NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: METS v CARDINALS

October 16, 2000

Todd Zeile

TODD ZEILE: Somebody asked me that. I said that earlier in the series - I lied and said that it didn't make any difference. Well, it makes a difference. I really don't have any vindictiveness or any animosity towards the Cardinals. It was the place that I started in baseball, so I still have a lot of fond memories. But it was nice to perform well in their home ballpark and then to finish them off. I have to admit, I don't know really why it is exactly, but it does feel a little bit better, I think, to do it against them than it would somebody else.

TODD ZEILE: I guess it helps overall in retrospect. But going into the series, I was confident. I think the home run in St. Louis in Game 1 kind of got me a little bit of a breather, let me take a breath and relax and feel like I was back to where I wanted to be. So my confidence has been high throughout the series, but those types of situations I enjoy hitting, whether I succeed or fail, it is a time that I like to hit. And they pitched around Robin and Mike last night to get the bases loaded. They pitched around Robin and Mike tonight to get to the bases loaded. And I think there's a little added motivation when you see that happen. So my confidence was high, but it certainly is a great feeling to look and see the fans react the way they do, then to look, especially at the reaction of the teammates, just going nuts in the dugout and the high-fives and the feeling of emotion when you get in there is something I'll never forget.

TODD ZEILE: I think it might have. I know that they would never say that they were going to give up, by any stretch of imagination. But every game in this series, the team that comes away from the bottom of the first with a lead has won. It's been a series where there's been lightning in that first inning. Tonight I think it was important for Mike, who has a tendency to be keyed up in the first inning, to get through that, get his rhythm, then if we can jump on them early, we thought there might be a chance that we could just ride that momentum. That seems to be what happened.

TODD ZEILE: Well, I think I'm thinking more than just to make contact, but I got the count of my favorite 2-1, he threw a fastball on the outside corner to make it 2-2. I felt that I was jumping out at the ball, being too anxious. I just kind of took a breather, relaxed, said "See the ball first, see the ball." It just seemed the next pitch he got over the middle of the plate, and I was relaxed enough to see it happen and drive it. I was just trying to hit the ball hard. I didn't care where it went. I just was trying to hit the ball hard.

TODD ZEILE: Yeah, I think it's extremely satisfying right now. I think the fact that I've played for a number of teams can sometimes be misleading, but by the same token, it's been hard to really find a home, I think. Even when I thought that maybe I had found a second home after the Cardinals in Los Angeles, I was traded away with Mike. So Mike and I, being back on this team, I think was sort of sweet irony in some sense, and I guess it's just satisfying, maybe more satisfying because of the group of guys that are with this team. I said in December when I signed here that I thought the make-up of the club was one that I could win with. That was my main consideration in deciding New York and leaving that comfortable situation in Texas. So all of those things seemed to have played out right. And to get to this point is extremely gratifying, something that will probably be more gratifying as I look back.

TODD ZEILE: Well, we have supreme confidence in Mike anyway, but when I was asked about the performance of Mike tonight, I said it really started yesterday. I think it started when he came to the ballpark yesterday. He was noticeably more to himself and quiet and focused. Usually, he's got some intensity, but it's the day of the game that he pitches, not the day before. He started yesterday preparing to make sure that we didn't have to leave New York if we weren't able to win last night. I think he was determined to do it and focus from the first pitch to the last and that's certainly a guy you want on your team when it comes to big games.

TODD ZEILE: I'm rooting for the Yankees, to be perfectly honest. I don't see any reason to pull punches at this point. I'd love to see a Subway Series. I have unfinished business with the Yankees as far as I'm concerned anyway. They've eliminated me the other three times I've had a chance to be in the post-season. They've celebrated on what was my home field all three times. I was saying earlier in '96, when I was in Baltimore, the first time I had a chance to be in the post-season, I had a good chance. I saw Joe Torre before Game 4, he said to me, "Hey," we grew up together, my growing up with the Cardinals with Joe as my manager, he said to me, "Hey, kid, I may only have one crack at this. You've got a lot of years left to go grab yours, so take it easy on me." I told him that when he won - I sent him a telegram that said, "That one's yours now. If we get this chance again, don't expect me to be so nice." I do hope I see him again.

TODD ZEILE: I don't think there's any bad feeling between the two teams. I think there's severe emotion from both teams. They are probably down and discouraged and we're on the brink of going to the World Series. So there's a whole range of emotion. But I don't think necessarily that Dave Veres was trying to hit Jay. He threw one high and tight the pitch before. But the reaction was instantaneous because I think the emotion was high. That's the way I would have expected their team to react in a similar situation. Teams are down and something like that happens, you see your guy jump up, the first thought is, "Is he okay." The second thought is, "Protect him." Once we got out there, there wasn't a lot of angry words or any people really trying to fight. It was just everybody kind of living the emotion of that moment.