could argue left and right. I don't know. I mean it's obviously a no-win situation either way for us.

MIKE PIAZZA: Well, I think you're never going to have a lack of emotion, as far as I'm concerned. You get out on the field, you get in a situation, you're always charged. Whatever. Whatever you've got to use to motivate yourself, sometimes it's personal. I mean, to me, I want to win a World Series game, and I want to win a World Series. Obviously, that looks very tough right now, but the series is not over. We've been down before. So we got to fight back and hopefully beat these guys. We're going up against El Duque. The guy can pitch. So and as I said, the fact, too, look at our ballclub, the way we battled back both games and obviously fell short. With a little good fortune, it could have been a different series. Obviously, it's not. So that's the most frustrating thing of all.

MIKE PIAZZA: To be honest with you, that's really not for me to say.

MIKE PIAZZA: You're asking me if he needs a psychiatric evaluation? (Laughter.)

MIKE PIAZZA: Obviously, that should be something taken into consideration. Where it goes, I don't know. I don't know what the process is. However, I know as a hitter, my first at-bat, I had not the least bit at all of intimidation or whatever. I mean, as I said, you cannot go into that batter's box with a guy throwing like that and think about getting hit. Like I said, my first at-bat wasn't great; he made some great pitches on me. Obviously, Justice made a good catch. So I was hanging in there. I wasn't thinking at all about it. Now, as far as back to what your question was, I don't know what the protocol for that is. I don't know -- 20, 30 years ago it wouldn't have been an issue. This day and age, who knows? The whole sort of situation, it could be a different protocol. I don't know. And I do believe now that I have had time to think about it, I do believe his actions should be looked at by Frank Robinson or whoever is in charge of conduct.

MIKE PIAZZA: I think so. I mean, you score those runs against two of the toughest relievers in baseball. I think it goes without saying. I mean, it's a must-win tomorrow. We can't afford to go down 3-0. We've been down 3-0, obviously, to the Braves, and we almost came back and evened the series. But that's extremely difficult to do. So we've got to come out tomorrow and do the best we can, and hopefully come out with a win.

MIKE PIAZZA: What was the last part?

MIKE PIAZZA: I chose not to be receptive. I like to consider myself as a person who doesn't talk a lot. Certain emotions and feelings I keep to myself. As I said, I didn't think it was very sincere, so I didn't want to talk to him about it. I mean I wasn't -- but that's me. I don't know what the whole issue is of apologies and calls and where this got started. To me, that situation was he... Whatever. He threw the pitch; I said what I felt. I didn't feel the need to go back and forth with this dialogue. You know? So as I said, personally though, I mean it's irrelevant how I feel about him. On the field, it's a game, and we're trying to win that game. But the bottom line is we're trying to win a World Series. So I mean, unfortunately, this is a situation that has taken prominence over the ball game, which is unfortunate. But that's the way it is.

MIKE PIAZZA: Again, that's subject to debate. I think it goes back to -- as I said many times before, and I don't want to beat an issue to death, it's the whole issue of the DH again. Like I said, I've DHed, had success DHing. Obviously, it's something I could do maybe toward the end of my career, but I don't like it. I mean, I do not like it personally. And I think that's an issue that needs to be talked about. But like I said, you debate it forever. But you think about it, when a guy like that has to come to the plate four times a game, it's going to make a difference. It may sound like talk, but whatever. That's just my opinion.

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