AL DIVISION SERIES: ATHLETICS v YANKEES

October 13, 2001

Mike Mussina

MIKE MUSSINA: Well, like I said yesterday, I tried to go out there and take it like it was just another game. And it turned out to be pretty exciting, a one-run game again. And I know it was tough for people to see hitters. I know hitters were coming back saying it was tough to see, so I know it was tough for their guys to see. We're fortunate we got in the one baseball. We got one swing on one ball today. I know we swung at some others hard, but we found a way to make one run stand up, and that's what we did.

MIKE MUSSINA: Well, my view was about -- It started out about halfway between third and home because that's where I'm supposed to be backing up, gauging what's happening. As I went over there I saw Ron Washington cranking to try to score. So I headed back behind the plate, first base angle, and I saw the throw coming in kind of high and cleared both our cut-off men. And Jeter came over from about the mound, scoop it up and back hand shovel pass, and swipe tag and that was it. And I just looked at Kerwin to see what call he was going to make, because it was bang, bang, and he called him out.

MIKE MUSSINA: Well, I'm sure I'm going to remember it, yeah. I thought it was an exciting game. And we found a way to win it, which this team has done every championship run they've had the last five years. So it was an exciting game. It was fun to be involved and I'm glad we came out on top.

MIKE MUSSINA: I think there are players in this League and in baseball in general that when you see them occasionally in a three-game series here or three-game series there, you get to see spurts of what they're capable of. When you get to play with them every day, and I've been fortunate enough in my career to play with good players every day, you get to see how talented they really are, what they can come up with, plays they make. And it could be as simple as running the bases or the play he made today. And it's fun to watch these guys, when you get to see them every day. When you get to see them once in a while, you may get an amazing play out of them. But when you see them every day, they seem to come up with something quite often.

MIKE MUSSINA: Well, I was -- I don't know, ecstatic, maybe, I don't know. It's pretty much been my game every year that we try to make a way to score one or two runs. The first innings were tremendously tough for both sides to see the baseball with the windows out there in centerfield. Yeah, it landed right up on the shelf, right on the top of the scoreboard. When I was in the 5th inning, and a lot of game to go, with a team that scores a lot of runs, haven't lost a home game in who knows how long, I was hoping that it was one of a couple that we were going to come up with. But it didn't turn out that way. Mo came in and pitched two full innings, and so we get to play again tomorrow.