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MLB ALL-STAR GAMEJuly 11, 2006Michael YoungPITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA Q. Michael, walk me through your at-bat in the ninth inning and what you're thinking when you go down 0-2, two outs. MICHAEL YOUNG: He was throwing some fastballs and we know the change is his signature pitch but he was throwing some fastballs. I was looking fastball first pitch, fouled it off. Thought he might throw a changeup second pitch, fouled that one off. Clearly my thinking was doing me no good, so I'm just going to try to see the ball and make some contact. Down 0-2 to a guy like that is tough and I knew I had my work cut out for me. At that point, with the go-ahead run on second base, I know we have a chance to go ahead and bring Mariano and go ahead in the game and obviously you like your chances when that happens. Q. What was the pitch? MICHAEL YOUNG: Fastball, I think. I think it was. Q. How did you do when you faced Trevor Hoffman a few weeks ago in San Diego and how did that factor into this at-bat? MICHAEL YOUNG: I think I hit about a 14-hopper up the middle. Just had some eyes and snuck through the infield. Didn't factor much into the at-bat tonight. I think that situation was a little different. He had a pretty sizable lead and my at-bat didn't mean too much. Obviously that was a different case tonight. But I have a great deal of respect for that guy, he's about to break the saves record. He's a great guy and I do consider myself fortunate to be in that situation in the first place. It's important to give Paul and Troy credit for keeping the inning alive and giving me some at-bats to have a shot there. Q. You talked about how special it was to be in the All-Star Game. How much more special is it now that you've been named the MVP? MICHAEL YOUNG: I mean, I'm not going to lie. This is a pretty big highlight in my baseball career. I think everyone dreams of having a big All-Star Game. Even coming to the All-Star Game is humbling enough, but to be in this situation now where I have an All-Star Game MVP is pretty exciting. I'm happy about it. I can't wait to get back to my teammates in Texas now. Q. Did it feel like that game was flying by tonight, and were you stunned or were you surprised anyway that the pitching was as dominant as it was? MICHAEL YOUNG: It was flying by, definitely. But not surprised by the pitching. I mean, in an All-Star Game, it can go one way or the other. It can go to the point where pitching dominates or it gets to the point where guys are having quality at-bats. In this game, the pitching was excellent, especially in the National League, up until the last, we had about three hits, one was barreled up and that was Vlad's home run. They were doing a great job. Our pitching was good, kept us in the game and had a chance to win it tonight. Q. Could anybody but Vlad hit a 98-mile-an-hour fastball four inches off the plate? MICHAEL YOUNG: Probably some guys in this game who could do it, I'm not one of them, but there are some guys who could do it. Q. What was it like to help the AL keep this streak alive in All-Star games; were you worried about it a little bit? MICHAEL YOUNG: No one is talking about it, but obviously we're playing the game to win it. Heading into that last inning, we knew we had to push a run across if we wanted to stay alive right there. No one is giving huge rallying calls to get home-field advantage in the World Series, but we're all aware of how important this game is. Someone now is going to be in good shape come October, so we're very happy about that.
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