AL DIVISION SERIES: WHITE SOX VS GUARDIANS

October 3, 2026

Munetaka Murakami

Progressive Field

Chicago White Sox

Postgame 1 Press Conference

White Sox 3, Guardians 0

Q. Can you just walk through the emotions of having your first postseason home run and getting to experience that with your teammates? You seemed pretty fired up as you rounded the bases and looking at your teammates.

MUNETAKA MURAKAMI: Well, I really wanted the first run at a very important game, so I'm just really happy that I got one off.

Q. What was the approach during that fourth inning at-bat?

MUNETAKA MURAKAMI: I had a lot of matchups during the regular season. So in the first at-bat, I had a very clean hit. So I was very comfortable going to that at-bat, and that was pretty much the approach, and I swung really clean.

Q. In Houston it didn't really go your way. Was the difference in the series today, the comfort level with the opponent?

MUNETAKA MURAKAMI: Yeah. It wasn't the opponent at all. I mean, I had a good series in Houston as well. As a team, we were facing the same directions. We were playing as one. And I think it was a great series.

We had two days' rest coming into this. And I was really comfortable there, and it doesn't really change what I felt in Houston or here.

Q. It's felt like we've gotten to see more of your personality or the world has gotten to see more of your personality especially after the Houston series.

Can you pull out the curtain a little bit behind the scenes about you have been a leader in the clubhouse and been around your teammates in that way?

MUNETAKA MURAKAMI: I would really like to thank the team and the teammates. From Spring Training, they were really welcoming, and I was able to be myself a lot. So I would just really like to, like I said, thank the teammates for enabling me to be who I am and who I am as a person.

Q. What was it about this team that helped you feel comfortable early on?

MUNETAKA MURAKAMI: Yeah, it was, like I said, in Spring Training, I had a month off from the WBC. But in Spring Training, the teammates welcomed me a lot, and I was at home during that time. So it's been the same since.

Q. When you're feeling good at the plate, what is the most important thing? Is it the swing? Is it the pitch recognition? What is most important for you when you're having success?

MUNETAKA MURAKAMI: It's pretty much everything. I mean, there's tons of great pitchers out there. And if one, let's say, mechanics or if one's skill drops off, I'm not going to be able to hit them. So it's pretty much everything and then I have to do everything in 100 percent at the right way in order to hit those great pitchers. So I think to answer your question, it's fully everything.

Q. When you signed over the winter, the White Sox had had some tough years before you came here. Why did you sign with the White Sox, and did you think that your team would become this good this fast?

MUNETAKA MURAKAMI: This is the reason why. As a team, the White Sox coming in as the postseason, winning the series and then coming here in Cleveland, this is what I wanted to accomplish before I signed, and that's what I'm doing now. So this is pretty much everything.

Q. Your teammates were talking about how you guys might be playing your best baseball of the year right now, which is obviously the perfect time for it.

Do you see a difference in the team the last three games versus what you saw in September or throughout the season which is a pretty good run for you guys overall?

MUNETAKA MURAKAMI: I think so, very much. We're playing a really -- the best baseball that we have in the season. The bullpen is doing tremendous.

If you score one run, I have so much confidence that we can win the game, which is really good. Batting aspect, we're really doing really good with let's say hitting.

So in all aspects, I think we're very much in a good state, and we're playing the best baseball in the season right now.

Q. Just from the team perspective, how important was it to strike first and win Game 1 today?

MUNETAKA MURAKAMI: The first game in the series is essential, very important. And I'm just really happy that we pulled this off.

It really defines the outcome to the series. So we'll get the one-day rest tomorrow. We'll come back rested, and then we'll focus on winning again and try to get the two-game winning record.

Q. When you hit the home run and turned in toward the dugout, what were you feeling in that moment?

MUNETAKA MURAKAMI: Well, I can't really explain it in words right now, but it was something a little bit dirty. (Laughs).

Q. Is there a difference between hitting a big home run on the road versus hitting a big home run at home?

MUNETAKA MURAKAMI: Yeah. The sound of the audience and the crowds is obviously different. If I do hit a home run at Rate Field in Chicago, it goes absolutely nuts. I think that's the biggest difference is the noise.

Q. There was a lot of red shirts in the stands. How did you feel going into the game with such an away atmosphere?

MUNETAKA MURAKAMI: Well, I knew what I was coming into, and this is the moment that I was preparing for the whole season. So I was not really expecting more. I knew what I was going into, and that's what I was -- I was very much myself during the game.

Q. There is a lot of different ways of winning a baseball game, and the White Sox plays each and every player out accordingly. How does that feel when you're playing as a member of the White Sox?

MUNETAKA MURAKAMI: Each individual on the team has much respect for each other, and they're very much motivated with each other and the respect there is fully there.

I think that way the feelings and how we, let's say, look into the future as a team is what is showing, and that's why we are able to, let's say, reach that success.

Q. At the end of the season, you have mentioned that you have put in some lower body work. Has that been helping the success that you are having now?

MUNETAKA MURAKAMI: Yes.

Q. Why do you think the reason of the great team atmosphere is occurring right now?

MUNETAKA MURAKAMI: I think the biggest part is because we're winning. We haven't lost yet, and the biggest point is that we keep having that, let's say, winning mentality attitude.

I think each and every one at the end of the season was facing the same direction with the same mindset of coming into the postseason with that winning attitude, and I think that's what is showing right now.

Q. When there's a pitching change, I see all the infielders come in, and you taking a leader role in the huddle. What are your approaches in that, let's say, huddle, and what are you mentioning to your teammates?

MUNETAKA MURAKAMI: I'm not saying too much. I can't speak English too much, so the only thing I'm saying is let's go. And I think that's pretty much it.

Q. What is your feeling coming into this game after you have fought for the division title and seeing the Guardians play for this Division Series?

MUNETAKA MURAKAMI: Yeah, obviously it's a different feeling come into the postseason, but as a thought, I mean, the approach of, let's say, winning that baseball game hasn't changed.

I mean, if it's the Guardians, it doesn't really matter. It's all opponents out there in the postseason that we have to get through in order to get that final spot.

So that approach doesn't change, and it doesn't really matter which team comes in. We just try to win as much as possible.

Q. In your career in Japan, you had a very good relationship with Ishikawa Shun, a pitcher. What have you learned from him and his approach to baseball?

MUNETAKA MURAKAMI: He was showing everything and every single teammate how to play baseball and how to approach baseball. How to improve as a player each and every single day, he's showed that.

And that's how -- we looked up to him a lot, and that's how I became who I am today, and that's why we have so much respect towards him, and I'm really happy that I was able to be teammates with him.