AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: RED SOX v YANKEES

October 16, 1999

Bret Saberahagen

BRET SABERHAGEN: I think I appreciate pitching a lot more and playing professional baseball a lot more than I did when I was younger. It was always a gift that I had, to play baseball. Once I was hurting it was taken away. I really realized that God gave me this special gift to play baseball and I appreciate the game a lot more now because I know what it takes to play at the Major League level and how tough it is. I guess you can say I am more of a fan now of baseball than I was.

BRET SABERHAGEN: I pitched very poorly to say the least. We went over a few tapes, rushing, just really not staying focused out there. My arm felt good for the first time in a while and I think that I was caught up with the way that the shoulder was feeling and not really concentrating on pitching. I was more of a thrower. So tried to make a few adjustments, now it is a matter of -- we saw some film and now it is a matter of executing what we have seen.

BRET SABERHAGEN: Put it this way: If I didn't have a ticket to this game today I would definitely sneak in to see this game. Yeah. This is a dream matchup today. A guy that did so much for Boston and pitched so many great games here. Now he has got the pinstripes on and he is an enemy. This game would still be a dream matchup if it was at Yankee Stadium, but I think there is a lot more meaning and a lot more feeling being in Fenway. So, yeah, I am going to sit back and enjoy this game today very much.

BRET SABERHAGEN: Well, I think I need to just go out there and calm down and concentrate on pitching rather than throwing like I said. What I did during the season is one thing, but what you do in the playoffs is another. I think I got a little carried away the last couple of games. I am going to try to sit back and have better tempo out there, better timing and better mechanics and just try to do what I have done and not do too much.

BRET SABERHAGEN: They are all important at this particular time. We lost two close ball games in New York, and I think coming home we feel very confident. We were in the same boat against Cleveland and this team just goes out and plays hard regardless of the circumstances or what is going on. It is fun to be a part of. I am just going to go out there tomorrow and try to do what I am capable of doing. Again not try and do too much.

BRET SABERHAGEN: Yeah, I really thought that there was a chance that I won't get back to this point to be pitching the last month and in postseason. It was something where if we weren't in contention I probably would have kind of shut it down at that particular time and let the arm rest and try to strengthen it and see what happened. We kept going at it and it slowly got better and I was able to build up the arm strength that I needed and to get the innings that I needed. It's got a lot more strength than what it had. I feel very fortunate, but as far as coming back time after time I am tired of rehabing. I'd like to just have a daily maintenance program. Really seemed like I went through spring training four different times this year with the injuries that have occurred to me over the year. It is something that I don't enjoy doing, but it is something that I have become accustomed to and I know my shoulder and I know what I have to do to get it stronger. I keep saying hopefully this is the last time that I go through a rehab process, but I think I am mentally tough enough now to get through some of those points and times.

BRET SABERHAGEN: I think people that try to change their style of pitching, whatever it may be, to go with a certain ballpark that is when they end up getting hurt. You have got to establish inside. You have got to be able to work both sides of the plate and change speeds. It sounds easy, but it seems like the people that are worried about pitching in certain ballparks such as Coors Field, Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, they don't pitch very well. I feel very comfortable pitching here. It is our home ballpark, I have thrown a lot of games here. I try not to differ because of the dimensions of the ballpark.

BRET SABERHAGEN: Well, when I went on the disabled list the last time I went and saw the doctor and did an MRI and it showed some fraying in my rotator cuff, the shoulder was weak at that particular time. When the shoulder is weak it doesn't stay right on its axis that it is supposed to. It moves around and causes more inflammation. When you strengthen the shoulder it tends to stay in that one spot that it is supposed to when you are pitching. Right now I feel very good and we will just kind of have to play it out. But right now it seems like it's gotten a lot stronger and it is feeling better. It is still kind of up in the air, but if you would have asked me that a month ago, I would have said yeah, most definitely I did. I thought I was going to have to have surgery but right now I am not -- still kind of up in the air.