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MLB WORLD SERIES: PHILLIES v YANKEES

October 27, 2009

Cliff Lee

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Workout Day

Q. Does having pitched in the American League do you feel give you any kind of advantage or any kind of comfort level coming in here against the Yankees, or do you think it's an advantage for them having seen you before?
CLIFF LEE: I think it goes both ways. I mean, obviously having some experience against this team does set me at ease a little bit. But with that, too, they've seen me. So it kind of -- it can help both ways.
But I also think, regardless if a young guy, a veteran faced a team, not faced a team, he's still got to go out there and execute pitches and mix speeds and stay out of the heart of the plate. That's the way to be successful, whether it's the first time you face someone or you've faced them multiple times. Basically it boils down to locating pitches and not making mistakes.

Q. How do you think this is going to go over in Cleveland with you facing CC in the World Series?
CLIFF LEE: (Smiling) I don't know. I mean, they can't be feeling too good about it. I mean, it's two guys they could have had on their team that are now on different teams facing each other in the World Series. That's the way this game works sometimes, though. You know, it's the nature of the business. You don't see many guys staying with one team for their whole career anymore. It's the nature of the game nowadays.
It's been a great opportunity for me, and CC, as well, signing with the Yankees and making it to the World Series his first year there. That's a big accomplishment for him, and for me to get traded to the Phillies, the defending World Champions, and jump on board with them and end up back in the World Series for a second consecutive year is special, and it's something that I'm proud to be a part of, and I'm going to do everything I can to take advantage of this opportunity.

Q. We've seen what Pedro has done on the mound. How has he helped the entire rotation and the entire pitching staff since he's arrived?
CLIFF LEE: He's been unbelievable. I mean, everyone knows the career he's had. He's been a great pitcher for a long time, and for whatever reason the past couple years he hasn't been his normal self, and I think mainly because of injuries.
Now he's healthy, and the way he's pitched for us down the stretch and in the playoffs, he's been pretty impressive. He's definitely a pro. He definitely is going to give you a chance every time he takes the mound. He's a competitor, and I can't say enough about him. His career speaks for itself. He's a pretty special player, and I'm honored to be his teammate. Hopefully we can help the team win and get -- finish this last step of the year off.

Q. CC talked a little today about his early memories of meeting you when you got called up in '02. What are some of your early memories of him? And why do you think you guys developed a friendship?
CLIFF LEE: I don't know, we had similar type personalities, laid-back personalities. Obviously both super-competitive. You know, when I first got to the Big Leagues, he had been there for a couple years, and he was more of a veteran than I was, but I was older than him, so it was kind of a weird relationship.
But I think we made each other better. We helped each other out as far as how we thought we should approach certain teams and just what's the best frame of mind to have on the mound and stuff. I honestly think we both helped each other out along the way and both became better from the relationship that we developed.

Q. When you look at the Yankee lineup, they've got a lot of power hitters but also have a lot of patient hitters. When you attack a lineup like that, what's that challenge kind of weighing, throwing strikes and throwing the right kind of strikes at them, especially early in the count?
CLIFF LEE: Yeah, definitely. They're known for being a patient lineup, a lot like our lineup. You've got to come right at them. You've got to throw strike one, you got to work ahead in the count. Stay out of the heart of the plate. There's power from the top of the bottom of their lineup. If you find yourself throwing ball one getting behind in the count, next thing you know you're 2-0, 3-1 to those guys, and it's not going to be a good day. For me the key is throw strike one, work ahead in the count, mix speeds and stay out of the heart of the plate. That's what any pitcher has got to do to be effective against any team.
With a lineup like this especially, when they grind out at-bats and make pitchers work the way they do, it's especially important to work ahead, strike one.

Q. After the trade, you pitched so well that you made the transition look easy from day one. What was the most difficult part about the transition, and when did you begin feeling like a true Phillie?
CLIFF LEE: The most difficult part was probably just figuring out how to get all my stuff from Cleveland back home or to Philly and get everything in order and getting to know the guys, getting to know the trainers, strength coaches, getting to know their names and remembering their names and stuff like that was the hardest part for me. But that wasn't even that hard. I mean, once I got over the group of guys we got, it's a loose group that obviously are skilled on the field, but really good guys, laid-back and relaxed atmosphere. It was easy.
After my first two or three starts, I felt like one of the guys. Basically the hardest part was trying to remember everyone's names, off-the-field people, personnel that help us out, was probably the trickiest thing for me and trying to figure out how to get all my stuff from Cleveland back home to Philly. My wife basically took care of most of that.
Yeah, any time you're in a spot for six or seven years, you get comfortable and used to where you're at, it's a little tough at first when you're thrust into a new environment. But you've got to try to make the best of it. The situation I was put in, playing with the defending World Champions, a team that was in first place by a pretty good margin, and they already had unbelievable players all over the place. For me it was no extra pressure to get there. They already had a good team. They're the defending World Champions. So for me it made it easier to go on a team like that. All I've got to do is go out there and throw strikes and not walk guys, and our offense is going to score. It's a fun team to be a part of.

Q. Did you take note of how the Angels pitched to A-Rod or didn't pitch to A-Rod? And what did you think of that? And what might your approach be?
CLIFF LEE: That's a good question. I mean, obviously he was pretty locked in the entire playoffs. He's hot, there's no denying it. You'd be a fool not to recognize that. I don't think there's any one way to get that guy out. You've got to be unpredictable. You've got to pitch him in, you've got to pitch him away, you've got to pitch him up, you've got to pitch him down. It's got to be kind of -- if you knew how to get him out -- there's no way to get him out, no one way. He's a tough out, there's no doubt.
Looking at their lineup, it's kind of hard to pitch around him, too, with the guys you've got behind him. But as hot as he's been, it's almost like he's the guy you don't want to hurt you. But like I say, it's kind of hard to have that approach, too, with the guys that are behind him, but the way he's been swinging, that's almost the approach you've got to take against this lineup right now.

Q. What do you remember about pitching the first game at Yankee Stadium back in April? Anything in particular stand out to you?
CLIFF LEE: I mean, obviously it's the first game in Yankee Stadium. That's kind of a big deal. I remember it being -- the media asking tons of questions and making it a huge thing. For me, I tried to not focus too much on that and focus on getting their hitters out and controlling what I could control. I knew there was -- I guess it was a chaotic atmosphere being the first game here, and a lot of media attention, but for me, I tried not to think too much of that and tried to focus on what I could control, which was how to pitch those guys and executing pitches.

Q. When you're talking about your relationship with CC and how it made both of you guys better, how would you say it helped you the most, and then the other way around, how would you say you helped him out the most?
CLIFF LEE: I don't know, I mean, I can't really put a finger on one thing. I got to see him develop from a young pitcher that would borderline get mad and throw the ball as hard as he can, to a guy that nothing fazed him and he was totally in control of the game. I don't know if I had anything to do with that, but I think just watching him evolve into what he is now. I'd like to think that I had something to do with it, kind of as far as helping him out here and there.
And the same for him; just rubbing ideas off each other and bouncing ideas back and forth and stuff like that and just talking on the bench, while someone else was pitching, about certain stuff. Just normal behavior between teammates.
You know, you've got to take advantage of -- any time you get an opportunity to play with a player -- for me to get to play with a player like him, and a left-handed pitcher like he is, that has the skills he has, I want to pick up anything I can. Same thing with Pedro Martinez and Cole Hamels and Jamie Moyer, any time you play with guys that have those kind of skills, you want to see what makes them click. What do they do that other people don't. You try to pick up on those things. They're not necessarily forcing those things on you, but you're aware of what they do and try to learn from it, and those are the kind of things that I was talking about as far as we made each other better. It wasn't him telling me, hey, you need to do this and instantly that was it, and I had it figured out. It was a lot of things.

Q. Kind of going along with that question of pitching Opening Day here and also with conversations you had in Philadelphia, you do seem very clear that you need to just keep it about 60 feet and six inches and push a lot of other things away. Are you naturally like that or do you need to work at that to keep all the excitement from creeping in and affecting how you pitch?
CLIFF LEE: I think I'm naturally like that a little bit, but for me what makes me who I am is I feel like I keep my mind in the moment and not get caught up in all the hoopla that comes along with it and all that stuff that's out of my control. I can only control what I can control, and that is how I prepare in between starts, and when I go out there and control my emotions and focus on making pitches. I really try to keep it as simple as that. Basically anything else is out of my control, and there's nothing I can do about it. So why waste time even thinking about it? I try to channel my thoughts to what I can control, and everything else is irrelevant.

End of FastScripts

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