AL DIVISION SERIES: ANGELS v YANKEES

October 1, 2002

Jason Giambi

JASON GIAMBI: I was telling Maz at first base when I got the base hit, I said, "Thank God I'm in this dugout, not in the other one this time." Because I've been there two times going, "Oh, shit. Here we go again (laughter)." It is, it's unbelievable. It's unbelievable. It's like clockwork. Seventh, eighth inning rolls around, Soriano goes from an 0-2 count to a walk, Jeter takes a great at-bat. I smoke a ball in the hole, goes off the glove of Spiezio. Then, of course Bernie steps up and hits a three-run. Unbelievable.

JASON GIAMBI: I just wanted to take a good at-bat, especially off Schoeneweis. He's got good stuff, throws the ball hard on me, throws sliders away. I figured it's a guessing situation with him, whether to look for the slider away, fastball away. He just continued to pound me in to try to hit into the shift. That's what a lot of teams normally do, you know. But like even tonight with Washburn, you know, if they leave it out just enough that I can get up underneath it, I can drive the ball still. Sometimes, especially in the short rightfield portion, it's nice for them to be playing the shift because I know they're going to pitch me in.

JASON GIAMBI: Well, I had looked out there and I knew if Jeter got on, I was going to get Schoeneweis because I didn't see Percival out there. I didn't know up until then, you know. I thought maybe he might have came into the game to face Jeter. I didn't know. I knew if Jeter got on, I was facing Schoeneweis. That's all I was concentrating on, on the on-deck circle, thinking how he was going to pitch me, my approach against him.

JASON GIAMBI: That's a tough one. That's gonna be one for Mr. Scioscia.

JASON GIAMBI: Incredible. I mean, that's what the postseason magic's all about - guys that do the little things. That's what wins. That's what we always talk about, it's about winning, it's not about stats or anything more than that. For him to take that 0-2 walk, you know, unbelievable. He didn't ever give in, he didn't chase, he felt awesome pitches. Unbelievable. That's definitely where the inning gets going, right there.

JASON GIAMBI: That's where the, "Oh, shit" came in. That's the thing that this ballclub does. Now being on this side of it, you always want to say, "Well, it can't be magic, it's not this, not that, not the mystique." But the ballclub, the pinstripes - because it's a different ballclub now - but they find a way somehow to get the rally going, two outs, two walks, a base hit, a home run. You know, all of a sudden that team that hit a bunch of home runs tonight puts in a walk, two singles, Bernie hits a big three-run homer and it's a big one.

JASON GIAMBI: I've always been like that. I know it drives Mr. Steinbrenner crazy. Gets Rob Cucuzza in trouble. He's calling down, "God, tell him to change his pants." I just have always done that, wear the same pair of pants all year. They're patched up pretty good right now. I don't know, it's that consistent -- my routine, things like that. So I wear them the whole game.

JASON GIAMBI: Yeah, maybe (laughing).

JASON GIAMBI: I think, you know, being here now, it's -- they never panic. Even when, you know, Glaus hit the home run, it wasn't a situation where guys are, "Uhhh." You don't ever feel the wind getting taken out of your sails on this ballclub. They always figure they're one rally away, because it's happened so many times for a team to come back. I mean, I guess my crowning moment as a Yankee, the walk-off Grand Slam. I mean, we're in the 14th inning, it's raining, we could have just shut it down. You know, all of a sudden we get a base hit, a walk, Jeter gets on, I hit a Grand Slam, we win. That would have been a game just to throw away, it's a regular season game. That's the type of players this team has - they don't ever give in, don't panic. They're one swing away, one bat away from getting that rally going and getting ourselves right back into this ball game.

JASON GIAMBI: You're right. And this team, it kind of I guess wears off on you from Jeter and Posada and Bernie and Rocket, the guys that have been here. And I honestly think it comes from Joe. The Skipper never panics. He's never in there going, "Well, let's get them tomorrow." He just has that calmness about him that just makes everybody, you know, feel like they want to give that extra effort for him and never quit.