NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: GIANTS v CARDINALS

October 12, 2002

Dave Dravecky

DAVE DRAVECKY: Yeah, I think it's great. You know, it brings back an awful lot of memories from 15 years ago. You know, right now, they are two games up and there's still a lot of baseball to be played. Obviously, you want revenge, but the bottom line is, you've got to take it one game at a time.

DAVE DRAVECKY: Well, you know what I think there's a level of intensity that takes place. You complete a 162-game season, and there are a lot of up-and-downs and downs. You ebb and flow during the course of the season and everybody talks about the dog days but the ultimate goal of that 162-game season is get to the playoffs. You get over that hump and there's a renewed sense of intensity, aggressiveness and all of those things that it takes to now get the job done and get to the World Series. That's why I believe the level of play rises the way it does, just because of the moment. You're now one of how many teams that are playing to be one of the last two teams playing. There are very few teams left. As a result, I think you see guys step up a little bit more. It's not that they slack off during the season, it's just now you know, now we have a chance to get to the World Series. Everything changes. You know you can talk about, I was watching the ballgames over the past couple of -- over this past week, and there's been a lot of conversation about the series that the players have had, the teams have had against each other in the regular season and whether or not that has an effect or an impact on what's going to take place now in the playoffs. And in my opinion, it has no impact whatsoever. And the reason why is because the slate is wiped clean. You are now fresh. You're starting all over again. That series really has had very little impact whatsoever as to what's going to happen from this point forward, and I believe that's why there's also a huge difference in the intensity and some of the things that you're seeing as a result to those series not really falling into play like they normally would based on, well, the Twins had a ton of success against the Angels or vice versa. It doesn't matter once you're playing against each other, once you get to post-season play.

DAVE DRAVECKY: First of all, I would hope that it would inspire guys, this ballclub, to go out and win today, obviously. But the reality is, my appearance out here makes very little difference as to whether or not the Giants are going to win today. It's going to be the nine guys that go out and play against the nine guys for the Cardinals. If there's any inspiration that I can give, that's great. But these guys know what their job is. They know what they need to do when they go between the lines and especially this game today. In many respects, this game is 0-0 and it's a fresh start for the Giants, now being home. And it's wonderful being in your home park to be able to do that, especially here in San Francisco. As it relates to the '99 ovation, that was just a tremendous privilege and honor for me to be a part of. I was around some of the greatest baseball players that ever played the game. My son Jonathan who is here with me, we were both like two kids in a candy store when we saw Willie Mays and Juan Marichal, Dave Kingman, Orlando Cepeda, some of the greatest baseball players to ever play the game that wore Giants uniforms. Just to be a part of that was a tremendous privilege for us. Yes, that was very special for the Dravecky family, and particularly for me, and it would be wonderful to be an inspiration. But the reality is, those guys are going to go out there and they have enough to inspire them within themselves to do the best job today.

DAVE DRAVECKY: Life is great. It couldn't be better. I've got two of the best kids in the world. My daughter Tiffany is 20 years old and she's at Fort Collins at Colorado State University. My son Jonathan is 17, senior in high school and playing baseball. I've been having a wonderful time helping him with that. My wife and I travel around the country and are speaking, doing motivational and inspirational presentations, and we really enjoy giving something back, because so much was given to us when we went through the tough stuff, and so this is a big part of that. We have a non-profit organization called Outreach of Hope that reaches out to cancer organizations around the country, and there are books that we have written. And knowing that we can help people that were hurting in the same way that we were helped when we were hurting. I have to say the most wonderful thing about my life now every day is that I have a challenge to be the best husband and the best father that I can be. God only knows, that's an incredible challenge. It's a whole lot easier going out and throwing in front of 60,000 people in the seventh game of the World Series than it is to try to be a good parent.