AL DIVISION SERIES: ANGELS v YANKEES

October 2, 2002

Mike Mussina

MIKE MUSSINA: You know, I fought myself most of the summer to figure out what really wasn't right. It just took a lot of work and perseverance and things like that. Eventually, it all fell into place. If I had really had known what it was, I would have found it in May or June, but it took till about the middle of August, I suppose, to, you know, start throwing the ball the way I felt good about throwing it.

MIKE MUSSINA: Yes (laughter). To both questions (laughter).

MIKE MUSSINA: Irritating, you said.

MIKE MUSSINA: Yes (laughter).

MIKE MUSSINA: Well, I think having been on both sides, I think having seen this happen from an opponent's standpoint and having seen it happen now, from a Yankees' standpoint, it's unique, ironic, whatever you want to call it. I think it's --.

MIKE MUSSINA: Not anymore, it's not. I think it's just, you know, it's baseball. It's anything can happen. There's no time limit. All those things that go with the uniqueness of this game. I just think it's almost humorous to look back on what's happened, just in the last three games that we've played at this stadium, with the last two of the World Series and now the first one this year with the playoffs, of how we managed to win the ball game.

MIKE MUSSINA: Well, I think the line-up they sent out there in Game 1 is more like the line-up I'm going to see. With Pettitte going in Game 2, there's similarities, but that's a left-hander. So there's going to be different things going on. I just will try to pitch the game I've been pitching the last six or eight weeks, and I didn't face these guys all year. So they haven't seen me throw. I haven't seen them, you know, firsthand experience. But I try to pay attention when Rocket pitches or when Duque pitched against them or even when Weaver pitched against them. I try to pay attention when the right-handers throw and learn as much as I can.

MIKE MUSSINA: Well, I think -- I feel good about the way I'm throwing the baseball. I think at this time last year I probably was throwing the ball the best I had thrown it in a long time - probably since the '97 playoffs. So, you know, to feel that way again or consistently is difficult. I'm not surprised that there's up and downs; everybody has ups and downs in this game. I feel like I'm throwing the ball as well as I've thrown the ball all year at this point. Does that mean I'm going to go out there and it's going to be like it has been the last six weeks? No. It means I still have to work, I still have to prepare and I still have to take every pitch as seriously as I've taken every other pitch this year.

MIKE MUSSINA: Well, the second half of that sentence was that when I got done pitching, he's scratching his head for about 20 minutes. He told me that. But until about the middle of August, then he felt better. I -- you know, I think what I was able to do last year for this club, not only in the postseason but throughout the regular season, you know, gave him, you know, enough of a sense of confidence to know that I was just struggling and that I had better days ahead of me. He just let it run its course, and let me pull my hair out, and now we're here and everybody feels better about everything.

MIKE MUSSINA: No, I didn't really feel that way. I felt that, you know, Joe was going to make the decision that he felt comfortable with and maybe that meant I was going to be in the bullpen and maybe it meant I was still going to be a starter. So I just -- you know, you can't control those things. You can only control what I'm doing on the mound, what I'm trying to do with the baseball. That's all I can do. That's all I was really worrying about at that point and hoping that I threw the ball well enough that I would still be starting come October.

MIKE MUSSINA: Well, it depends what type of pitcher you are. I think if you are constantly relying on strikeouts, then it makes the challenge difficult. I don't look at myself as a strikeout pitcher. Some days I end up with some strikeouts, but other games I don't. And so I don't feel like I need to strike out six or eight people to have a good game. So these guys put the ball in play, they battle. You know, they fight off pitches, they foul off pitches. It's gonna be a challenge. That's why they won 99 games, because they take every at-bat seriously, for nine innings or more of a ball game. And that's why they're here and why it's going to be as tough a game as any.