NL DIVISION SERIES: ASTROS v BRAVES

October 5, 1999

Kevin Millwood

KEVIN MILLWOOD: No, not really. I've tried to go out and tried to get ahead of guys and work from there. I think when you go 0-1 on a batter it makes your job a whole lot easier. The things he was saying were correct. I don't have a Randy Johnson fastball or Randy Johnson slider or anything. I just go out with what I've got and try to keep it out of the middle of the plate and get guys out.

KEVIN MILLWOOD: I don't know, it's kind of same old, same old today. I'm sure I'll be a little bit pumped up once the game gets started. But I think tomorrow will be a little bit different. Today is just another day, and, you know, I'll just be kind of cheering the team on and hoping things go well.

KEVIN MILLWOOD: Yeah, I think so. You know, when I first came here, you know, it was in '97, I think July of '97. And you walk in the clubhouse and you get kind of a feeling of confidence right when you walk in. I mean, everybody here -- everybody here expects to win and everybody here feels like they can win every ballgame. I think you feed off that a little bit. I think just being on this team gives me a little confidence with everybody around me. Everybody knows that we have what it takes to win and everybody feels like they can win and the team can win. I think it helps everybody that comes here. You know, I think that other teams that come in here know that we feel that way.

KEVIN MILLWOOD: Well, I think when Javy went down was probably the biggest injury we had after all the ones we had at the beginning of the season. I think there were a few doubts flying around in everybody's head. I think we pulled together, and, you know once we had a few games without him and we went about our thing and went about our way and did what we had to do and saw that we could still win ball games and we could still be good teams, I think that gave everybody some confidence and you know, it showed everybody in the clubhouse that, you know, we have a lot of injuries and not all of our studs are here. But we can still win and we can still beat the good ballclubs.

KEVIN MILLWOOD: That's not fair. (Laughter). I don't know, I think a lot of guys in the National League have had great years. Obviously, Randy Johnson would be on it. Mike Hampton would be on it. Jose Lima would be on it. I think I'd throw myself on there for kicks. I think if I had to vote, you know today, you know, not being selfish, I think I would have to vote for Mike Hampton. He's done it all year. He did it in the big games in the season when they needed it, and I think he deserves it more than anybody.

KEVIN MILLWOOD: I think the biggest thing for me was coming out and first of all, having a good year, and -- I mean, last year, I had a good year, win total, but I thought my ERA could have been a lot better. I wanted to get my ERA down this year. I knew if I did that, the wins would come. I wasn't really worried about it. My goal coming into this year was every game that I pitched, to give us a chance to win. And if I did that, the wins would come. I think my ERA would go down, everything would fall into place. I think one of the biggest things this year for me also was getting a chance to pitch in the postseason. That's everybody's goal. Everybody wants to play in the postseason, get a chance to play in the postseason and when you get there, have a chance to contribute. And I've got that chance now. Being on the staff that I'm on, guys have won, you know, numerous amounts of Cy Youngs, it makes you feel good just to be thought of to pitch a game here.

KEVIN MILLWOOD: To an extent, yeah, I think so. But, I think at the beginning of the year you saw Maddux and Glavine struggling a little bit. Smoltzy was hurt. You can't -- I mean, if you ever thought that these guys wouldn't snap out of it, you're crazy. I knew that if these guys were having a little bit of a problem, if I could step my game up a little bit and pitch a little better and maybe get a few wins here and there where we really needed them, knew these guys would be back. I knew they would come back and pitch the way they always have, and that's what happened. I had a stretch there where I was pitching really well and these guys weren't the typical Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, but I still think they were pitching a lot better than other guys in baseball. But I think they have got a lot of pressure to come out every year and have a 1.07 ERA or win 20 games every year. I guess that seems -- that's kinds of unfair, but I guess they did it to themselves. (Laughing.)

KEVIN MILLWOOD: You know, last year was the first year that I was a starter, you know, and that's it. I think I came out of the bullpen twice last year. I had a good year and we went to the postseason. I think you know, being on the roster was a lot of fun and you know, it gave me a lot of confidence. And once we got there, I didn't get to pitch, but, you know, I think there were a lot of guys that there were situational pitchers, and we used them that way all year and that's the situations that came up in the playoffs and that's where they use them. Obviously, I would have liked to have pitched in a couple of those games, but my name wasn't called. I think it would have been real easy for me -- after the season was over, to go home and whine or complain about not getting to pitch or, you know, just be all mad about it. But I didn't do that. I thought: A, it just wasn't my time, and I'd comeback this year and do what I've got to do and try to get a chance this year. Managing in the postseason isn't easy. Managing during the regular season isn't easy, and they have got to make a lot of decisions and they are not going to maybe everybody happy. You know, sometimes they are not going to make anybody happy. It's just -- he made his decisions, I respect that, and, you know, I came back this year and had a good year and now I'm getting that chance I've always wanted.

KEVIN MILLWOOD: I think our bullpen is probably one of the most underrated things in baseball right now. I think in the past it has been the so-called "Achilles heel" of this team. We've got some good guys down there that know how to pitch, and they know what they have got to do when they come in in other oath roles and they are happy with their roles. It gives me confidence to know that I can go out and throw as hard as I can for as long as I can, and when I decide that, you know, Bobby decides that I'm tired or I need to come out of the game, we need to pinch-hit to maybe score a couple runs, if I've got a lead, I feel pretty confident that we're going to hold onto that lead. If it's a tie ballgame or I leave with runners on base, I'm pretty confident that they are going to stay on base and not score. I think having a good bullpen behind me helps a lot to go out and try to not go too hard too early. I think sometimes if you don't have a strong bullpen, you try to -- you try to take it easy early on so you can try to go as long as you can. But I feel like I can go out there from Pitch One and go as hard as I can and when I'm tired, turn it over to the bullpen and still have a lot of confidence that we're going to win the game.

KEVIN MILLWOOD: I talked to Smoltzy the other day on the way to the ballpark. I think only difference between right now and the regular season is that I think you've got to pick one guy off the team, you know, two on some teams, maybe, that you're not going to let them beat you. Obviously, this team has a lot of guys that can very easily with one swing beat you in a game, but you've just got to make your good pitches. And I think in the regular season, you know, you're behind in the count. You might just pump a fastball in there to get a strike, and now you've got to be a little bit more selective. I don't think I'm going to change a whole lot of what I've done in the regular season, but I'm hoping I don't have to change anything. But maybe there will be a situation where I've got to do something a little different from what I've been doing and if I do, so be it.

End of FastScripts….