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WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: ROUND TWO

March 11, 2006

Carlos Delgado

POOL 2: SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO

Q. Making progress?
CARLOS DELGADO: Making progress, slowly but surely, I guess.
Q. What do you think of the victory that happened last night?
CARLOS DELGADO: Well, what I believe, it's simply wonderful, it was tremendous. Unfortunately I lost part of the game. But I believe that it was a wonderful thing, and my team played incredibly well. They played incredibly well.
It was simply wonderful, and I think that it was simply spectacular for our fans. Our fans were waiting for that, they were expecting that, anxiously awaiting that.
And the whole stadium was jam packed last night from all standpoints. I believe that it was an utter success.
Q. Carlos, obviously without a doubt, your condition has been improving, but not being able to participate in a game like yesterday, obviously everybody can see that you must have been injured because you wanted to play. I think that was the one game that everybody wanted you to play. How do you feel about that and what are the real possibilities that you will be able to participate in the second round?
CARLOS DELGADO: Well, I think that it's going to be better. I would like to tell you that I'm 100 percent better, but that is not the case. And regardless of whether it had been between Cuba or Panama or the Netherlands, had I been well enough to play, I would have played. But the simple fact that I didn't play last night against Cuba, yeah, of course, it does -- what I can tell you is that nobody was sadder than me that I wasn't able to play.
But as I say, you cannot try to go in there as a crazy guy just to injure yourself even more, and as a matter of fact you will not be able to give out the appropriate level to perform at the right peak, at the right level.
The head doctor from the U.S. evaluated me and assessed me, my condition, and he told me, "Listen, take it easy a little bit. I want to make sure that all your symptoms get better and I want to make sure that you have 100 percent ability."
Q. Do you think that you're going to be playing in the second round? Do you have any idea?
CARLOS DELGADO: Well, what I would like to tell you is that I'm an optimist. Right now at this juncture, for example, in the game tomorrow I think it is going to be incredibly difficult to play tomorrow. In other words, I don't really feel well enough to do so, and I can't even really practice. I've been unable to practice during the last week.
I hope that this condition, my condition will continue to improve and I will have the opportunity to join the team at some time during the second round.
Q. What can you tell me about Puerto Rico's performance specifically here?
CARLOS DELGADO: Well, what I can tell you basically, I can tell you from what I have seen from the first two games, what I think is that at this time of the year that my guys, my players, they are not in a complete optimum condition. They've performed incredibly well. They have done an incredible job, and Dickie (Gonzalez) did a great job. I do not know if he actually let the run in or not, I didn't see the game. But I think they have done wonderful work here, and I think that their other players are also very efficient besides Puerto Rico. This is very important for the next round because right now the competition has become a little bit more difficult.
Q. Can you talk a little bit -- I don't think you said it in Spanish. Can you talk a little bit about what treatment involves day-to-day? Is it the same thing?
CARLOS DELGADO: You know, I really don't wish to discuss what we do inside treatment-wise. It's tendonitis, so basically we're just trying to calm down the inflammation and get the range of motion back.
Q. I'm going to ask you in English. Are you missing the excitement? Do you feel you are anxious to get back and play there?
CARLOS DELGADO: It's been a sad couple days just because I was really looking forward to this. Not having the opportunity to play because I wasn't healthy, it's tough. It's fun to watch and it's fun to watch when the guys are winning, but it's tough not being able to participate. We're doing everything we can in our power to try to make it better to see if I can join the boys at some point in the second round.
Q. What have the Mets said? Have they left it in your hands, or have they said, hey, Carlos, we have a full 162-game season ahead of us, please be careful?
CARLOS DELGADO: They said that and they left it in my hands (laughter). I think I said earlier that I wanted to be smart about it. I mean, I wasn't going to go out there and do something crazy to jeopardize the season.
I think this is a great event, but we're looking forward to 162 games with the Mets. That's the reason why I flew to Port St. Lucie yesterday. The head doctor for the Mets was there, and he examined me and he said, well, we're just going to continue treatment.
So the good thing is that the Mets felt comfortable enough that we got two very capable trainers here that can do what I would be doing in Port St. Lucie. We're talking every day. We're going to monitor progress, and we're just going to communicate.
I mean, I'm appreciative of the fact that I feel comfortable with the guys down here, that they let me come down. Hopefully if I'm good enough to play, I will play. I did promise him, I'm not going to play unless I'm 100 percent.
It was a combination of factors. You know, this is important, but my season is important, as well.
Q. Apart from you personally, for anyone who's never covered a Caribbean series and who's just starting to get a flavor of how intense these next several days are going to be -- I remember you were on a conference call with us, and you said, just wait, these games are sold out. What is this going to be like here for the next several days?
CARLOS DELGADO: Well, tomorrow is going to be a different crowd just because we're playing Dominican. It would be like when Pedro (Martinez) pitches for New York or Pedro pitches for Boston. There's a big Dominican community here in Puerto Rico. You're going to see a lot more Dominican flags here. It's going to be a little bit more animosity just because we are so close to Dominican that it's all about bragging rights more than anything.
When Venezuela comes it's going to be exactly the same, and the last game with Cuba is going to be basically what we saw here last night. Rumor has it that all the series have been sold out, so you're going to get about 20,000 people here going crazy, and hopefully most of them will be rooting for Puerto Rico.
It's exciting. I mean, we are passionate about baseball. This is a country that's very knowledgeable about the game, and they understand. They want their team to win, and we're going to try to win.
Q. How do you think the environment here from this team, with the dream team and the Caribbean series in the few years -- in the last years?
CARLOS DELGADO: This is a very good question. I think that both places have been actually quite wonderful, but they're different. As far as I'm concerned, I think that the other experience was unique because at that time I was pretty new. That was in 1995. In 1995 I was kind of like a very -- I was like a kid in a candy store, if you will. I was watching all of these wonderful baseball players. For me it was a wonderful experience, and it's a little bit different because I was playing at that time -- now I'm enjoying it more. I enjoyed the three days that I was in Port St. Lucie. I wish I could help a little bit more here. I've said that the entire time. I want the opportunity, the chance to be able to play on the same team, being able to play with my Puerto Rican guys, with my friends. It's a unique experience for me. Thank you very much.

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