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WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: ROUND ONEMarch 8, 2006Adam SternErnie WhittPOOL B: PHOENIX, ARIZONA THE MODERATOR: Questions for manager and Adam Stern. Q. Adam, is this the greatest day of your life? How do you put that in words? ADAM STERN: You know, it was great to get out there, and we were really pumped about playing in this game and, you know, yesterday we knew we were swinging the bats good late in the game. We're just looking forward to today, and we knew it was going to be a good game. Q. What about you personally though? ADAM STERN: You know, I never take it on a personal level. It's good to help the team win, but everyone did a great job out there, starting with Loewen giving us a chance to swing the bats and get on top. And, you know, we just -- you know, we got some key hits early and that's how it goes. Q. Just real quick. Buck said he felt like they were kicked in the stomach. For both of you guys, how do you feel? COACH ERNIE WHITT: Well, we felt we were kicked in the stomach last night playing South Africa, so it's a funny game, you know. It really is. That's why we go out and play the game. Anything can happen at any time. We put a young man out there to start the game and he did a great job. I mean, a lot of people question why we made the switch. Why would we throw a young gun into a situation like that. But to me, it's a coming out party for Loewen, and he handled it very well and did a great job and kept us in the game. And as Adam said, we swung the bats well, and it was a good win for Canada. Q. Can you just talk about the pride that your country is feeling right now? Maybe let him forget about hockey for a day. ADAM STERN: That was a huge game to come out and win, you know, playing against USA. Obviously, the powerhouses, one of the powerhouses of baseball. You know, we knew it was going to be tough. We like to tell everybody we can place baseball, too. We're not just a hockey country. Q. Adam, last year had to be really frustrating for you. All the injuries on and off the DL. Does this show the world what kind the player you are? ADAM STERN: Well, you know, I don't know if one game dictates that. But, yeah, obviously, last year was tough battling injuries and not getting to play a lot. I want to go out there and play. That's what I like to do. I love the game a lot. Getting out there is just something I needed to do more of. Q. Ernie, the guy next to you isn't going to brag, so I'll let you brag for him. I mean, one shy of the cycle. This is the one single best performance in Canadian baseball history. ADAM STERN: Go ahead, yeah. COACH ERNIE WHITT: It was pretty damn good, wasn't it? There's no question Adam is swinging the bat really well. I think the biggest thing with that is he came into this tournament pumped, excited, wanting to play, wanting to show. But not only with Adam, but every other guy on this team. They wanted to be here. And, you know, we probably don't have -- I know for a fact we don't have the depth that other countries have. But we do have a lot of heart, and that's why I enjoyed managing this team, is the that fact that these players they go out with pride, passion, and they play the game aggressively. And I don't know whether it's the hockey mentality or what, but it's a never-die situation. Our back was against the wall last night against South Africa. They never quit and, you know, that makes me proud as a manager to manage these guys because of that attitude that they carry. Q. We were talking last night -- I think we were talking about could you beat the USA team. We referred to them as like the 800 pound gorilla in this tournament being the home squad and everything. What does it mean to you to have this victory? Is it something that means a lot? And Ernie as well, the victory over the United States in the home country in a game that most people felt probably was not going to be your day. ADAM STERN: Of course. Any win in this tournament is huge, and coming against the USA, they are -- they have the most talent out there. I won't lie. But that's why you play these games, and it's a time of year where one game you don't know what's going to happen. Over 162, I don't know if we'd fair so hot. One game you got to go out there and bust it, that's what we did. Yesterday with South Africa you saw, one game. We were down in the 9th. That's how we play these. COACH ERNIE WHITT: Do you want me to respond to that? Q. Absolutely? COACH ERNIE WHITT: Everyone's excited and everything like that. No question. Whenever you can beat a powerhouse like the USA it's a feather in baseball -- Canada's history. There's no question about that. But, you know, we're going to enjoy this celebrate a little bit. But we do have one other game to play, and there's no guarantee that we're going to the next round at this point. So we can be happy right now, but we still have a task at hand, and that's, you know, after an hour or two we'll focus in on Mexico. Q. Adam, I did a little research. Apparently when you left spring training with the Red Socks some of your American teammates were saying -- were razing you. They said, "You're not even going to miss camp." Saying you were going to come back so fast. One, what do you have to say to them now, and did they actually give you their phone numbers as you'd requested? ADAM STERN: I got to make a few phone calls tonight. But they're just joking, giving me a hard time. They don't think we play baseball up there. They said, "You won't even miss exhibition. You're not even potentially in the line up." I said, "All right, I'll have something to say about that." But everyone has their opinions, and I'm not going to hold it against them. But it's a big game. But like Ernie said, we got a huge game tomorrow. Nothing's guaranteed right now. Talk to us after tomorrow and we'll have something to say. Q. Adam, it seems like yesterday toward the end of the game your bats finally woke up. Do you think you carried over some of the momentum even from there into this game today the way you starred off against Dontrelle? ADAM STERN: For sure the first half the game yesterday, maybe some jitters. We just weren't swinging the bat well. But 5th inning on we got some huge hits. This team can hit. I know we got lefties galore. That's no -- that's no secret. But I think after last night just picked up the momentum going into today. Q. (Inaudible). ADAM STERN: He's good. All those guys are great pitchers. You can't say anything. We stuck in there, hung in there long enough. Q. Just a question for both Ernie and Adam. Larry Walker was talking before the game and said that he might give you guys some tips about facing Dontrelle and sort of being patient and just trying to pick the ball up and not get carried away with his delivery and all that. A, did he do that? And B, was it delivered to you in a way that could be effective? ADAM STERN: Yeah, you know, a lot of guys haven't faced him. We had a couple guys on national league that seen him a little bit. They said, "Yeah, you got to try to eliminate his leg kick." It's tough if you haven't seen him in a while but, you know, we just got some pitches to hit early. That's what it came down to. But Larry definitely stepped in and said this is what he does, these are his tendencies. He's a good guy to help out. COACH ERNIE WHITT: Larry Walker has been a great addition to this coaching staff. He keeps itself guys loose. The players respect him for what he's done himself. It helps out when we are facing the national league guys like Willis today. But just the way he carries himself, you know, he doesn't walk above everyone else. He fits right in the Canadian way and the guys respect him. And I think he'll be the next Hall of Famer from Canada. Q. It occurs to me that you are, from this point on, a Canadian celebrity. Like a really famous person. Are you prepared for that? ADAM STERN: I'm not a celebrity. I can never take any credit like that. That's not the way I am. But I don't know what to say to that right now. I'm excited and I'm a team guy. Always a team guy. If I don't get big hits tomorrow, somebody's going to pick me up. You're on top now, but this game can humble you, so you got to keep it on an even keel. Q. Of all the plays you made today, maybe that catch in the 8th against the wall might have been the biggest. Can you describe a bit tracking that ball down to the wall and the feeling in the dugout afterwards? ADAM STERN: I knew he smoked it and I knew it was going deep. I just put my head down, ran to a spot, and said, "Come on baby, don't hit the facing." You know, and it hung up long enough for me to get under it. I kind of prematurely jumped at it, but it was smoked, and those are one of the things we need to go our way. Q. (Inaudible.) ADAM STERN: Obviously, you know, that being that inning and the score in the park, the guys are pumped obviously. We didn't want to get ahead of ourselves. We still had three more outs. Q. Ernie, are you aware that if you were to win your next game you could really help the USA to get to the next round? If so, do you find that ironic that they 1are in a position of depending on you somewhat? COACH ERNIE WHITT: I'm not worried about anyone other than Canada right now to be honest with you. We have a task at hand, I guess. Like I said before, we're going to enjoy this win for a few moments, and we have a big game ahead of tomorrow. And so. That's the way that we're going to approach it. That's the way we always have. Taking one game at the time. It sounds funny, but when you get in these tournaments like this you can't look ahead and you can't look back. Once the game is over, you move forward. Q. Adam, of course people familiar with your situation know that you're probably going to stick with the Red Socks at the beginning of this year because of Rule 5 reasons. In a way, you're playing trying to impress the Red Socks to win the job after that period expires. Do you think they're going to watch -- they watched you today. And if so, do you hope it changed their opinion of you a bit, or heightened it? ADAM STERN: You know, I don't know. I go in spring training, compete for a job, and that's where I'm at. I don't look ahead, I just worry about myself when it comes to winning a job. You can't worry about all the little factors. If I fit in there I'll be happy. And, of course, I love the Boston Red Sox. They're giving me a job, so whatever I can do to get on that field. Q. Both of you guys, you're basically in the same position as far as tie breaks and everything are concerned. (inaudible). How hard is it to just let this victory go and refocus on winning tomorrow? ADAM STERN: You know, you can't worry about that too much. We know what we got to do. We're not worried about the runs, runs against. We go out and play, and if you win you win. That's what we're going for. We're not going for any ties. We're going to win tomorrow. We're going for the No. 1 seed. We're not going for the consolation prize. Q. After the Olympics, you have the Olympic ring tattooed over your heart. What will you get after this tournament if you win? ADAM STERN: After this, man, I'll tell you. My mom's not going to be too happy for that. She had trouble with the one tattoo. Getting number two will be tough. But who knows? I mean, I'm proud to be Canadian. Everyone knows that with the leaf on there, and I don't know if I want to make my body some graffiti board. So I'll just keep it the way it is right now. Maybe just a big leaf on the back. THE MODERATOR: Thanks guys.
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