AL DIVISION SERIES: TWINS v ATHLETICS

October 5, 2002

Doug Mientkiewicz

DOUG MIENTKIEWICZ: Yeah, I did. I felt pretty guilty for letting that ball go down the line that Justice hit in Oakland. I feel that there is not a ball that should get by me. That's one of those things that, you know, we answer. That's a big thing. We came in, we were down two-nothing and David gets that hit and we got momentum right back. Good teams answer, and they did, and fortunately, I stooped it and made a good throw to Eric. Came into the dugout with a little more enthusiasm than we have had in the last two or three games, so we felt we had it take a chance -- good chance of getting momentum back, and that's a good place to start.

DOUG MIENTKIEWICZ: We just came in screaming, "Let's go." It's a momentum shift, let's keep it. This series, when we have had momentum, they have gotten it right back. And we wanted to get it on our side. And like I said before, these fans have been through hell and back with us, and we wanted to give them something to cheer about.

DOUG MIENTKIEWICZ: Well, yesterday was a little different. Today you could tell right away, they started screaming, "Let's go, Twins," before the first pitch even started, and I can't reiterate it enough that through the contraction stuff, we felt that we bonded as a state, as an area, with the fans, the ball club. Like I said, we have been through hell and back together, and everybody makes a big thing about our backs are against the wall. Our backs have been against the wall since pretty much the day we were born in this group, so this is nothing new for us.

DOUG MIENTKIEWICZ: It was pretty good. It's something that this is what you expect out of a playoff game, you know, both sides screaming at each other, and we just felt that, you know, it's our time, it was our time right there, that was our chance to put somebody out, and good teams, they take advantage of situations, and maybe we put some pressure on them and they made some mistakes, but they did it to us, too, they made us pay for our mistakes. So do we.

DOUG MIENTKIEWICZ: Batting against Hudson, obviously, it's a playoff game, you focus, but you got to focus even more against a guy like that. He has such tremendous movement on his fastballs, on his splits, on his sliders, you can't really (inaudible) one pitch one zone with him, you just have to do the best you can with him. It keeps you honest. He threw one of the best change-ups, I have ever seen the pitch before, so I just try and hit the ball on the ground and hit it where someone is not for a change. What was the other part?

DOUG MIENTKIEWICZ: Well, I was thinking I was like please, if I would have ate one less cheeseburger, I would have beat that play, but, thankfully, he threw it over my head, and you don't see those guys make a lot of mistakes, and it was a little surprising, but like I said, everybody on the field is human and we are going to make mistakes.

DOUG MIENTKIEWICZ: We are going up against the best pitcher in our league, and it just seems like this group of guys, we don't ever get a break, but on the other hand, too, you saw what one play can do; one play can change the complexion of a baseball game, and it's do or die. He has beat us, it seems like, 300 times in a row, and it would be nice for him to let us win one for a change.