AL DIVISION SERIES: TWINS v ATHLETICS

October 1, 2002

Ron Gardenhire

RON GARDENHIRE: Nope. They just came in -- they said we don't have any experience in the playoffs so I thought I would bring some in, so we brought Puck and Gladden in there just to talk a little bit about what to expect here and just a little uplifting type thing. It was pretty good. I can't tell you what they said, unrepeatable. Herbek was supposed to be there. Tony was outside, didn't come in, Oliva, and Herbie, I think he is probably down on the wharf.

RON GARDENHIRE: Radke is fine. We all know, at least everybody says that, reporters write about it all the time, that he has to get through the first couple innings. I think that's true with just about every pitcher in the game. Once he gets on a roll, it's hard to stop him. If he can get through the first couple, he will be fine, but I think that's true with everybody.

RON GARDENHIRE: As of right now, they are pretty loose in the clubhouse. I am sure as the (inaudible) goes along, everything out on the field, probably, I am sure there will be some nerves flying around right before the game. Right now they are pretty loose they are a lose bunch of guys. We feel comfortable where we are at, how we got here, we are very excited to be here and we don't believe we are just showing up, we believe that we are here to play. A lot of people don't believe that, but we are here to play, not just show up. We are not a stepping down. Wow, that was good.

RON GARDENHIRE: I think Joe Mays is locked in. We have talked about this over and over again. We have seen the good Joe and the bad Joe. The bad Joe is when he starts piddling around on the mound, breaking ball change, doesn't go after hitters. The good Joe is when he is using that sinker he has got, fastball that moves all over the place, setting hitters up, we know he can do those things. If we get the good Joe out there, which I am sure we will, he is game on, he is healthy, he is a pretty good pitcher. He won 20-plus games last year, I think it was, All Star, and right now he is healthy, and that makes all the difference in the world.

RON GARDENHIRE: I think probably in those games he knew he couldn't give up very many runs, so he did well in most of them. A couple outings he didn't fair too well, but for the most part, Joe understands that's the way the playoffs are, you are going to be matched up against great pitching. We have said all along you don't get here without great pitching, so you are going to be matched up, every pitch means something, Joe understands that, I think he is ready for it.

RON GARDENHIRE: The game is going to dictate how we try to do things. We have got a whole group of guys in this ball club and first and second situations. I don't think there is one guy in my lineup that wouldn't be afraid to drop down a run on their own to get runners, that's how unselfish these players are. So me going out and saying I am going to bunt Torii Hunter, I am not going to do that, I am going to let him hack, but to say Torii Hunter might not do that on his own, he might do it on his own. So I think we have a very unselfish team. Yeah, we will try to get runners over early in the game, late in the game, we always do that, that's the way we play, get them over get them in. Guys bunt on their own all the time thinking it's going to help the ball club. That's fine with me. We are not going to change, we are going to get after the game the same way.

RON GARDENHIRE: We have got a couple guys we like to match up, Mike Jackson with my right-handers, he can get any right-hander out. The rest of the guys like Hawk, Santana, J.C., those guys pretty much match up against right or left. When I bring them in, I bring them in to start in any left or right and let them go. J.C. might be a lefter, but I am not afraid to let him face right-handed hitters, either. Same with Santana, as a left-handed hitter, his change-up is probably as good as any pitch in the game and he can get righties or lefties out, same with Hawk. So we have got a couple guys I might match up with, but for the most part, if I bring a reliever in, we leave them out there. That's what we have done all year. Not to say I won't go out there and change it, I go by what we think is right. We got all the numbers. My bench coach has got every number you could possibly imagine, but we trust our guys to get lefties and righties out.

RON GARDENHIRE: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, this is fun. This is what it's all about. There is not many teams playing baseball right now. Believe me, we have been setting on the sidelines. I told Jim Thomme [ph], I don't know how many years in a row, "Jim, I will be sitting in my garage, smoking a cigar, drinking a beer watching you play, good luck." I got pretty tired of saying that. So he told me this year, he said, "I will be smoking a cigar, drinking a beer, watching us play." That was pretty good. I am pretty excited about that. Absolutely. I can say that, can't I, drinking a beer?