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NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: NATIONALS VS CARDINALSOctober 15, 2019Ryan ZimmermanHowie KendrickWashington D.C. - postgame 4 Nationals - 7, Cardinals - 4 Q. Was there a first thought at the final out? RYAN ZIMMERMAN: No. I think people asked me what I did, and I don't even know what I did. I'm going to have to go back and look. The way we grinded through that season and then obviously through this game, I kept telling them we've got to keep going, keep going, keep going. That team, that organization is topnotch over there. They weren't going to quit. Great job by Pat kind of grinding it out. Tanner Rainey, huge the last couple nights, and obviously Dak and Huddy. But, yeah, just relief, I guess, might be the best word. Q. Did you have any idea going into the series how much you'd play, what your role would be? Going into the playoffs from the beginning? RYAN ZIMMERMAN: No, not really. I think, with the injuries I had this year and with missing, obviously, a huge chunk of the season, you know, coming back, talking with Davey, it was just basically, I'm here to help, however you want me to do it. This team was playing unbelievable. Basically, I was just happy to be healthy and come back. However they wanted to use me, I was up for it. With the way that those guys were playing, I was going to have to play my way back in. You got to earn stuff at this level. Nothing's given to you. THE MODERATOR: We can congratulate NLCS MVP, Howie Kendrick. Q. For Ryan, a lot's been made about the fact that you've been with this team since the beginning, the longest tenured player with the Nationals, but, of course, obviously, you're also from this area. You started to tell us out on the field about what it means to you, and your wife's family is from here and everything. This is the biggest moment in Washington baseball in 80-something years. Has that sank in for you yet? And what does it mean to you that you were such a critical part of them getting here this whole way? RYAN ZIMMERMAN: The answer is no, I don't think it's sunk in yet. Me, the fans, the community, we've kind of grown up together. I was 20 years old when I got here. We were not very good. And the fans -- you know, I still talk to season ticket holders now that have been here since RFK. We went through those things together. Right around 2012, when we made that first push, things started to change a little bit, and the expectations were raised. We've had some chances and couldn't come through, and I think a lot of those failures kind of taught us and pushed us to get to where we are now. I feel like me, the fans, the community are kind of one, and they deserve this just as much as we do. Q. You guys are two of a bunch of veterans on this team, a lot of you who have not ever reached this point before in your career. In some ways, does it make it more meaningful to have been through everything you've been through, and then to do this together, a lot of you, being here now for the first time? HOWIE KENDRICK: It's like he said, you've got to earn it, man. All the things in the past, all the failures, and losing in the first round -- because I've been there, too, just like him. It just makes it sweet because, as we're getting older, the game keeps getting younger. But to see a team like us continue to grind, and I think the mixture of people that we do have is what makes us so good. The chemistry that we do have, we understand each other. I feel like being around this long, I wouldn't change anything about the past because this is just -- I mean, it's unbelievable. RYAN ZIMMERMAN: I think there's a misconception. People think it's easy to win in the playoffs. First of all, it's really hard to get to the playoffs, and second of all, you're playing against the elite teams of the elite league. You've got to catch some breaks. I think in the years past, maybe we didn't catch those breaks. I think we caught some breaks this year, but I think more importantly, we took advantage of those breaks. So kind of made our own luck, I guess, if that's how you want to put it. Q. Howie, coming off the injury last year with all the work you put in the off-season, coming into Spring Training, what were your expectations? Did you know what to expect from yourself? HOWIE KENDRICK: I knew I was ready coming into spring because of the work I did put in to get back. It was a long road. I think, right after having surgery on my Achilles, I had to stay here for about six weeks, and it was killing me not to be able to play. But I think being around with the guys, and having a good attitude and just focusing on trying to get healthy -- that's why I went home because I knew I had to go home to get healthy, and that was my best shot. I told them before I left, I said, I'll be ready for Spring Training. Some people were like, yeah, yeah, we'll see. I wasn't joking when I said that. To be able to be back with these guys, guys like Zim, Rendon, Soto, Trea Turner -- it means a lot to be around those guys. I learn so much from them, and I love these guys just as much as they love me, and I know that 100 percent. I think that's the big reason why we have success because we truly care about the next guy. Q. Howie, the follow-up on that, as you're kind of going through your rehab and getting healthy, how much of the idea of sitting where you're sitting right now, having accomplished what you accomplished, was a motivating factor for you, not knowing what the feature would hold? HOWIE KENDRICK: I felt like last year when I got hurt, it just kind of -- I wasn't too happy about that because the season was -- we were looking pretty good to start out, and I didn't really expect this coming back in, but I knew I love winning, man, and I know Zim loves winning. That's why we play this game to be sitting here for this moment. We couldn't predict this, but we want to win, and I think at the end of the day, when you put everything out there on the field, and you're not worried about your stats or you're not worried about this or that or other teams, we worry about what we're doing, that's when success happens. I feel like our team is full of guys that really go out and they work hard. Whether it's before the game, whether it's in practice -- they get prepared to play every day, and that's where you see the results is out on the field. When we get out on the field, we already did all the hard work, and then it's just about having fun and we've got a lot of guys that like to have fun, too. Q. For either of you guys, nothing has come easy for this franchise, but you get up 7-0 in the first inning, how tough is it to keep the focus while they're chipping away at things? RYAN ZIMMERMAN: I've seen it before from that team. So I knew they weren't going to quit. I've said this multiple times to a lot of interviewers. That team over there and that organization, it's one of the best. I knew they weren't going to give up. I knew they weren't going to roll over. Their bullpen did a really good job of keeping it that way, and then they chipped away a little bit, but our bullpen did a great job, as well. As far as getting out to -- obviously, seven runs in the first inning is ideal, and then Pat threw really well. Pat's done a lot. They've asked him to do a lot that he's never done before. So he -- the starting pitchers, all of them, they've asked to take the ball in multiple scenarios, and not one of them said no. I think for Pat to come out and throw those first four or five innings like he did and grind through it when he lost it, that's just kind of the epitome of our team right there. Q. Can either of you guys, or both, what's the hardest -- do you remember, and can you talk about the hardest conversation you guys had in the clubhouse when you were 19-31? HOWIE KENDRICK: I don't think we had any hard ones. Our mentality was still the same. Even though we were losing, nobody really panicked. I don't think there was a sense of panic. Even Davey, at the time, he was like, man, we just -- the guys that matter, all of the opinions that matter, they're in this room, and we just looked at it like that. Hey, it's up to us to turn it around. We didn't blame anybody. We didn't point the finger at any one person. It was us as a team. Guys started grinding. We started getting a little bit of luck here and there, but at the same time, guys put in the work, and we started having success. I think that's, like he said, that's the epitome of our team. Guys just go out and try to work our way out of it, man. Guys just put their head down and got after it. RYAN ZIMMERMAN: It's simple. You could either quit, or you could play. You sign up to play 162 games. I played some where you lose a ton of games, and I played those games just as hard as I play these games now. That's what I've always been taught. It doesn't matter who you are or how much money you make or what team you're on, you sign up to play 162 games. Whether you're 31-19 or 19-31, you've still got to play the rest of the season out. So we had a choice, we could either basically roll over and quit or come in, like we said, each day and try and win that game that day. We chose the second one. Q. Has there been a moment for either one of you guys where you were really genuinely like, hey, we could take this game all the way to the Wild Card game, the Dodgers; where you thought you could compete with any team this postseason. HOWIE KENDRICK: I think we think we can compete with any team any time. People always get caught up in the things that are on paper, but the reality of it is you have to go out and play. Once we get out on the field, anything can happen. Always look at it as who's the best on that day because on any given day, anybody can beat you. You can take the worst team in baseball and put them against the best team in baseball, and they could lose that day. So we play for that day, that moment, that time, and I think that's what really matters is we've got to fight for just that one game because, at the end of the day, there's no guarantee of tomorrow. All you're guaranteed is this day. So we've got to go out and just live it like that and play like that. Q. We've talked so much this season about how much fun you and this team are having, with the dancing in the dugout, the Baby Shark, all of that great stuff. But I wonder, when you go into this World Series, people talk about baseball being perhaps boring and slow. Do you think your style going into this World Series gives you maybe an advantage with going out there and having the best time of your lives at this point of the season? RYAN ZIMMERMAN: Yeah, I think you get to this point in the season, I hope every team is having fun. We just kind of had to start doing it a lot earlier. We were forced into it. Yeah, obviously, this is huge for us and for the city and the community. But we're going to enjoy this a lot tonight, probably tomorrow, as well, and then we're kind of on to the next. But this is a huge accomplishment for everyone that's involved in this organization. THE MODERATOR: Ryan, Howie, congratulations on a great achievement. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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