AL DIVISION SERIES: MARINERS v WHITE SOX

October 5, 2000

James Baldwin

JAMES BALDWIN: Everything is fine. Right now, you know, I'm just worrying about going out there, pitching and trying to give the team a chance to pin a win. Obviously we're going out there and try to do what we've got to do to take it to the next level and bring it back to Chicago.

JAMES BALDWIN: Well, we've been in this position before, as far as losing two games, but we don't worry about that. We still just got to go up there and have fun. We can't look at this as we're two games down, you know. Just got to go out there and have fun. Right now, it's just take it one game at a time. And honestly, go out there and do whatever it takes to win that game tomorrow.

JAMES BALDWIN: Obviously you want to go out there you decent want to go out there and have your good stuff. Right now I feel that I'm going to go out there and have my good stuff. And this is a do-or-die situation, and especially now a lot of people would like to be in our situation, being here in the playoffs. So right now there's no extra added pressure on anybody. We just go up there and have fun. Right now -- the situation right now, we've just got to go out there and do just that.

JAMES BALDWIN: That's the name of the game. Everybody in the clubhouse can and will kick it up to that extra notch. We came out to the mound, just one of those things where you know you have to realize that this is your final tune-up for the playoffs and the other day I felt so good to where I couldn't control my fastball because I was feeling really good, throwing my changeup, curveball. I was able to throw it over for a try and once I got the ball down in the strike zone, it made me feel a lot better.

JAMES BALDWIN: Well, a lot of guys, this time of year, a lot of guys go out there and play with a little fatigue in their body and a little injury here and there but this is the time that we need to go out there and play. Like you said before, this is a situation that we would not have to be in as far as not being in the playoffs and the guys that are hurt now, you know, they would not be playing. But right now you cannot look at that. This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing. You never know when you will get back to this position. So obviously everyone wants to go out there and play and do whatever it takes to win that ballgame.

JAMES BALDWIN: No. Not at all. Every time I come here or every time I get on the mound I try to pitch very carefully, because, you know, these guys are very good hitters. They are very strong powerful lineup over there so you definitely have to go over there and attack them and not give in to anybody. And that's what we, as a pitching staff, have been taught this year is to go out there and attack the hitters and that's why we found ourselves in the playoffs.

JAMES BALDWIN: Mike Cameron is a very good friend of mine. He was over here and got drafted a year after I did and he has always been one of the guys that I call every day just about or he gives me a call. Just one of those friendship things. But tomorrow when you get up there on the mound I have no friends. I told him that, you know, I'll do whatever it takes to win. But like I said, you know, it's a good feeling to be able to see your buddy in the playoffs and know that he is here or playing against him or whatever. Like I say, he is my friend right now, but tomorrow when I get on the mound, I have no friend.

JAMES BALDWIN: It's okay. It's okay. It's noticeable, put it that way.

JAMES BALDWIN: Well, I've been watching them very carefully over the last, you know, couple days. Obviously when you get to this level, everybody's approach to the game is a lot higher than what it would be during the regular season. Like I said, those guys are very good hitters over there and to stop those guys, you know to keep them in the ballpark is going to be a big plus for us. Like I say, those guys are very powerful. You know we're just going to go out there and attack those guys and do whatever it takes.

JAMES BALDWIN: I'm going to go out there and give it all I've got. It might be four innings or it might be nine innings. Who knows? I'm not going out there to cheat myself and cheat my teammates. Put it that way.

JAMES BALDWIN: In the playoffs, I doubt it.

JAMES BALDWIN: Jerry is very laid back. Obviously, we want to come in and take two and take it back to Chicago. He's one of the kind of guys where he's going to let us go out there and play and play hard. That's just the kind of manager he is. Whether we are up two or down two, he's just going to take it one day at a time with the same approach.