NL DIVISION SERIES: MARLINS v GIANTS

September 29, 2003

Jason Schmidt

JASON SCHMIDT: As far as the team or personal-wise?

JASON SCHMIDT: Team-wise and personal-wise, a lot of us weren't in the situation last year ever before. It was the first time for us. We won't have the fear of the unknown. We have a little bit of experience under our belt. We know what the crowd is going to be like, we know what the intensity is going to be like. I don't feel quite as much anxiety going into this. But tomorrow the adrenaline will definitely kick in. We've done it one time before, so it makes it a little easier going out there.

JASON SCHMIDT: I mean, they're going to go through the same thing we went through last year. They will have a little anxiety on their part, that's natural going into the playoffs. But we handled it well, and it wasn't quite as bad as a lot of us thought it was going to be. It's still baseball, you know. That's all we know. You go out there, just play the game the only way you know how.

JASON SCHMIDT: That time of the year, we had a pretty significant lead. They gave me 10, 12 days of rest, without putting me on the DL. I wanted to go out there and pitch. But they felt at the time it was best to keep me out of the rotation temporarily and have a chance to get it under control. After I came back, it felt great. I didn't really have to get any confidence back, it was just getting little aches and pains out there early, and then not having to face that again now.

JASON SCHMIDT: Yeah, a little bit of time to rest. Last year we were riding on our adrenaline from the All-Star Break all the way through the World Series. It's just kind of like one big emotional roller coaster all the way through. That really carried us more than anything. This year, we got a little bit of rest. Guys are healthy, starting to swing the bat really well now. The pitching's going to be there. It's going to be a little bit different situation than last year. It will be interesting to see.

JASON SCHMIDT: This is a veteran team. A lot of these guys, they've been around for a long time. I think it's a matter of how you turn it on or turn it off. They're going to go out there and do what they've been doing all year. I think adrenaline really takes over, especially when you get in the playoffs. And last year we just never really had a time to really emotionally rest. This year, like I said, these guys are veterans, and they're going to go out there and it's going to be there when they need it.

JASON SCHMIDT: Gosh, I don't know. I've never had an old manager or young manager in the playoffs. I don't know any differently, you know. For Felipe, he's been in baseball long enough, he's seen everything, every situation. He's been around. There's a lot to say for having an older manager. They have a good knowledge for life and for baseball. He's not going to run into anything he hasn't seen before.

JASON SCHMIDT: Every team has a few guys that can run a little bit. You're aware of that going in. You still have to pitch your own game. You can't put your focus on whether a guy is going to steal every pitch or whatever. You still got to hold runners on. I'm just going to approach it like I do all my other starts, change whatever needs to be changed at the time.

JASON SCHMIDT: It's definitely going to be different because it's a playoff situation. I've been dealing with it all year; I'll deal with it again now. Kind of an emotional year, roller coaster ride for some of us. But we've all handled it well. I just want to go out and play baseball. This is our time to enjoy ourselves and that's what we're doing.