NL DIVISION SERIES: CARDINALS v DIAMONDBACKS

October 14, 2001

Tony Womack

TONY WOMACK: Nothing. Just that I still knew I had a strike left, and just do the best I can. I mean, I did everything I could to put the bat on the ball. It was one of the toughest pitches I've seen to squeeze. I had to put it away. In order to overcome what I just was called upon to do, I had to put it away real quick and get focused on doing what I do best.

TONY WOMACK: No, because I dropped the ball. I didn't -- there was no sun or anything. I just said, Hey, it happens, and I moved on. I didn't think about redeeming myself, so to speak. I forgot about it. I became a stronger person because I knew that I dropped a ball. And the thing that I believe in, I dropped the ball, yes, but we still have guys to get out and we didn't finish the deal. It wasn't just totally me, it was a team effort. I take the blame, but, no, I didn't think about redeeming myself because of '99.

TONY WOMACK: We believe in each and every one of us. Matt Williams, whether he got a hit for that double in the 9th inning or not. We believe in him. We believe in each other. When those 25 guys get together to accomplish the one thing we want to accomplish, nothing surprises us. I felt he has been swinging the bat ball, just not getting any hits. Things happen to us for a reason, and when you keep throwing a guy out there, like we have been throwing Matty, that tells him we believe him in. When you know you have got your teammates behind you, you get the adrenaline going through your body and eventually he's going to feed off that and go and do something well for us.

TONY WOMACK: It's kind of hard to describe. People really don't understand that my dad was my best friend. And at the age of 52, I didn't think it was time for him to go home. But that wasn't my decision, and I just try to focus on the 2nd half, just finish strong, because my dad, he stayed around long enough for me to understand what kind of person I need to be, what I had to do, and I was just thankful for the 52 years of my dad's life. I was only around for 30, but I truly appreciate it. What happened tonight, it's just a stepping stone for me to be the person I am. Not just a player, but the overall individual, and I appreciate it. My dad was everything to me, and he was always pinching my leg when I wanted to say stuff, but he told me to stay strong, because good things come to those who wait. And when you believe, there is nothing you can achieve.

TONY WOMACK: No, not really because I believe, both Matt and I believe there are two halves to a season. I didn't have a strong first half. I think he had a strong first half. I had a strong second half, he had a mediocre second half. I don't think there is a big thing to say about that. Once again, when you believe in yourself, things can happen, and I believe we both believed in ourselves. We took the long road, but we believed in ourselves. And once you start believing in yourself, you can see it with your teammates. And that's all I care about. I'm not a big fan of numbers, I'm really not, because I look at the guy's heart. If he's out there pushing his buttons as hard as I am every day, I have no problem with anything else. That's what I believe in my teammates, all 25 of them, not just me and Matty, but everybody.

TONY WOMACK: No. My dad understands I only talk to him in between innings. I don't talk to him when I'm at the plate. He knows I'm concentrating. Once it's all said and done, it really fell over. But there was an understanding that my dad and I had, we only talked baseball when he felt I needed to know something. We did everything to the fullest, and I'm a big believer in that. I'm here for a reason. I'm strong as a person for a reason. This made me strong this made me real strong.

TONY WOMACK: I really don't know, because the ball I hit that they threw Damian out at the plate, I thought that was a hit, but they called me out. I didn't worry about that. All I knew is I had a chance of that ball dropping. I got enough bat wood on it -- bat head on it to get it over the. It doesn't matter how it got done, we got it done, and we're going to enjoy tonight and just do what we have to do to get to the next level.