AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: MARINERS v YANKEES

October 11, 2000

Bernie Williams

BERNIE WILLIAMS: My first thought was just trying to move the guy over to third base, but I just kept looking pitch-by-pitch. He was just coming in, pounding me in. He made a pitch on the outside part of the plate; it was like 3-1 and then 3-2, and he threw it inside and once I had two strikes I was like forget this, I'm just going to try to hit the ball anyway that I can, and I was just, you know -- at the same time, trying to stay inside, not roll over, and I had just got a pitch on the inside part of the plate and got a strike, and I was just able to stay inside and hit it the other way.

BERNIE WILLIAMS: I think it was very important, just to have good at-bats. I think if you wait too long and you're 0-2, it doesn't really make any difference, but if you swing at strikes and work the counts, I think it was key, that inning. We were able to have good at-bats and have guys in scoring position, and actually drive them in. That was obviously a great thing for us.

BERNIE WILLIAMS: I don't know, it really depends on who you ask. I think some players try to force the issue and try to do so much. Some players just keep grinding and some players don't really care too much about it. They know that sooner or later, they are going to come out of it, hopefully within the same game. But it really depends who you ask. I think taking the clubhouse way of thinking, as an entity, it is a little bit mistaken, because a lot of people think different things in the same situation. Me, for example, I was struggling through the whole game. I was just trying to hit the ball hard somewhere. Tino had three hits so he might have been thinking some other thing.

BERNIE WILLIAMS: No. The way he dove, I was going to have enough time to go back to first base. It was a big play. No doubt about that, because it kept men on first and second with no outs, and it gave Jorge the opportunity to hit the base hit and that was key.

BERNIE WILLIAMS: It was frustrating for me. With no outs and bases loaded, you are the fourth guy in the lineup, you're supposed to drive in those runs. It was a tough at-bat. First pitch, I got a little behind, and the second pitch he made a good pitch and the ball just bounces right in front of home plate and there's nothing that I can do about that. It was especially frustrating for me.

BERNIE WILLIAMS: Knocking the run in, just not because I had knocked a run in, but just the way I did it, I think it was just a battle. Fouling off and going to the full count, just being able to get that base hit, I think it was just a great lift for the whole team. As far as the series goes, when you go to Seattle, they are still going to play tough. There's no doubt about that. They are a team that likes to steal bases. They have A-Rod and Edgar and all of those guys that can hit and they have great pitching and a great bullpen, so I don't see the series changing that much as far as playing hard and being a grind.

BERNIE WILLIAMS: Not really. I was just trying to hit the ball hard. At-bats like that, you just try to keep it simple, try to see the ball. This guy was throwing it 94, 95 miles an hour. There was no way I could be thinking too much in that at-bat. I was just trying to keep it simple, see the ball first and make sure I put some wood on it, try to get the guy over and if I got the base hit, it was just a bonus.