AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: YANKEES v MARINERS

October 19, 2001

Mariano Rivera

MARIANO RIVERA: Well, I tell you what, I think I've been mature. First of all, I've been blessed with the team I play for, being around a lot of veteran guys like David Cone, Dwight Gooden, David Wells, Clemens, all of those guys I think helps me in the way that I've grown and matured playing baseball. So, I think that, and I've been blessed, also, that all of these year that I've been in the big leagues, I have a chance to be in the playoff, and that's been helping me a lot. I think that's the reason why I've been growing up that way.

MARIANO RIVERA: I always talk to Tony about when I'm throwing or warming up in the bullpen to keep me posted about what is the count, how many outs and what is going on in the game. Also, I take the scouting report, I mean, I take it seriously, but I don't take that much of it. I just go with it, the stuff that I have that night and just go from there. And also, when I have in mind, once I get there, just try to do my best and working with the cutter, that pitch has been helping me a lot. I have developed that pitch since, I believe, '97.

MARIANO RIVERA: I tell you what, it was -- it just happened. I was throwing in the batting practice, and I saw the ball moving and I just grabbed it and started moving the ball and I said, "Hey, you know, this thing is good." I always was playing around with the ball, playing around with the baseball to see what I can do, and I pay attention with that ball carefully and I started throwing it in the game. The rest is history. (Laughter.)

MARIANO RIVERA: Like I've told you before, I think he has the mentality of a manager, and he should say that. As a manager, he should say that. For us, all we have to do is keep doing whatever we have been doing and do the little things that we know how to do and go from there. I think we have a little advantage here playing at home, and just don't think about what's been happening. You know, just play tomorrow and go from there.

MARIANO RIVERA: It doesn't change at all. I think this is a playoff and I have a chance to be here and I'm going to give everything that I've got to make us successful. Also, I have to thank the good Lord for the opportunity to be in the playoffs, because I've seen a lot of players that don't have that chance, good players that don't have that chance to be in the playoffs. So when you're good, when you're there, I think you have to give it everything you've got, to give your team a chance to win and that's what I do, I don't care if it's one out or two outs or two innings. As long as we win, that's what matters.

MARIANO RIVERA: Doing it at home and doing it away, to me, it's the same. I want to do it at home, obviously, but a save is a save. You just go in there with the mentality -- I think that I'm at home everywhere. Every time that I go, I'm at home. I just want to make it easy for me, and it's been working. (Laughter.)

MARIANO RIVERA: That guy, he hits everybody. Edgar is a good player. I have to respect that guy as a player, as a person. But I've got to do what I have to do. Yes, he's been hitting me hard and he's had a lot of success off of me; that doesn't mean that he's going to do it all the time. You do have little things, make good pitches and obviously, you know, get him out. But, yeah, I always look for a challenge like that. I don't care who it is. I just go out there and I go after anybody, it doesn't matter who it is. I've got the ball; he has to hit me. I don't want to back off from anybody. Just try to do my job, you know. There's no chance to think about it and realize that this guy has been having a lot of success off of me. I just go out there and try to have success.

MARIANO RIVERA: I hate to fly. (Laughter.) I hate to fly. If I can, I would love to do it, but that's me. Like I say, I hate to fly. But we don't think like that. Just go for one game at a time. Just go one game at a time. Obviously, we just do it here.

MARIANO RIVERA: I tell you what, I didn't think that much when it happened. I believe that things happen for a reason and always when bad things happen, something good will happen. I always try to find the positive way out of the negative and I did. I did. Once I realized, you know, things that you don't control, just let it go. And try to make your pitches and try to minimize the mistakes and go from there. And thanks to God, I've been doing that.

MARIANO RIVERA: I tell you what; no, I don't do nothing different. I keep doing the same thing. What I believe is that it's the post-season. I don't know if everybody understands, but post-season -- you have a chance to be in the post-season, you want to do everything that you have in your own power to help your team. That's a blessing. That's a blessing, just being in the playoffs. I don't do nothing different. I just go there and try my best. Sometimes I don't feel that great, but, hey, those days is when I pitch the best. So, I don't know. I don't want to find out what it is, either. I just thank the good Lord for that.

MARIANO RIVERA: I tell you what, I have one thing that I always -- I don't want to seem like a bad guy there or have some movement the other closers have, or I'm not a big guy. I just want to go there and don't get upset at anybody. You know, I don't want them to get upset at me so when I go there, I'm just trying to do my job, in the quickest possible way that I can do. So I hope that they don't know what happened. (Laughter.) So I don't have that. You know, I just think that's my way to pitch. That's me.

MARIANO RIVERA: I don't think that it's any advantage at all. I think the only advantage that we have is at home. We play at home now. We have to keep doing what everybody is doing, playing ball and playing hard and pitching good and go from there.