AL DIVISION SERIES: ANGELS v YANKEES

October 3, 2002

Derek Jeter

DEREK JETER: Well, it was, obviously, it was tough. I mean, it's something that you don't want to experience, especially when you're that close to winning. You know, in that situation, I feel as though if we win 99 percent of the time, it just wasn't meant to be. It was disappointing, to say the least. And then, you know, people sometimes say you want to try to forget it, but I think you remember it. You remember what it feels like to lose, and you don't want to experience that again.

DEREK JETER: It's over with. I mean, it's close enough, I guess.

DEREK JETER: Well, I think, you know, obviously we'd like to play at Yankee Stadium. There's a sense of magic there. But on the road, you know, you get an opportunity to hit first. I think you can put a lot of pressure on the other team, early in the game. So, you know, through my career here, we've always really had no problem playing on the road. We enjoy it. It doesn't make a difference what atmosphere you're in because I think a lot of times, teams that are in the postseason, they go on the road, are getting booed, the fans are on them. We're basically used to it. That happens to us during the regular season as well.

DEREK JETER: I think everyone gets a little nervous. I mean, the butterflies are there. I think the butterflies are natural. You have to enjoy it. I've been spoiled to play in the postseason every year so far. But I just enjoy it. I enjoy playing this time of year. Doesn't mean you're going to be successful. You know, if I was 0-4, I'd tell you the same thing. I really enjoy playing when the season's on the line.

DEREK JETER: No, because it's a different group. I mean, we have a few of the same guys here. We have a different cast this year, and, you know, Oakland is a different team than Anaheim. Anaheim is tough. I think, you know, a lot of people are picking us to breeze through this round in the playoffs, but they're a tough team. They don't strike out. Every battle, one through nine, they beat you. They put the ball in play, move runners over, they have quality pitching and they don't beat themselves. Oakland's obviously falling behind two games, it's tough for us. But two different teams.

DEREK JETER: I think everyone is a little surprised. I think you get to the postseason, there's more 2-1 games, 3-2 games, a lot of home runs have been hit the first two games, especially against the pitchers that have been out there. It's been a bit surprising. That's the reason you play the games. A lot of people look at stats and say this is going to happen, that's going to happen, but you have to go on the field and perform. Anything's possible when you play baseball.

DEREK JETER: I thought I swung the bat well in the last couple weeks of the season. I may not have gotten as many hits as I like, but the last four or five games, it really started to come together. I started staying behind the ball. The first game, home run I hit was on the inside corner. I stayed inside and hit it off to left center. That's a good sign for me, not pulling too much. I get in trouble when I hit the ball to the ground, left side of the infield. I just got hot at the right time.

DEREK JETER: Well, yeah, I mean, we have a lot of confidence in all our starters, but especially with these guys here, we need Moose to come out and pitch well. You know, he's pitched some big games for us, especially Game 3 last year in Oakland. Hopefully, he can go out there and have good stuff and keep us in the game. He's really been throwing the ball well his last couple starts.

DEREK JETER: He's the best. I think that's the best way to put it. I mean, he doesn't strike out much. He gets hit a lot. He always seems to be on base. He's a catalyst, a spark plug for their offense. When he gets on, that's when they're at their best. Just like last year when we faced Ichiro, our game plan was to keep him off the bases. I think that's similar this season with Anaheim. You want to keep Eckstein off the bases.

DEREK JETER: You have to ask the pitchers how they feel, but on defense, it's pretty frustrating because even when our pitchers have made some quality pitches the first two games, they don't swing at them or they foul them off. And, you know, that's what you need to do at this time of the year, is put the ball in play. They've been doing it. So, playing behind Pettitte and Rocket, seeing some of the pitches these guys are laying off and even getting hits on it, it can be frustrating at times.

DEREK JETER: Talking about that damn monkey, huh (laughter)? The rally monkey there (laughing). It's always been fun here. There's been a lot of Yankee fans here when we played here throughout the years but I wouldn't really anticipate that the next couple of days. But it's a fun atmosphere. The fans here are great. They got that monkey, so... Looking forward to it.

DEREK JETER: You'll see.

DEREK JETER: We haven't overlooked him. Year after year, he has quality years, quality seasons. He can hit base hits, home runs like he did yesterday, drive runs. He always seems to come up in big situations. I know as an opposing player, he's never overlooked.

DEREK JETER: You have to be. Momentum on their side, momentum on the other side, you're only strong as your next day's starting pitcher, we have some quality starters. Hopefully, Moose can come out and give us a quality start tomorrow. But you have to forget about what happened the previous night. There's a reason you play 162 games in a Major League season, is because anything's possible. But we've always been good in the past at putting things behind us.

DEREK JETER: Probably. It's tough to hit home runs, especially when people are asking you about it every day, like they were with him the last couple weeks of the season. And, you know, look at times -- I think the last few days of the season he was trying to hit a home run. Before that, he was still hitting the ball the other way and getting hits. Hopefully, now this settled him down a little bit, but that probably was a big relief for him.