MLB WORLD SERIES: YANKEES v DIAMONDBACKS

November 1, 2001

Shane Spencer

SHANE SPENCER: I don't know how to answer that. I go into spring training expecting to get a starting job every year, and whether it is to go out and get somebody, or injuries, it has not worked out yet. But I'm hoping after coming off surgery last year that being healthy, I should have a good shot at getting a starting job.

SHANE SPENCER: Schilling was working guys away, cutters, sliders, fastballs away, pretty much; so I was looking out over the plate and I got a good pitch to hit. He actually threw a strike the first pitch and it was right on the corner and he called it a ball. And I think he was a little bit upset about that; he let me know that today. I just try not to -- I'm a pull hitter usually and I just try not to do too much. He throws hard enough where if you make good contact, the ball will do something. The play with Posada was great. When I threw it, I knew it wasn't going to get there, but he made a great play. I didn't even know he tagged him with his bare hand with the ball and usually the ball falls out in those situations.

SHANE SPENCER: I don't know, I guess maybe we are used to it. We play so many close games; it's not like we have an offense that blows people out. We feel confident in short, one-run, two-run games. And if we get a guy on base, you have Tino, Bernie coming up, Bernie has hit a lot of big home runs for us in the playoffs. As soon as O'Neill got that hit it just seemed like confidence was in the dugout, I didn't think he was going to hit a home run but after that, the momentum, you could just see it change. They knew Mariano was up, and that's a good feeling for us, when he's up.

SHANE SPENCER: Especially this year, we have a lot of -- everybody on our team has friends, fire, police, Port Authority, and they are living through us right now. They go to work and we have no idea what they are actually going through, finding bodies, still. I get to hang out with some of them afterwards and go to dinner with some of them, and you know, they don't want to talk about what they are doing; they want to talk about what I'm doing and how much fun it is to come to games and watch. It's a great feeling, to see them in the stands, to see them all smiling and having fun.

SHANE SPENCER: Yeah, it's definitely -- I can say I did something in the World Series, and not a lot of guys can do that. You know, I didn't know how much playing time I was going to get this year, a couple injuries; and I got a lot more at-bats, and I thought that was going to be it. And getting a chance to be on the roster in this post-season was even more, and now I'm getting a chance to play and I'm having fun with it.

SHANE SPENCER: Most definitely. He has by far helped me the most with defense, just his work ethic in batting practice. You know, he goes out there for 15 minutes straight and shags like he's playing the game. Ever since I went to big league camp four or five years ago, it's made me a better defensive player. I don't run real fast, don't have a great arm, but just doing all the little things has made me that much better. I give him all the credit for that.

SHANE SPENCER: It's definitely not fun. They are power pitchers, but at the same time, they are hitting the corners and they are not missing over the plate; they are missing off the plate, and you don't see that in power pitchers. But at the same time, we have four of them. Maybe they didn't have the years that those two guys had, but we feel like the guys we send out there every day, we have just as good a chance as anybody in this league.