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NL DIVISION SERIES: DODGERS v METS

October 6, 2006

Greg Maddux

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Workout Day

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Greg.

Q. I was wondering if you could just talk a bit about Russell Martin and sort of what it's been like to work with a rookie catcher and what his strengths are, weakness, namely his strengths?
GREG MADDUX: Well, his strengths are many. He sets up very well. Great arm. Throws great.
He's quick. He's athletic. He's very athletic for a catcher.
He's a complete player. Good base runner. Swings the bat well. Hopefully he can stay healthy and continue to fine tune his skills and he'll play this game for a long time.

Q. Describe the difference, if any, in preparing for these postseason starts, since you've had so many now.
GREG MADDUX: Well, it's really -- everything's the same as it is during the season, as it is during spring training. There's just more eyewash outside it, you know. And you just do what you can to kind of fight through it. And try to get ready for your game the way you get ready for them in spring training and April, May, June, July and so on.

Q. As much as you can, talk about what you learned from the first two games in New York that will help you tomorrow?
GREG MADDUX: Well, they're a very good team. They look to me like they were doing the same things that they were doing when we played them a month ago and when I was with the Cubs when we played them twice with the Cubs. And they're just very good team, very veteran team, very disciplined.
Understand the pitcher who is facing them and they understand their strengths and the strike zone and all that. So I think you just have to have a good game plan and you got to throw good pitches.

Q. In a game like this where you guys are down 0-2 do you approach it any differently or the way you pitch or how you approach a game like this?
GREG MADDUX: I really don't. I only know one way to pitch. I really do. I wish I knew a different way, but I only know one way to pitch and hopefully that will be good enough tomorrow.

Q. Any part of your mind tomorrow going to be thinking that this could possible be your last game?
GREG MADDUX: No. I've thought of that a few times, but no. I think I'll make my decision when it's time and right now it's not time. And I'm looking forward to pitching tomorrow. Hopefully we'll win and I'll get a chance to pitch again.

Q. What's been the biggest difference since you've come over here from Chicago? What's been, helped you find your game?
GREG MADDUX: I think the team's better. That's the easiest thing. And when you get traded, you want to make the people that traded for you look good. So I don't know if you -- I don't want to sit here and say I try harder here than I did in Chicago, but I think it's easier to do the things on the four days you're not pitching, when your team is in a pennant race.

Q. I wanted your thoughts watching your old buddy Glavine, his performance in game two.
GREG MADDUX: I wish we would have beat him, but Glav, he's a lot better pitcher now than he was five years ago. He uses both sides of the plate better. He still changes speeds and locates as well as he ever did, but I think he uses both sides of the plate a lot more effective now than he did five, six years ago.

Q. How have you changed from five years ago?
GREG MADDUX: I got slower.
(Laughter.)
Not much. I've tried to do a few things a little different, but for the most part I'm throwing pretty much the same stuff.

Q. Back to your decision, can you, is there a time for -- once all of this is over, is there a time frame for how quickly you want to make it and what kind of factors are going to go into that?
GREG MADDUX: You mean as far as playing next year?

Q. Yeah.
GREG MADDUX: I honestly haven't thought about it. There's way too much on my plate right now to worry about next year. I'm doing what I can to put myself in position to have success for the rest of the season.
And once the season is over, that's when things change. You take a few weeks off, you think about your year, you think about what you could have done better and what you need to do better next year and all those things and then you start making decisions about next year. But there's a lot of year left this year. And I just want to focus on that.

Q. Can you describe how difficult it's going to be for you to pitch a postseason game at Dodger Stadium, mentioning how you when you first came here as a young kid?
GREG MADDUX: Well, I think it will be special. All the postseason games are special. I think what you try to do probably more than anything is not get caught up in anything. And you really don't allow yourself to think that way. Really, my biggest concern is the leadoff hitter and then kind of go from there. I'm not worried about the stuff outside the game. The stuff outside the game, I don't want none of that to creep inside the game. And you get asked about it and you don't really think about it. You don't really give answers about it, you just try to stay focused on the game itself and I think once the game is over, you look back and appreciate all the things that were going on around the game at the time.

Q. Given that the Dodgers bullpen is not at full strength, because you don't have Joe, do you think at all that it is important for you to go a certain number of innings into the game, maybe longer than what you have been averaging since you've been with LA?
GREG MADDUX: Well, I think the game will dictate that. Again, that's something that is going on outside the game. And I think once the game starts and the flow of the game, whichever way it's going, will dictate that. And really right now honestly you just want to get out of the first inning and kind of move on from there.

End of FastScripts...

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