NL DIVISION SERIES: GIANTS v BRAVES

October 3, 2002

Gary Sheffield

GARY SHEFFIELD: Yes, I stated all along when I first got here how much I respected him and wanted to play for him. He's treated me with a lot of respect here, just let me go out and play my game. First thing and most important thing he told me, just go out and have fun because you deserve that.

GARY SHEFFIELD: It's the same as facing Glavine. He's our guy to try to run the ball off the outside part of the plate. He might throw a little bit harder but the thing is, breaking ball to go along with it, you really have to stay back and use the whole field.

GARY SHEFFIELD: I just try to approach it as knowing the pitchers. I just try to go out there and stay with my strength. If they stay away from my strength, I have to make adjustments each and every at-bat, pitch-to-pitch. If they come in that box I have to be ready. I can't get away from my game plan, just stick to the solid box and just go from there.

GARY SHEFFIELD: Sometimes it's hard to avoid it. You want to do something big in this series and these games, it's a lot of fun to be out there playing these games. But when you have pitchers trying to frustrate you, the most difficult thing to do is be disciplined. You just try to stay within yourself and not go out of your game plan, and hopefully they make a mistake.

GARY SHEFFIELD: The Florida Marlins team was a lot of rah-rah guys. You had Darren Dalton and Alex Fernandez, guys like that. There was a lot of rah-rah guys. This bunch is laid back, a lot of confidence, expect to win and never take anything for granted.

GARY SHEFFIELD: Well, I think guys within, they have the rah-rah in them but they just doesn't express it where everybody can see it and write about it. If you see Maddux behind closed doors he's the most intense person you'll ever meet but when he's on the field he'll try to keep his exposure. But I'm sure you hear those mikes every now and then.

GARY SHEFFIELD: I think with Livan, I think he's a lot more of a finesse pitcher now. Back then, he was a guy that threw in the upper 90s and he would set up with his fastball. He would throw a breaking ball or whatever and then you see his fastball, it looks like it's one hundred miles an hour. With Nen, he was throwing one hundred miles an hour and he would come right at you with his fastballs. Now, I think coming into it, he's a lot smarter. With a one-run game, he doesn't just throw you a quickie in case a guy might catch up to it. He'll set you off with a slider.

GARY SHEFFIELD: It's probably the most amazing thing I've ever seen. I had the luxury to playing next to Devon White and it was similar, but just seeing Andruw from day to day. A lot of times, Chipper and I, we have to move ourselves a little bit. We get so caught up in watching him we don't go after the ball. We have to remind ourselves to go get it because we think he can catch everything.

GARY SHEFFIELD: I think now, you know, being a family man, it kind of puts everything in perspective. Things don't bother me as much with baseball anymore. A lot of things people say and do to you, they really don't bother me because when you have a loving family to go home to, these things really don't matter to you.

GARY SHEFFIELD: Barry talks a lot about passing the torch. He's been on me for years to come out and there and train. He called me lazy, but the thing is, I work hard, but until I seen his workout, I realized I wasn't working hard. He's one of the most intense guys. His work out -- right now, I feel like it's April. I can go through another 162 ballgames; that's just how I feel. So with that in mind, I'm going back out and doing it again.

GARY SHEFFIELD: Yeah, he's the godfather of my son. He wouldn't let me hold my son the whole series; he's been taking over.

GARY SHEFFIELD: Just the discipline he has and his balance. He never goes out of his way or chases the pitcher's pitch and things like that. Even when he's hitting, I'm learning something and I'm watching things and trying to take it to my at-bats. You know, when he keeps his balance back, that's probably the most impressive thing, is because you've got so many guys throwing different speeds and different angles, it never seems to phase him.

GARY SHEFFIELD: Me and Barry talk about it a lot. We just know that we are in that position. There's nothing we can do about it. It's one of those things where we are not going to let anybody take away from the fun we have on the field. Like I said, you can write what you want to write and say what you want to say, but Barry is not feeling any tension whatsoever in this series. Like I said, it's the family life and all of the other things you've got going on in your life that are really important to you that you don't really care about it.

GARY SHEFFIELD: Oh, very positive. That was all the difference in the world. It was so loud and when you're hitting, it makes you relax a little bit. I know there was a lot of pressure at Robb Nen at the particular time, but it just goes to show you what kind of closer he is because he was there to put it out of his mind and make a great pitch.

GARY SHEFFIELD: Well, I have a hard time figuring it out myself. It's one of those things where I have a lot of families coming up to me and say their son is emulating my hitting, things like that. First thing I ask them, "is it working?" It's one of those things where I wouldn't teach it to anybody. It's just something that happened naturally for me. I really can't describe it.