AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: MARINERS v YANKEES

October 14, 2000

Derek Jeter

DEREK JETER: Well, we play in a big field, as well. When I hit it, I knew I hit it well. But I thought I hit it too high. And you have Cameron in centerfield, and he's robbed me before. It looked like he was going to catch it.

DEREK JETER: I can't comment on what's going on in Alex's head. He's tough. Everyone knows that the Rocket pitches inside. When we used to face him, he used to do the same thing. I wouldn't say it was inside of his head, but I can't comment on what he's thinking.

DEREK JETER: Well, you hope it's over. But they have a tough lineup. 1 through 9, they have guys they can get on base. And then you have Alex, obviously, Edgar and Olerud, that are capable of hitting it out of the park. That situation, the way it was looking, we felt as though it might be enough. But Justice's home run gave us the two insurance runs. The game is never over until you get all 27 outs.

DEREK JETER: I've been in the batter's box when he's been pitching like that. He used to shut us out and shut us down and dominate us when he was with Boston and Toronto, so I'm well aware what it's like to face him when he's on. He has three pitches: A fastball, a splitter as hard as most pitcher's fastball, and a slider. When he has all three of those pitches working, he's tough to beat.

DEREK JETER: Momentum is only as strong as the next day's starting pitcher. Obviously, you hope that it builds confidence, but I don't think that anyone on this team is lacking in confidence. When you are playing in tight games and close games, anything can happen, especially with two outs. If you get a big hit or if you run hard or make a double-play or do whatever, anything is possible, and that's the feeling that we have.

DEREK JETER: He did everything to shut us down. Obviously, he has good stuff. His fastball moves a lot. He throws a slider. But we look like we had no clue against him. So anything will probably be better than what we did in Game 1. He's a tough pitcher. In my opinion, he's their No. 1 starter, so it's going to be tough. We've got to take the game like we're down three games to one. We don't sit around and say we have the luxury of a two-game lead because anything is possible.

DEREK JETER: I think we're having better at-bats. We're not a home-run hitting team, but we're capable of hitting the ball out. We don't rely on home runs, but we've gotten -- had a couple of big home runs the last few days. As long as we're having quality at-bats and swinging at strikes, anything can happen. As I said, we have a couple of guys that are capable of hitting it out.

DEREK JETER: Gary Denbo, he's been with me since my first year of professional baseball. He sees some things that maybe other people don't. And me and Chris work on it. I owe him a lot more than just one dinner.