AL DIVISION SERIES: INDIANS v MARINERS

October 13, 2001

Jim Thome

JIM THOME: You sure hope so but in the post-season you never know how it's going to be day-to-day. Today they might come out and shut us out. You want to carry the momentum over. You want to keep the momentum going, but post-season is really weird. You never know what's going to happen.

JIM THOME: He had a heck of a day. I think our Top 3 guys really set the stage for us. They got on base and I think that was the big key. Kenny's home run will hopefully boost him and get him going. Omar and Robby, they make so much happen all the time, and that was big for us, for sure.

JIM THOME: I think C.C. all year long has proved he's been the guy, he's been our dominating guy. When we needed a big win, he's always stepped up. You sure can't tell that he's 21 years old. He's a special kid. It's fun to play behind him because he's always around the plate. He throws strikes, and, you know, it's fun to watch him work.

JIM THOME: I just told him, "Heck of a job." He should be proud of what he did. When you're in a post-season game like that and you're 21 years old, you really don't soak in on it. He'll probably look back when it's over and go, "Wow, I was in a post-season game." But he sure doesn't act his age. He's a special kid. I just told him, "Heck of a job."

JIM THOME: I think we've really handled ourselves well. We knew coming into this series what a great team the Mariners have had, and I think we've handled ourselves pretty well. Going out to Seattle, getting the win in Game 1, they have got a good club. It's like the runs that we scored today; we don't -- hopefully we can take that momentum in tomorrow, but with the guys that they got to throw at us, it's tough to score runs on those guys. So we'll take today as a positive, but we've got to forget about it, because tomorrow is a new day.

JIM THOME: Hopefully they got some good home cooking. They sure did swing the bats well. If playing here makes them comfortable to get them going, that's what we need. They did a heck of a job.

JIM THOME: No, we just went out and played. I think from the first inning on, we went out and did a nice job. I think we swung the bats well and we hit some pitches that we were supposed to hit and did a nice job.

JIM THOME: He's a guy that throws a sinking fastball to really, both sides of the plate. He's around the zone, but he's got a good, heavy ball. He's got dominating stuff, really. His arm angle and where he comes from is really difficult to hit. I think with him, you've got to make sure that he gets the ball up and not try to really do too much on him. It's tougher done than said, but you've got to make sure that when you get mistakes to hit, you capitalize on it. You let him settle in and when he gets going on during the game, he's a really tough pitcher as he gets going.

JIM THOME: You know, when you get into post-season, it's a different type season. It's a totally different type season. Any team I think goes into the first round, you're excited, you're pumped up, you're ready to go. I think we came out excited. I think we came out -- I think Bartolo really set the stage. The game he pitched on Monday really did a nice job, but it's not over. Like I said before, we've been through this before. It's easy to sit up here and enjoy this game, but we've got tomorrow to worry about because we know, you know, they have won 116 games. They can win two games and that's where we're at. We want to keep the momentum but understand that they are not going to give up.

JIM THOME: It was great. They were great. They kind of reminded me of the homer hankies in the Metrodome. It's exciting. When C.C. got into the sixth or whatever inning and they started getting up and waving, it pumps you up. That's what it's all about. Hopefully it will keep them going.

JIM THOME: Well, I knew I made a good pass at it and, you know, it got up. The ball was carrying really well today, from batting practice on, we were talking about how well the ball was carrying. Juan's ball, he hit a nice ball to left field, and the ball that I hit, yeah, I was fortunate to get a good pitch to hit and hit it out.

JIM THOME: I think so. You know, the older you get and the more that you play with guys and you realize that you've got free agent guys coming up, option year, you don't know which way the club is going to go, we've stayed really positive, I think through all this. I think, yeah, when you're in this situation, you sure want it to last while it's going on because you never know. You never know what's going to happen. I've played with these guys a long time and it's been a lot of fun, whether it ends this year or next year or two years from now, it's been fun to play with these guys.