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WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: ROUND ONEMarch 7, 2006Matt GalanteJason GrilliMike PiazzaPOOL D: ORLANDO, FLORIDA Q. Any opening statements about the victory tonight? MATT GALANTE: For me I'll tell you these guys came to play. We got a pretty good camp and the guys we have here made the commitment to play and I think we showed it tonight. We're hopeful we can move on, but we know each game's a more difficult game. But tonight was a great night for us. Jason really certainly set the tone for the game the way he threw. And the others did a great job. The bats were there and we had a lot of pop, and I think we can score runs and we showed that tonight. So we're excited about this and we move on to tomorrow's game. Q. Were you surprised at how much you guys dominated this game? MATT GALANTE: No, we're very optimistic that we can play and win games. All along we have told our team that if we can compete, with the teams we're playing, we can win games. I'm not really surprised because I know the kind of offense we can generate. The type of players that we have. The type of power hitters we have. The kids like is Sinisi and Pascucci and Mike sitting over here, you are liable to score a bunch of runs, and I know that when tougher pitching comes along it might be different, but I'm confident that we can put up some runs. Q. Mike, what made you want to do this and what's this experience been like for you so far in practice and in the game? MIKE PIAZZA: Well, the experience so far has been just awesome. We're having a lot of fun. We have come together very quickly as a team. It's a joy working with the native Italians, because they're very excited. They're very eager to learn. Again, we have, I think we have just, we're really enjoying this whole thing. As far as my decision to play for Italy. Again, I said before, I think that the fact that they were enthusiastic and supportive of me playing for them was the key. Obviously if I didn't feel like that they wanted me to do it, it would be a little different. But since they were excited about it and my personal reason was obviously my grandfather came from Italy, obviously this is all, we all have our personal reasons. We want to grow the game in Italy. We want to grow the game internationally and obviously in Italy, where there is a foothold there, but it's still, it can grow, it could be elevated. And participation by the Italian American players, that's one of our motivations. And obviously to come here and win. That's what we want to do as well. Q. Matt, can you talk about what Mike has taught the other guys and what his presence has been like in the clubhouse and on the team. MATT GALANTE: Well, I think you had to really be with us the last seven, eight days, when we kind of came together as a group to kind of see what formed. Mike was certainly a big part of it. The other major league players were also a major part of it. They embraced the young kids as teammates. We have a lot of young Italian players. You saw one pitch tonight and I think he did very well. But I think that by Mike and the rest of the major league players embracing them to our team, they have shown them that they're part of this team. We're a team, we're Team Italy, and I think like Mike said, we want to grow the game in Italy, and I think this is a big help for them to realize that they can play at a higher level and again, Frank Catalanotto and Pascucci and all the big league players have been so great to this group, it's -- you had to be there to see it, because it really, we really formed a bond as a group. And what I keep saying is our guys want to play. And that's a big plus in a tournament like this. Q. Mike, next stop Dominican Republic. How do you think that game is going to be? MIKE PIAZZA: Venezuela. Q. Well. Okay. MIKE PIAZZA: It's going to be difficult. They're a great ballclub. They have a lot of major league experience. They have some amazing hitters on that team. So at this point for us the challenge gets more difficult, and tonight as we said was a good win and we're going to enjoy this tonight, but we know tomorrow is going to be tough. I personally, I don't think we really don't want to change our approach. We want to make good pitches, catch the ball, we can't afford to give them any outs. We have to -- we really can't afford any mistakes. If we're able to do what we did offensively tonight, which was a very balanced game offensively, we had a little hit-and-run, we had some power tonight. Guys got on base. Guys wanted to handle the bat offensively and even more so against a team like Venezuela, but we're going to have to do that. It's going to be difficult, but we're up for the challenge. And we're excited. We want to compete with them but, yeah, it's going to be a lot of work. Q. Matt, with a win tomorrow over Venezuela, you're almost assured a berth in the next round. Having only had to use one relief pitcher tonight, is that going to change your approach to tomorrow's game? Kind of go for it tomorrow, all in or are you going to kind of keep playing with the pitcher you had coming in? MATT GALANTE: Well, we're kind of going to keep with the plan. But we were very fortunate tonight. We only used two pitchers. So we're able to have some able bodies tomorrow that we might not have had. And as Mike said, we realize each game will become more difficult, and Venezuela has great major league stars, and I believe Freddy Garcia is going to start that game. But we're excited about playing against them. This is what we talked about when we were in a group. We want to show the world that we can play. And how well we do, time will tell. But we feel that we can compete and if you can compete, you got a chance to win. That's what I keep saying. Q. Who starts for you tomorrow? MATT GALANTE: Tomorrow is Lenny DiNardo. Q. Mike, could you just elaborate for some of us who don't know the story of your grandfather coming over here from Italy . MIKE PIAZZA: My grandfather's name was Rosario Piazza, and he came from a small town in Sicily called Shaka. It's on the southwest coast of Sicily. It's about an hour south of Palermo. And my grandmother is from Naples. And they actually met coming over here to the United States. And he was a wonderful man. He was a welder and obviously I can't tell you, Matty and I have been talking about how wonderful it is to kind of reconnect with our ancestry, with our roots over there, and the fact that the Italian players and staff have been so gracious to us and have welcomed us and made us feel comfortable, because again, we wanted this thing to be, this was an important event for us and we think we are building a bridge here for the future. And I think that not only the Italian-American guys who are playing in the big leagues, we want to elevate the national Italians, Italians from Italy that have played in Italy, to get to the big leagues and prove and let them believe and give them the confidence that they can compete eventually at the big league level. And that would inspire the, a grass roots movement in Italy, with the children, and inspire them to play baseball and believe that they can come to the United States and make a great living. And so obviously that's what we're very excited about. Q. Can you talk about Jason's performance tonight to start us off and then questions for Jason that you might have. MATT GALANTE: As I said before, Jason set the tone for the game. I think he ended up with 57. He felt strong. I will let him tell you how he felt, but as far as I'm concerned he set the tone for the game. We couldn't ask for anything better than that. I was looking for maybe four innings and Jason gave us a little more than that. We hold a team down to one hit, no runs, not much more you can ask for. So for me, he set the tone and got us in the right direction. MIKE PIAZZA: Yeah, great stuff tonight. Pitched ahead, great curveball. Moved the ball around. Came in off the plate. Just great performance. Don't change a thing. MATT GALANTE: Let me say this: I think that if everybody in the room, you got around our team a little bit, and talked to these big league players, you'll see the commitment that they have made to play on this team. It's an amazing commitment to see the way he was, wanting to pitch this game and the way Mike's been wanting to play in this series and Menechino and Sinisi and Catalanotto, every one of them, you kind of get around those guys and you'll see what I'm talking about. The commitment is there. How well we do, time will tell. But the commitment to play is there. Q. Jason, you seemed to have unusual pinpoint control for a game so early in the season. Is there any way you prepare differently for this game than you would for a normal spring training game? JASON GRILLI: I set myself up to throw early. Fortunately for me I've always been a guy that likes to throw a lot. I worked out, I live here locally in Orlando. I went over to Rollins College near my home, and I had a bunch of guys I even faced some of the college hitters there and a couple simulated innings there. But more so I was just more visualizing. Last year I got to finish and win the AAA with Toledo, and I just talked with my father before I left and he goes, "you know, "How are you going to approach your game?" I just said, "I'm going try to feed off of what feeling I was on last year and just having that strong vision and carry it into this." This is a big stage for not just myself but for everybody that's involved, and like I said, I am just trying to do, let my ability to take over. And I think that just relaxing and letting the ability happen, like I said, we're all here to have fun. We're not going to be a doormat to anybody. I just tried to go out there and just have fun. I had never thrown to Mike and played with some of these guys, and it's just a thrill and an honor to be a part of this. Like I said, I just left everything out on the field and gave it my all. Q. For all three of you. Some of you know him better than others, first-time pitching coach, I just want to find out what your thoughts are on what he brings to this team technically and otherwise. MATT GALANTE: Let me start this out. Let me tell you. Johnny's (Franco) been fantastic for this staff. Not only with the young guys, with the guys with more experience. And I think that what he brings is the ability to not only teach, but credibility for the way he pitched, but you think he's going to be able to give us a lot of knowledge in the next two games because Johnny's faced those guys just recently. And he's really done -- I can't say I was surprised, because when I asked him to do this, I wasn't sure if he wanted to coach, but I knew he had some type of desire maybe down the road. And I asked him to do this and kind of see if this is what he wanted to do later on. And he's just done a fantastic job and I'll let Mike and Jason tell you more. But we couldn't be happier with Johnny. MIKE PIAZZA: Johnny's been very inspiring and he keeps everyone lose. And he's having a lot of fun, but he's very serious when he's out there coaching. I mean, he has a plan and has a lot of experience because nobody got more out of less than Johnny. So he has to know how to pitch. He'll be the first to tell you. He didn't have overwhelming stuff. So he knew how to pitch. He knew how to move the ball around and he had a lot of guts and he's a lot of fun to be around. So again, he's made a commitment and the energy here is just a lot of fun. And I feel like whatever we do here on out, obviously we want to win, but everything from here on out is a bonus because it's been an overwhelming success so far. With that said, we obviously still feel like we have a lot of work to do. JASON GRILLI: Just for me, having less than a year's time in the big leagues, look at guys like John Franco and some of the experience that Mike has, and for me, just being around it, it's almost like, it's like osmosis sets in. Just the tone, his attitude, his energy. I grew up watching all these guys play. And to have him in our corner, you know, exudes confidence on myself and it goes for everybody. So just having him around is a big influence and like I said, just for even the guys that do have some big league experience to the guys who just signed a minor league contract and trying to live the dream that we're living, I really think that, like I said, we can't say enough about how we all want to be here. We're just having fun. I think that because of that the pressure's not on us, I think we're going to go as far as we can go, and despite whatever happens on the field we're going to, we're loving every minute of it. Q. Who is pitching for Italy against Venezuela? MATT GALANTE: Lenny DiNardo. Q. You were speaking about Riccardo, it's not a surprise for us Italians? MATT GALANTE: Well, it's not a surprise to me either because we had minicamp for 12 days or 10 days in Lakeland and we watched some of those younger Italian national players play. And not only was I very happy with the way De Santis played, but there's a number of others that we feel are going to make this team a better team. And in my opinion, the caliber of play in Italy was a lot better than I thought it was. And he's a product of that and we have a few more on this team.
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