NL DIVISION SERIES: CUBS v BRAVES

October 4, 2003

Kerry Wood

KERRY WOOD: This time of year, you put that stuff aside and realize what's at stake and be able to do it. I don't think you can make a habit of it, but it changes your routine a little bit, but if you need to go in you've got to go do it.

KERRY WOOD: You maybe just do a real light routine, but probably just don't throw, and just be ready to go again. There is not much you can do in between starts with three days. You kind of recover and get ready to go.

KERRY WOOD: Even the game we lost, we were down and we were able to get a run off one of the best closers in the game. That shows we're not giving up no matter what adversity is thrown our way. We've done that all year long, and hopefully we'll continue to do that.

KERRY WOOD: Obviously I'm ready to pitch tomorrow. Until this game's over and we know the outcome of it, I'm ready to go.

KERRY WOOD: He was awesome last night. It was fun to watch. He did what he did for us all year long, come out and take control of the game and dominate it. He did again last night. It was fun to watch. He was outstanding.

KERRY WOOD: I expect the same. The fans have been in a playoff-winning drought for quite a few years. They're all excited and we're excited as players. It's fun to walk out of the stadium and hear thousands of people out there cheering. I expect it to get even bigger and better.

KERRY WOOD: We haven't gotten that far yet. Best case scenario, we can talk about that tomorrow.

KERRY WOOD: We would like to look at it that way. They know what it takes to get here and you can't count this team out at all. Hopefully we can go out and get a couple runs early.

KERRY WOOD: I think we will want to. I don't think we talk about it a whole lot, especially in the last month and a half or two months. It would be nice, but like I said, we don't sit around and talk about it.

KERRY WOOD: It's not much of a change for us. We get celebrities and actors all the time. It's fun, but they usually get the feeling of when it's game time, the tenseness in the clubhouse, and they say their good-byes and get out, but it's fun. We got a chance to talk with Jordan a little bit last night. It was a good time.

KERRY WOOD: We didn't get into that conversation, but it was good to see he was there supporting us.

KERRY WOOD: Obviously, we thought we had a good team coming out of Spring Training, and these guys have been great for us. They're probably a big -- they're not probably. They're a big reason why we're in the situation we're in. Last night they all came out and were ready to play. They have been great for us, and hopefully they will continue to play well.

KERRY WOOD: Definitely. You know it's playoff time. There is no doubt about it. There is no similarities to the regular season game when you go out on the mound. This is why we play the game. We want to be in these situations. We know our stage is out there and we're ready to go.

KERRY WOOD: For me, I think me and Sammy are the two left, it's different for me from my standpoint because the team expected to be here this year. '98 I think we were a little surprised. I know everybody in the city was surprised to make the postseason. We were out in three games. This year we expect to win and go further and hopefully we can take care of business.

KERRY WOOD: When we go to Atlanta, we have fans that follow us all over. The way they were it was awesome out there. It almost felt like a home game. There was a lot of Cubs fans there. It was nice to see. I expect the same if we have to go back tomorrow. Like I said earlier, I think they would take that extra one-day trip to go be a part of it. If it happens, it should be fun.