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NL DIVISION SERIES: GIANTS v NATIONALSOctober 5, 2014Doug FisterSAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: Workout Day Q. What have you found in your career in the post‑season, what works for you as far as how you approach this start that might be different or might not be different from how you handle one in the regular season? DOUG FISTER: We definitely have to treat it as a regular start. You can't all of a sudden change your plan or your routine or anything else. For me, I really tend to try and block out as much of the exterior influences that can occur, whether it's fans, whether it's media, whatever it may be. You know, I try and go about my day the same as I have for the last six months, whatever it is. When it comes time to get up on the mound and play in front of whatever it is, 45,000, 50,000 people, I tend to take a second, step off the mound, look around, soak it in and then let it go and get back to business. It's really just a mind‑set. Q. What are your recollections of the playoff game you were in here two years ago, and will that benefit you that you have pitched on the big stage here? DOUG FISTER: I think it's definitely a benefit with having some experience. This is still a game of coming out here, preparing, making sure that you know you've done the work that you've presented for yourself. But it just comes down to executing, and that is a big thing. You know, these guys have played well for a long time and they are on quite a roll. But at the same time, we have been backed into a corner before. We've been through a lot of ups and downs, and I think that's something that's definitely going to help us here where we're down 0‑2. Q. What was last night like for you as you were watching it? Are you watching it thinking ahead to the guys you're going to be facing and scouting them, or are you just watching the game and the drama of it all, and how quickly, once it ended, do you make this transition to you're thinking ahead now to this start? DOUG FISTER: I think it's kind of a combination of everything that's involved. Immediately it's we need to win this game and what can I do to help the team, whether it's pick tendencies up, whatever it may be. But there's definitely some looking ahead, facing these guys on Monday, what are some of these guys doing off of Zimm, how are they approaching it and when Tanner comes in the game, what are they doing off of him and how are they approaching his sinker and curveball and those kind of things. So trying to soak in as much information as possible but at the same time, this is a National League team, something I'm not quite used to, and I have, after this year, been through it for a year. So I know I have to be ready at any point in 18 innings. Pitchers can be used as pinch‑hitters, baserunners, whatever it may be. When the time is called, you have to be ready. At the time, that's what we are looking into. Q. You've had some losses this year, a loss in Florida, some losses that seemed to be bad and you were able to bounce back and get back on track. What happens after those games that allows you to do that? DOUG FISTER: I think it's the family atmosphere we have. I think it's a testament to the brotherhood we have. We didn't quite get the job done today and we are going to pick each other up tomorrow. That's something that we've shown throughout this series already. Coming out swinging the bats a little better, putting together some good at‑bats. Stras pitched a quality start the first game and obviously Zimm came back and built upon that. And something that I think we as a team are going to build upon as a whole, working together, trying to take care of the little things every day and getting in here, getting our work outs, whatever it may be for the day, and that's something that we're going to have to continue to build on quickly. Q. From what you saw of the Giants in the 2012 World Series and the first two games, obviously they have won all the games, but what is so impressive about them, the way they go about it this time of year? DOUG FISTER: You've seen it the last couple years. They are a team that have good camaraderie. They are a team that they never quit and neither do we. That's something that at this level, we have to know, as long as there's one out left in the game, we still have to play the game the right way. There is no givens in this game anymore. There is no, you know, automatics. It's a matter of every pitch counts. We have to focus on each and every pitch. As a starting pitcher, a lot of times it comes down to one or two pitches and that's what it came down to in the regular nine innings yesterday. So that's something we have to know in the back of our mind, but at the same time we need to attack. We need to be able to get up on our feet today‑‑ or tomorrow, and make sure that as a starting pitcher for me, I have to go out there and set the tone. I have to go out there and start throwing strikes and get our defense involved. Q. How scary of a moment was that for you in Game 2 here in '12, the line drive, and staying in, what's your recollection of all that? DOUG FISTER: You know, I've seen the video many times. I remember it very vividly. It's not something that gives me chills or anything else. It's something that I've gone back and looked at it just to know that, you know what, hey, I'm okay. I was blessed that day to come out on top and not have to come out of the game. But at the same time, that's something that obviously we don't want to happen, and it doesn't change how I pitch. It doesn't change how I play defense or anything else. I'm going out there, same way, hard‑nosed and don't want to come out of the game. Q. You've had a pretty good layoff since your last start of the season. I know you pitched in that intrasquad game, but what's been your routine to stay sharp and is that a challenge or is that, at this time of year, a benefit to get time off? DOUG FISTER: I think it's kind of the mind‑set that you take. For me I take the mind‑set no matter when I pitch, whether it's four days or ten days rest, I'm going out there with the same stuff. Every day we have a routine, whether it's play catch for a bullpen, play catch for the intrasquad, play catch for a light day; it doesn't really matter. It's something that I know that I'm preparing and I know that I have the right feeling going into tomorrow, and know that what I've worked on for the last eight months is going to be at my fingertips. Q. When you speak of eliminating the external distractions in your preparation, what do you do with the circumstances of the series as they stand now? DOUG FISTER: You know, it comes down to, we really just have to focus on each pitch. You know, it doesn't matter what happens after nine innings. We need to‑‑ for me, I need to focus on that first pitch and after that first one, I need to go to the second one and I can't look at anything bigger than that. It's something that I have to make sure that I fine tune and stay focused on that fine‑tuned, one‑pitch‑at‑a‑time mentality. Q. For an American League pitcher coming to the National League, a lot of times AL pitchers say, oh, good, now I get to face lineups with pitchers in it. The fact that Bumgarner is such a good hitter, does that change the dynamic when you're looking at the lineup? DOUG FISTER: I definitely don't take that, "oh, good, I get to face a pitcher" mentality. Like I said, whether it's one out or it's 27 outs, at any point in time, these lineups are really good. They have the chance to strike at you at any point in time. So you have to really make sure that every pitch counts, and that's especially true whether in the AL or NL or in this series. Bumgarner is obviously statistically a very good hitter, and that's somebody I don't take lightly. Not one of those guys in their lineup, 1 through 9, or coming in off the bench, those guys are a threat with a bat, and I have to approach that situation as such. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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