AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: YANKEES v MARINERS

October 22, 2001

Aaron Sele

AARON SELE: No. I felt pretty good. I went out and thought I located the fastball pretty good early in the game. Curveball was not there, basically, all game, but just tried to counteract that with throwing some cut fastballs and some changeups. But the curveball wasn't there.

AARON SELE: No. It's difficult, period, when you've got a group of guys that you've worked hard from spring training on, whether you are locked up long term or you're a free agent or whatever, the group of guys you are with and the battles you go through for eight months, that's what makes it difficult when you get bumped out like this.

AARON SELE: It's very difficult. Andy, 14 innings and three runs or whatever it was, he's nails. That was basically the story. He shut us down flat for two games and you've really got to tip your hat to him. He just pitched great. You know, he shut down our lineup. We are used to scoring runs and making things happen, and he just didn't allow us to do that.

AARON SELE: Good pitches don't leave the ballpark. (Laughs) Justice was a curveball middle of the plate that he hooked; he probably should have hit that out, too. Just got lucky that he hit it hard enough that he topped it. Bernie just got good extension on a fastball, basically down the middle of plate and up and drove it right out to center.

AARON SELE: Today they mean nothing, period. Doesn't matter if you won 85 to get in the playoffs or 185 to get in the playoffs; it's how you finish.

AARON SELE: You can't really outpitch them. You have to pitch your game. I think Lou's right. I mean, starting pitching and defense, I mean, that's what -- pitching and defense wins championships. You know, the way their starters pitched was phenomenal. We couldn't get anything going against them and, you know, they were able to hit our starting pitching. So, I mean, it's -- it's the same old story.

AARON SELE: No, I don't feel any differently. You have to go out and make quality pitches. To keep your team in the game. The starts you don't keep your team in the game, you expect to lose. The post-season, you know you are not going to get very many runs and you just try to keep it close. We were able to do that the first game of this series, but like we talked earlier about Andy, three hits the first game, that really shuts a team down.