AL DIVISION SERIES: TWINS v ATHLETICS

September 30, 2002

Brad Radke

BRAD RADKE: Not really. One through nine is going to be tough anyway, so just another guy being hot really isn't going to make much of a difference as long as I go out there and pitch my game, keep the ball down, and make my pitches, and, hopefully, he can get himself out.

BRAD RADKE: Hopefully. When I did -- when I was first up in '95, I was kind of hoping someday while I am up in the big league I can be in the post-season, and now the day has come. It's been a long time, but now there is a lot of guys that play this game that don't get the opportunity to be in this position, and, you know, I am going to try and make it count, go out there and do my best, and hopefully we can come out on top.

BRAD RADKE: I think it was. I know a lot of times in spring training they were pretty fired up about the whole situation, and I think we did have something to prove out there this year, and a lot of guys took that to heart, and just go out there, you know, between the lines, go out there, I don't know if -- you know, the guys thought about it while they were playing, but off the field, I think a lot of the guys were thinking about that.

BRAD RADKE: No, just the whole thing about almost being contracted, you know, in the winter, and just taking that to heart, you know. That's -- you know, it doesn't happen every year where a team is going to think about being contracted, you know, so a lot of guys just took that to heart and just went out there and played as hard as they could.

BRAD RADKE: We are happy to be here, of course, but we are not just happy to be here. I think that this team really deserves to be here and, you know, the way we played last year, you know, the first half, especially last year, I think it was just a stepping stone of what was to come. And I think we learned a lot what we did last year.

BRAD RADKE: It was tough. You know, I didn't -- I really didn't think that was going to happen, just being on the positive side. But deep down I thought maybe there might be a strike, but I woke up that morning, just turned on the TV, and they got the deal done, so I said, okay, I got to pitch tonight. So I just -- I was happy, I was definitely happy, and this ball club was very happy, too. But it was a good thing for baseball to get that deal done and it was a good thing for this team.

BRAD RADKE: Sure. Oakland, I think these two teams have a lot in common. The chemistry is there. We have a lot of good young talent on both teams, and it's -- I lost my train of thought, here. Oh, yeah, yeah. Over the last couple years, I mean, they have struggled at a certain point, and then all of a sudden they have flipped that switch, just like this year, they won 20 games in a row, and they struggled at the beginning of the season, and look where they are now, they have won 103 games or something this year. So it's a team that it's a good example for us, we can look out and say look what the A's can do, with a small payroll and, you know, we are working under the same boat.

BRAD RADKE: It definitely doesn't feel like it's the end of the season for me. I was out for two months. It's a lot of wear and tear when you throw 230, 240 innings, and I feel like it's July still. You know, my body doesn't feel like it's really worn down, and it's a good thing. I am just glad that when a lot of our guys were hurt, a lot of our guys did step up and they had to pick us up.

BRAD RADKE: Oh, they deserve it, you know, I mean, those three guys are the three best -- I think the three best pitchers, you know, in baseball, you know, three guys in a row, you can go out and it's almost an automatic win. It's kind of like a John Pachilling [ph] thing, but they got three guys over there that can really throw the ball, and we know that, we have faced them a bunch this year and we know how tough they are, but just have to go out there and do our best. Hopefully, you know, I can pick the team up tomorrow and not really -- not give up a lot of runs so we can have a chance?

BRAD RADKE: When we came out West, you know, to play them, we played them tough, you know, we usually played them tough every game and we lost a lot of -- I don't know, we -- they won a couple games on last inning home runs, but the kind of team that we are, we kind of think back and when they come in to our place, just play them even tougher. And in that game, I was tough, I was pretty fired up. You know, of course you want to beat the guy to stop the streak, you know, and luckily, it came back around, you know, for me to try and do it again. And I was -- I felt good that night and I had all my pitches and it was just one of those nights, just one of those nights where I felt really good, and maybe they had an off night that night, you know, you never know. But it was a good feeling, it was a great feeling for me and it was a great feeling for the ball club.