AL DIVISION SERIES: TWINS v YANKEES

September 29, 2003

Johan Santana

JOHAN SANTANA: I've only pitched here once. I did pretty good. I felt good. It was cold but I felt good and now we are trying to just come back tomorrow and do the same thing.

JOHAN SANTANA: You know, I started the season in the bullpen, but I knew, that, was my job. That was my job I was doing the year before. So I was able to deal with that because I've been through that. So I just told myself, well, now you have to just stay focused and work hard and just wait for the chance to get in the starting rotation and finally I get a chance. And once I was there, I'm like, I'm not going to give up. But I was okay. I was upset in the beginning, but then I realized that what they were doing is trying to make us stronger. I was okay with that. I just went to the bullpen and started doing the job that I was doing last year.

JOHAN SANTANA: You always make adjustments every time that you go out there. You have to be able to realize what you're doing out there. I knew that before, I didn't have my changeup, so I add that pitch. I was working on that pitch. What I was trying to do was just throw it the same as the fastball. That's the difference that it makes. I think about the fastball every time I throw the changeup. It's all about arm speed. It looks the same, but that's a big difference. That's what I've been doing. I've been working with Rick Anderson, our pitching coach and every time we do bullpen sessions he talks about that and we are always trying to improve.

JOHAN SANTANA: I'm not trying to do anything. I'm just throwing the ball the way I always throw it. Like I say, my pitches are different but I'm trying to throw at the same arm speed.

JOHAN SANTANA: Definitely. This is something that surprised me at the beginning, but then I was like, yeah, that's what I want to be. I've been working hard and we have been through a lot of things. To do this is very important for me. It's like a prize. When you put all of your work together, you know, I'm going to do my best tomorrow. Brad is No. 1, but I had the chance to do it. So I'm going to go out there and try to do my best tomorrow.

JOHAN SANTANA: I believe, you know, he's letting you guys know that he has confidence in everybody on the team. Of course, he's got more guys with more experience but we handle ourselves pretty good. He's going to throw us out there. You know, that's pretty good. That's the way we've always been. We've been successful with that since last year, and hopefully this year we'll go out the same way.

JOHAN SANTANA: No, I'm excited about it. This is cool. I think this is very cool. Against the Yankees, one of the best teams in baseball, it's going to be a lot of excitement out there. You know, I'll just handle myself, not try to do too much. That's all I'm trying to do is go out there and throw the ball for strikes and stay composed the whole time and stay focused, from the first pitch till I throw my last pitch. That's what I try to do. I don't try to do too much.

JOHAN SANTANA: Well, I don't look at it that way. They are pretty good. They are pretty good. So I believe when they go out there, they just go to win games no matter who they are facing. We feel the same way. It don't matter. It doesn't matter who we are facing. We are going to go out there and try to do our best to win the games. That's the way I am. So for me, it would be nice to go out there tomorrow and try to give the team a chance to win, and if we get the win, you know that we go back with the advantage of one.

JOHAN SANTANA: You know, we've been through this before. Last year we went to the playoffs, so we got the feeling of what it is like to be in the playoffs. We feel like we can go out there. You know, myself, I feel that I can go out there with no problem because I don't have nothing to lose, a lot of things to win, to gain.

JOHAN SANTANA: For me, every game is big. I take every game as my biggest game of my career. Tomorrow is going to be one of them, and all I do, you know, I have fun every time I go out there. I've been through a lot of things. I've been through tough games, but always been trying to stay focused.

JOHAN SANTANA: Dealing as a bullpen and dealing as a stater, sometimes I have to start some games I have to come in without notice. Sometimes I heard, "Johan, you're pitching tomorrow, Johan, you're pitching in two days"; things like that. You've got to be able to stay with it and be ready. So that's what I've been doing. I was ready for every time they called my name; that I have to go on the mound. So for me, every game is big. That's why I take every game to be the last game of my career.

JOHAN SANTANA: As a reliever, you know, I feel last year, that every time I have to come in, I have to just get people out. As a starter, it is a little bit different. You have more pitches, more time. You can be deeper in the game, so you are able to do other things. As a reliever, you just have to come in and get people out; if not, you are out of the game.