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AL DIVISION SERIES: RANGERS VS BLUE JAYS

October 12, 2015

Arlington, Texas - Postgame four

Blue Jays - 8 Rangers - 4

MODERATOR: We'll bring up David Price and R.A. Dickey. Questions for R.A. or David? Start in the back?

Q. R.A., what were your thoughts when you saw Gibby coming out in the 7-1 game where you're one out away from being the pitcher of record?
R.A. DICKEY: obviously -- let me just say this: No competitor would or should want to come out of a game like that, okay? So everybody understands that. Gibby's the manager and when he says go, I'm an employee, and then sometimes you don't necessarily like what your boss wants you to do but I respect him. And at the end of the day when you look over your shoulder and you've got a guy like this coming in behind you, it makes it a whole lot easier to give the ball to Gibby. So am I disappointed? Sure, I think any competitor should be. But at the end of the day, I've said this before and I mean it, it's amazing what you can accomplish when you don't care who gets the credit, and we won today and so we're going back to Toronto with a chance.

Q. You can't get into Gibby's head, but do you think it was a matter of when it came to the crunch he didn't trust your knuckleball in that situation?
R.A. DICKEY: I sure hope not. I would hate to think that's the case. It feels good when a manager believes in you. Today was kind of a precarious situation, you know? It's a do-or-die game, you know. We've got a bazooka in the bullpen, so you try to see both sides as a diplomat. Yeah, but you know, it's -- I'm sure Gibby and I will talk about it but in this moment, I'm not going to let it steal away the joy that I have about getting to go back to Toronto, when there's a lot of teams that would have folded. But we have a lot of character and it's fun to be part of a team and I don't want that to steal the joy from something like that.

Q. R.A., you stayed out on the field a little bit after the game, I think you were taking some pictures there and you had some fans chanting your name. What was that about and how special of a moment was that for you?
R.A. DICKEY: I think that's just about celebrating the moment with your fans. I mean, how exciting for them and for us, right? It's nice because my career as a Toronto Blue Jay hasn't necessarily gone perfectly, right, so it's nice to be able to celebrate a moment with people who have traveled down and are bleeding with you and sweating with you and hoping with you, and that's what that was about, and I really appreciated it. But we've got some great fans and they're excited and so are we.

Q. David, can you walk us through the thought process when they came to you, what they told you they wanted to do and the fact that you're now apparently no longer available for Wednesday's game?
DAVID PRICE: I mean, I felt like I'll be available for Wednesday. I mean, however many pitches I threw today, if that was my start date and Wednesday would be a side day, so I'll go to the field tomorrow, I'll get my work in and I'll be ready to go on Wednesday. But they just told me to be ready for any type of situation. That's why I came to the field today and R.A. did a fantastic job, but I'll be ready for Wednesday.

Q. David, can you walk me through catching the Pillar home run? What happened there?
DAVID PRICE: I told him before the game, hit me a ball in the bullpen so I can catch it. I'm playing catch with Stroman and I guess the second inning and it was hit right to me, so that was pretty cool. I got it authenticated. I don't know where it is right now, but that was pretty special.

Q. David, thoughts on not starting Game 5?
DAVID PRICE: I'll be ready, you know? Whatever they need me to do on Wednesday. Like R.A. said, whenever you have a group of guys like we have that are just -- I mean, this is -- obviously we have a lot of guys that put up really good numbers, but this is a pretty selfless team, and whenever you're a part of something like this where 25 guys on that active roster and everybody else in that clubhouse has one common goal, that's special. You don't get that a lot. There's always, you know, there's always somebody that cares more about what they do than what the team does and that's not the case here and we have our fair share of big-name guys and we want to win and that's the bottom line every day, everybody just do their part, do your job and don't try and do too much.

Q. R.A., what was it like finally pitching in the Postseason after all these years? And also did you see Gibbons coming out of the dugout, did you have your back turned?
R.A. DICKEY: I actually saw the infielders start to -- they started to ambush the mound and I thought, oh, no, you know. I didn't really have time to respond. I was a little bit taken back with the situation so I thought they may be coming to give me a pep talk or something. But to answer the first part of your question, it was fantastic, especially here in Texas where it all started for me. I stood on that mound in 2006 and gave up six home runs, tied a minor day Major League record, so my story was about redemption in a lot of ways so today was another chapter in that story.

Q. David when you were up throwing to Stroh in the first inning, had you been told to get up and get ready then, that early?
DAVID PRICE: No, we were playing catch. We did it yesterday and we did it probably an hour and a half before the game and I told Stroman I want to do it a little bit later just to try and keep it a little bit more game-like for a starting pitcher. You don't play catch an hour and a half, two hours before the game and then go sit for an hour or two hours and then don't get up. That's kind of uncommon for a starting pitcher. So I just wanted to get my body loose at that point and just to be ready for any situation.

Q. David, R.A. used the word redemption. That was your second win in relief, did it feel redemptive to you to after the previous appearance?
DAVID PRICE: R.A. threw the ball much better than I did. He gave up one run in 4 2/3, and I gave up three runs in three innings. He threw the ball fantastic. I wish the scorekeeper would just give him a win because he's the guy that deserves it, not me. That's not the way I want to win games. I definitely want to help this team win in any way possible, but I want to be out there for 27 outs, not three outs, 4 2/3. Like R.A. said, we want to win, that's the main goal. That's what everybody says every single day. Just win today and worry about tomorrow later. That's what we did today and we did it well.

Q. Could both you guys describe the difference in what you're feeling heading back to Toronto in comparison to what you were feeling when you guys were heading to Texas?
R.A. DICKEY: I think that's one of the really cool things about this team is that no -- there hasn't been one game, at least -- and I'm speaking from personal feelings and what I've observed, there hasn't been one game that has superseded another as far as making people behave differently or feel differently. We know we have a good baseball team and guys are still cutting up and, you know, Kawasaki was dancing on the bus after we lost the first two games on the way to our hotel, and it was hilarious. That's just the kind team we have, and that's why we don't want it to end, because it's really special and you know when you have something special, you don't want it to end. From personal experience, the feeling hasn't changed. We just want to win a ballgame, end of story. Whether you're down 20, whether you're up 20, whether it's the first game of the series, doesn't matter, inconsequential and that's a neat aura to project. That doesn't always happen.

Q. I guess either or both of you can answer this. Having seen the journey Stroman's made to get to this point, just what's it going to be like watching him take the mound for that game and how do you feel -- what do you feel suits him for that must-win scenario?
DAVID PRICE: He wants the ball, you know, and that's what you want to see from a young kid. And he's made one Postseason start, he threw the ball extremely well in Game 2 in Toronto and he'll be ready. I mean, there's no doubts on this team. Whenever we lost both games in Toronto, we said just bring it back home, that's all we need to do. Worry about tomorrow and then get the next game and we did a great job of coming in here with our backs against the walls and winning two elimination games against a very good ballclub. I know he's ready, he's champing at the bit. He's a ball full of energy and I'm excited to watch him pitch on whatever day that is, Wednesday.

Q. R.A., your attitude towards today is very mature and exemplary, you want the team to win and don't really care how. And if it wins you'll get to pitch again, but you've also been around the block a few times. Do you think you would have had the same attitude about what happened today earlier in your career?
R.A. DICKEY: No. You guys know I try to be as honest as I can. I think being 40 and having gone through certain things in my life and come to terms with those things has allowed for some growth, I would like to think, you know, as a human being. But there's -- of course there's still that competitive nerve that runs through your body that doesn't want to ever come out of a game. David will tell you the same thing, you never want to have to hand a ball off, not ever. I will say it was pretty cool, you know, David and I share a lot of similarities in our story as far as where we come from and both Nashville guys, both won the Cy Young the same year. Has there ever been a game where one Cy Young has handed the ball to another one? That's kind of cool. Yeah, same agent. We know each other well and I think -- really, I think that made it a little bit easier knowing that this guy was coming in behind me. But obviously I would have liked to continue to go.

MODERATOR: Thanks, guys. We'll see you in Toronto.

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