AL DIVISION SERIES: INDIANS v MARINERS

October 15, 2001

Jeff Nelson

JEFF NELSON: I think every playoff is exciting. With New York it's exciting. It brings back memories of the '95 season when I was a Mariner and we were playing New York, went five games then. It's just the excitement that the playoffs bring, I think it's all the same. And this one, it went five games and I don't think you can ask for more excitement than this one. We get blown out 17-2, and then Jamie Moyer comes through again with a great pitching performance.

JEFF NELSON: Well, I think it was good that we got beat that bad. I mean we got out everything that we did bad and we did bad in every aspect, pitching, defense, hitting, we didn't do nothing. And it was good that it wasn't an elimination game. It would be bad to lose 17-2 and know that you're going home the next day. I think hopefully it might have tired out their hitters. They were swinging the bats so good that they might have gotten tired for the next two games. But Lou said it, it was just a loss. You can't second guess yourself, because we did everything wrong. If it was a closer game you can start second guessing yourself, to see what we did right, to win that game. But 17-2, you come back, back's against the wall again, and we were tested again and we came through.

JEFF NELSON: Not yet. I don't think guys -- guys only thought about the record the last maybe six or seven games, when we took 2 out of 3 from Oakland and we came back from Anaheim with 113 wins. Guys started thinking maybe we could get it. I think it was a fun thing to do about, than we tied history and something that hasn't been done before for 95 years. But it wouldn't have looked good, we won 116 games and got knocked out in the first round. Now we're in the ALCS, and the five game series, in my opinion, is the toughest. Not that whoever we play next is not going to be tough. But the best 3 out of 5 is really hard to get through. You make mistakes, you wind up costing you the game. And the teams that you play are always tough. Cleveland is a tough team, but I don't think we worry about that. I think only in New York, because the media, I mean the winning history that New York brought. Back there they want you to win 162 games, instead of 114. So they kept reminding you that you won 114. We were down to Cleveland 2 games to 1 in the ALCS that year and wound up coming back and beating them. But I think -- back there it was a little bit of pressure. Out here I don't think it is at all. I don't think guys think about it.

JEFF NELSON: I don't know, I'm glad we're in. I'm glad we got past the first step. I think everybody is relieved. It went five games, it was very stressful. I'm glad that we're in the ALCS. Me, I don't really care who we play. It would be great that I -- because I did play for the Yankees the last five years. I said before that the road to the World Series is through New York. It would be great to play them. Oakland is another tough team, and they won 102 games. I don't think it matters who we play. But obviously for me, personally, and maybe the team personally, from what New York did to the Mariners last year, they just fell short, maybe guys have a little bit of aspiration of playing New York more than Oakland. Not taking anything away from Oakland, because they're 102 wins. But I think from memories from last year.

JEFF NELSON: I don't think we could have had a more perfect guy out there to throw game 5. This guy, even though he might not light up the radar gun, he's a gamer, and he doesn't let things rattle him. He's kind of a Randy Johnson-type that he throws -- Randy throws 98 miles an hour, and is a bulldog out there. Maybe Jamie throws 83 miles an hour, and is a bulldog and the same mentality. When you need a game, he's the guy to go to. He came through for us twice. You don't have to throw hard to win a game or shut down an offense like Cleveland.

JEFF NELSON: Well, we breezed through the West, kind of, after a big start. I think the record a little bit at the end kept us going, and we had something to play for or we probably could have gotten complacent after we clinched it with three weeks left to go. When we came in, our back was against the wall three times this series. We were down 1-0, we had to win Game 2. We were down 2-1, we had to win Game 4, and we had to win today. It shows what kind of players we have in there. We have a lot of good, veteran players that play in the Playoffs in World Series for other teams, and have taken that mentality over to here. And everybody in there knows what we have to do to get to the next level. We played a tough Cleveland team, they played us hard, and we were fortunate enough to go to the next level. And now I think that toughness, mental toughness will carry us the rest of the way. We're going to play another tough team. We know when our back is against the wall, we can handle it.