MLB WORLD SERIES: ASTROS VS BRAVES

October 30, 2021

Dylan Lee

Dansby Swanson

Kyle Wright

Truist Park

Atlanta Braves

Postgame 4 Press Conference

Atlanta - 3, Houston - 2

Q. Dansby, you don't need to be reminded of what this team means to this city. You're just 27 outs away. What does it mean to you and to this club to be this close?

DANSBY SWANSON: I think you said it. 27 more outs. I think that's kind of the mentality we need to keep. They obviously have a great ball club over there, a lot of great players, a lot of respect for just the ability those guys have over there.

So I think we just need to come out and continue to compete and do what we've done to get ourselves into this position.

Q. Dansby, you were a fan of this team before you were a player. What does it mean to add a chapter to the World Series history of the Atlanta Braves?

DANSBY SWANSON: Obviously, I cherish every moment here, whether it's now or a random day in July. So I'm just thankful to be here, but like I said, there's still a lot left to be written, and I think that we need to go out and continue to compete to put ourselves in that position to give this city what it's been longing for.

Q. Dansby, what did it feel like just to get into that dugout? You pass Heredia and see Snit smiling, and you go down the line. What are you feeling when Soler's ball is leaving the park?

DANSBY SWANSON: I think I went more nuts for that than I did for my own. Just a huge at-bat and so tough to do that coming off the bench in that big of a situation. But I feel like he's been doing that all year, right? He's been giving us tremendous at-bats from the time he came over from Kansas City.

Man, I feel like we were just kind of -- not dead all day, but I feel like they did such a good job of keeping us at bay for so long, and we didn't have too many opportunities. Then we were able to make something happen there in that inning. Man, just tremendous.

Q. Kyle, how good did that feel that Snit just sat in here and said you were the reason they won tonight because you got through those crucial innings and limited the damage and gave the team a chance to pull it out? How good does it feel to have contributed so big in such a huge game?

KYLE WRIGHT: I feel like I just try to do my part. I've had a lot of ups and downs this year. Just to be able to get back in a position where I could help the team was definitely pretty special.

My goal was just to get it to the back end, and those guys have been nails all year. Fortunately, I was able to do that, and they shut it down from there.

Q. Snit just said, given the ups and downs that you've been through in your career, he said he thought it really benefited you that you pretty much spent the year in Triple-A getting consistent innings. How much did that help you development-wise?

KYLE WRIGHT: Honestly, it sucks being down there, but I completely agree. I kind of hit the reset button a little bit. I was struggling a lot this year and was kind of, honestly, a little lost. I kind of went and back and watched a bunch of old video to see where I was at when I was pitching well.

I basically found where I needed to be and worked pretty strict on those mechanical changes, and I feel like it's put me in a much better position now to be more consistent. I feel like my stuff's been better, and everything has all around been better.

Q. Dansby, can you walk us through your home run swing and just that whole pitch sequence when you got the fastball and hit over the wall.

DANSBY SWANSON: Yeah, obviously, Javier's got great stuff. He's got a great slider and a really good fastball that typically has a little bit of extra life to it. In that moment, I feel like something that in yesterday's game that I struggled with was kind of the compete factor. I felt like I wasn't competing as much as I needed to. So at that moment, I felt like I needed to compete to do something to help this team win.

I'll be honest, I don't think homer was on my mind. I was just trying to get on base and make something happen. Thankfully, it was a homer. Yeah, I think just the compete factor is really the biggest thing.

Q. Dansby, a lot has been made of the four outfielders who came in at the trade deadline, and we see them all do something every day. How did you guys who were already here help them assimilate so quickly and feel like part of this group right away?

DANSBY SWANSON: I feel like you can ask these two guys up here. We have a group of guys that really cares about one another, that loves on one another, that gives each other a hard time, it doesn't matter who you are, you can be made fun of at any point in time, and just that kind of atmosphere, that family-like atmosphere really allows for everyone to just be themselves.

Obviously, ownership and the front office has done a tremendous job of bringing in guys that are high quality individuals and that character is a big part of what we do here. So when everyone's kind of on the same page in that regard, I feel like that's one of the big things why we all just work well together.

Q. Dansby, if you look back on World Series history, I don't think you'll find very many game-winning rallies like the one you just had. Did that feel different? Did that feel magical when you were in the middle of it unfolding?

DANSBY SWANSON: Man, on MLB Network they were saying this is the third time, and the other two, one of them was Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in 1928 or something like that, and the other one was 1981. I forget the names that they had mentioned, but baseball's been around a long time, and for this to be the third time is pretty special.

I feel like, when you're in that moment and you're in between the lines, your only thought is on winning. So it's kind of hard to wrap your mind around what just happened. Maybe if you would ask me in Spring Training next year, I might be able to give you a little bit of a better answer.

Oh, man, just unbelievable at-bats, and I feel like we just kind of grinded all night and it finally came to fruition there in that inning. But just special. The crowd's been special. Atlanta is obviously special to my heart. So, yeah.

Q. Dansby and Kyle, you guys were on the 2015 Vanderbilt team together that fell just short of the college World Series title. What do you guys remember about that run together, and what do you make of the fact that you guys are back here together in the World Series one win away?

KYLE WRIGHT: It's obviously pretty special getting to play with a former college teammate. We came up short that year, and I feel like it still has a little bit of a sour taste in our mouth.

I know that we want to finish this thing off strong, but just being able to play with Dansby at this moment, at this stage is something really cool. I don't think there's too many guys who have been able to do that, so it's pretty special.

DANSBY SWANSON: I just think -- obviously, we have such a special bond, the group of guys that played at Vandy or play there now. It's obviously a unique bond. We kind of have two different vantage points too. I was a junior. He was a freshman. He was our closer as a freshman. He's not shy to moments like this. He's been in big-time situations ever since I've known him.

That's been one thing I feel like I've always told Alex, I said, that guy, he's got it. He's got it, I know he does. He was nails for us then, and he's obviously been pretty special so far here in this World Series.

He's not shy of the big moments, and that's something that can be gained from that time when we were at school.

Q. Dylan, I'm sure you spent years thinking about what your first Big League start would be like. Were you surprised when Snit told you today was going to be tonight?

DYLAN LEE: Yeah, I definitely was not -- I was shocked, of course, but I know that I'm a reliever now (laughter), so yeah.

Q. Who did you call and tell, and what did it feel like out there?

DYLAN LEE: I told my fiancee and her family and my family that they should come a little early to the game.

Q. Dansby, trying to get you in sort of a mystical way, but when you were rounding the bases, this attachment for this team, you've come through at this key moment in this key game in this city, rounding the bases, can you describe what it felt like as you rounded the bases? Then for all three of you, what's your mood right now being one game away from the World Series championship?

DANSBY SWANSON: I can't lie. Mallory, she got here last night after the game, and she told me today that I was going to hit a homer. So I'm just going to say that I'll give her all the credit for that.

I don't know if you can really sum it up. I just know that God's blessed me so much to be here, getting traded here. It was probably the best thing that ever happened to me, to be able to be back home and to be able to play for this city and to just grow this community. That moment, it means a lot. It really does.

I have family here at the game. I have my best friends that I grew up with here at the game. It's a special moment, and it's really hard to put into words. So hopefully, we can talk after some celebration.

The attitude, I feel like kind of what we said. We know that nothing's done, nothing's over. We've obviously learned that lesson before. We just got to go out and compete, and I feel like that's the biggest motto for this team.

KYLE WRIGHT: Yeah, I agree. We're definitely feeling pretty good. We're in a good spot. We know there's a really good team on the other side.

So job's not done, and they're not going to go away easy, so we're going to have to continue to compete and scratch and claw to try to finish this thing off.

DYLAN LEE: I got to agree with Kyle. The job's not finished. Hopefully, we're back here celebrating.

Q. Dansby, you kind of answered it there, but throughout your life you know what people were talking about when they said the night Sid slid or the night Justice hit the home run. Decades from now, they might be saying the night Dansby and Jorge went back to back. What does that mean to you here in your hometown?

DANSBY SWANSON: I don't know. Maybe we can have this chat in about ten years when I'm getting old and I have kids and stuff like that. I feel like in that moment -- in the moment right now, I'm so thankful that we won. We've been tremendous here at home the last month, and especially during this postseason, and it was really, really good to kind of protect our home turf again.

We have another opportunity to do so tomorrow night, but like I said, I think the biggest thing is I'm just thankful for the victory.

Q. Dansby, kind of piggy-back off of that. Growing up out here, how much did you dream about hitting a home run in the World Series and having Atlanta win a World Series championship?

DANSBY SWANSON: Well, I'm probably the definition of ball is life. I grew up on a baseball field. I have an older brother, older sister that I was -- they're way older. So I was dragged around to every tournament. I was the annoying kid that would throw the tennis ball on the field because I was trying to play wall ball off the dugout and stuff like that.

So I've played that over and over and over again in my head a million times, whether it was for this team or just in this moment in general. There's obviously been a lot of work that's gone into this moment and a lot of dreams that have gone into this moment, and I'm just thankful for great parents and great family that have pushed me and believed in me to get me to this moment.

I'm thankful for Corbs. He was one of the only college coaches that believed in me and thought I would be a good baseball player. So I'm thankful for that. Again, thankful to be here. God's given me so much, and I'm thankful to be able to pour it back into this city.

Q. Dansby, Snit just said that this team that plays with that childlike emotion is dangerous in the postseason. We know the chemistry on this team is unlike anything you've had, but is it something that was built slowly, or was it kind of immediate, the chemistry in this dugout? Also, just kind of describe for us, is this the most special team you've been a part of in this Braves organization?

DANSBY SWANSON: I would say definitely one of the toughest. We've gone through so much this year. So much adversity with injuries, just with guys being out. It's been a heck of a year. I mean, we've had to grind and earn every bit of everything we've had.

I feel like that's a little bit of what's made it so special and the chemistry so unique because we've all been through it together. We've had to rely on different guys at different times. Different guys getting hot. The right guys getting hot at the right time. I just feel like we have so much belief in one another that that's kind of led to where we're at.

Q. Kyle, at what point in your outing tonight did you feel like you were in a rhythm and you said, okay, this is going to be a good night for me?

KYLE WRIGHT: Honestly, I felt pretty good in the bullpen, just warming up. I think the first outing I had before in Houston kind of got me a little bit acclimated to the World Series. So in the bullpen, I felt like I was under control.

Drew French, he's been awesome in the bullpen to me so far, so he kind of helped lock me in a little bit. I feel like from there I just had a bunch of confidence. We obviously have an unbelievable defense. I feel like that was my goal to just attack and let guys make plays, and that's what we did. I also made a great play diving to save a run. I feel like I was able to build off that and keep throwing strikes.

Q. You have made a habit out of this late inning win. What is your message to Braves fans who were holding their breath for seven innings?

KYLE WRIGHT: You're the hitter.

DANSBY SWANSON: Continue to get loud. I feel like sometimes it's so natural for people to have a little bit of nervous energy, but we love when they're involved in the games. Obviously, we appreciate them staying around because it does take a full 27 outs both ways. So they've been tremendous. The atmosphere here is second to none.

I mean, it still sends chills down my spine when they start going crazy. It's a beautiful city. I love this place, and just thankful that they have our backs.