AL DIVISION SERIES: YANKEES v ATHLETICS

October 7, 2000

Jason Giambi

JASON GIAMBI: Well, I've had some pitches to hit. El Duque last night, I had some pitches to hit and fouled them back but ended up with walks. I've done it all year, having that confidence in the guys hitting behind me. Hopefully they'll come up big tonight.

JASON GIAMBI: I think we might set a record for double plays though in post-season games. That's what it's basically been. Get on base and the Yankees are making good pitches to roll up those double plays. They've definitely been turning them.

JASON GIAMBI: When you get into post-season you're always going to come down to pitching and getting that big hit. When we were playing in the west, a lot of times it comes down to slug fests and things like that. Definitely the biggest thing is we knew what we were going to be in store for, and not getting a lot of walks like we normally live and die on, put the ball in play and get that big hit. From talking to guys like Mo Vaughn, I'm not a post-season regular, it's my first time, it's going to be the guys later in the line-up that's going to have to come in. Just like Luis Sojo has done for them.

JASON GIAMBI: I love Art Howe. He really let us develop into the players that we've become. He's pretty loose with his rules and he kind of lets you be your own person at the same time, if you go off on your own way, he'll pull you back in. But he kind of really lets us police ourselves, which has really paid off. With such a young team, that's really what has brought us the chemistry that we have because we feel like we've been together for so long that it's almost like family in there. That's when we play so well together, because he hasn't stepped in and made a lot of rules and things like that. So he let us really play together, definitely.

JASON GIAMBI: As far as? I know he's scared to death sometimes of walking into the clubhouse and seeing what's going on in there. Every now and then it's like a frat party in there. Most guys are 24 years old and stuff like that. When we won the division, he shook his head. Most of the reporters were like, "This is a frat party." We were like where have you guys been all year, it's been like that. He's a great man, he's the perfect person for the job, the task at hand, taking a young team and really molding them into a family-like atmosphere.

JASON GIAMBI: No, we're having a great time. We got music playing in there right now, guys relaxed. We know we've made a few mistakes. We can't make those kind of plays we made yesterday. Everybody realizes it. The biggest thing is nobody gets down on it. Everybody's like, "Okay," Miguel yesterday, we go to him and tell him, "Hey, you stretched with the wrong foot," this and that, it's okay, done with. It's not something that gets carried on. We've been like that all year, resilient as far as coming back from big losses. Or, if we won by 20 or lost by 20, we came back and approached it as another game. That's what got us here. We did that all year long.

JASON GIAMBI: Definitely. The beginning and middle of the year he was definitely our stopper. There was a few games where Hudson struggled. He stepped up with those big games and was almost a stopper about the middle of the year. We feel like we have a great chance to win. We think every time he goes to the mound we have a chance to be in the ball game. We know they're going to score some runs, but it's a situation where we know it's not going to be a high-scoring game and he's going to keep us in the game, no doubt about that. And he really lets our offense take over. So, he's had that role all year long and he's responded with 15 wins this year. He's been great for us.

JASON GIAMBI: He's a gamer. We definitely feed off him. He's done unbelievable this year from a kid that came up from the Minor Leagues, had to step in, play centerfield and be a leadoff hitter, which he's never done before. We definitely feed off of him. Having him hurt is definitely going to have a big impact in our line-up if he's not in there tonight. As far as I know, I think he's in there. He says he feels fine. He has that potential like he did last night to not only get on base but he can hit that home run. So, he's a big impact player on our offense, especially with the type of our line-up, which is, we need to get on base and create that situation where we're able to drive in some runs.

JASON GIAMBI: Definitely, we live on that live-and-die Jimmy Jack all year long. We knew it was going to be like that in post-season. We knew, like I said, talking to those other guys, that you're not going to be able to hit a lot of home runs, more than likely unless you get in a rare situation or somebody gets hot. You're going to have to win games by getting a single, bunting them over, getting that big base hit. The teams that are here, they've got great pitching staffs. You win and lose in this league on great pitching because you couldn't out-slug everybody every single night. Good pitching, is good hits. That's been proven. There hasn't been a lot of high-scoring games in post-season. We knew we were going to have to play some little ball to compete up here.

JASON GIAMBI: Well, we always try to step up to that challenge. Roger is one of the best pitchers to ever pitch in this game. When you're facing guys like that, it gives you extra incentive that you want to go out there, play your best game because. I mean, that's the night you want to try to shine, especially with a guy like that on the mound. I think we beat -- we didn't beat him on opening night, but we beat the Yankees on the night he pitched. First game, the first round of the playoffs. So, it's exciting when you get an opportunity to face a guy like that. So we're going in thinking, "Hey, Barry Zito's been pitching great, we have a great chance to win tonight."

JASON GIAMBI: Maybe go to church. I don't know. (Laughter.) I'm just kidding. Try to figure him out. I mean, he does such a great job against us. We have predominantly left-handed hitters in our line-up. We get our chances, but the thing that he does so well, he's always been known for, he can get himself out of those jams. Like the one game we let Velarde walked and singled, first and third, gets a double play. He's done that all year long against us. He always gets that big out. Hopefully, we'll have somebody step up and get that big hit against him and try to break the ice. We seem like we can never get over the top of him.

JASON GIAMBI: Yes and no. I mean, the situation, we had to really play that the last two weeks of the season to get us into post-season. Like I was saying, we were almost in playoff atmosphere the last two weeks of the year to try to get us in post-season. We did a lot of great things. Guys that never bunted before were stepping up and dropping bunts. So, yeah. But at the same time, they were getting it done. We've actually been getting it done, getting guys on base and having opportunities. But the one thing we haven't been able to get is that big hit, like we did in Game 1, to really get us over the top and keep that ball rolling. That's the advantage the Yankees have done so well - they've capitalized on every mistake we've made defensively. That's definitely what got them the 2-1 lead.

JASON GIAMBI: I'm having a blast. This is what it's all about. I mean, you hear guys talking, I had the opportunity to have McGwire around. He was always telling me, "Kid, wait till you get to the post-season, this is what it's all about." You sit back and think, "God, how did I play all those other years when we were losing 100 games?" Coming into the post-season, you want to go every year now. It's so exciting; you get the fans, the media. You get a chance to be a hero. This is what it's all about. You look over there, facing the world champions, facing the Rocket, like we did opening night, it's story-book. It's what every kid dreams about - having that opportunity.

JASON GIAMBI: Oh, definitely. Just winning the division, I don't think anybody picked us to win the division. I think we thought that -- we believed in ourselves. When we came into spring training, we were playing in Vegas, we had a team party, I stood up and said, "If we believe in ourselves, we knew we had a chance to win the division," just the way we played last year, second half. We almost made the wildcard and things like that. We knew if we had that same team together, that chemistry we had, we had a chance to win the division. And the thing that nobody -- the things that happened that were kind of overwhelming at the beginning that we got over were John Jaha out the whole year, Olivares most of the season, Matt Stairs struggled. For us to overcome that, it's been unbelievable, and still win the division. So we're ecstatic. I think we still got some things to prove out there on the field, we can take this to Game 5. Throw your bats and balls out on the field and see who's going to take that game. We just want a chance to go back to Oakland.