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NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: CARDINALS v METS

October 13, 2006

Carlos Delgado

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Game Two

Q. I hate to start with a question that has nothing to do with you, but what has Endy Chávez done for the Mets?
CARLOS DELGADO: A lot. I mean, he's a kid that he's probably one of the best outfielders out there. He's fast, he's got a great arm and he can put the bat on the ball, he can bunt. I mean, he gives us another weapon.
He's been fantastic for us all year. You know, he went out there, hit about .320, played awesome on the field, had some great hits. He can bunt the ball, he can go to the opposite field, hit a couple home runs. This is a guy that he's nice to have on your team.

Q. You were a free agent a couple of years back and deciding where to go, teams, when a team like you guys are successful, having a chance to win a World Series, does it become that much more attractive, other free agents, that winning produce more winning in that sense come the off-season?
CARLOS DELGADO: Well, I really think so. I guess hopefully we can go out and win it all. You know, send a message for the free agents; it makes this team a very attractive team to come to. Just the fact that it definitely gives an automatic opportunity to go out and win in the next season. I guess free agents are looking for an opportunity to win, and this is a great one.

Q. In your first post-season here, I'm just curious if you were surprised at all that it's been -- I guess for lack of a better word, it's been easy for you guys. I know you would probably say it's not easy?
CARLOS DELGADO: I am going to say it's not easy.

Q. But to be 4-0 and never trailed in games, are you surprised you haven't been behind or is there any part of this you're surprised that you've been so successful?
CARLOS DELGADO: I hate to use the word surprised. I've been around the game long enough that nothing really surprises me.
When the playoffs started, when we were playing L.A., we were confident. We knew that it wasn't going to be easy, but we knew that we had the personnel, the talent to go out and win, and we've been playing good baseball. I guess if this team plays good baseball, if we execute, we can win. We can match up with anybody; we can win the whole thing.
So I guess if you're playing good, you're not going to be surprised. If you play bad, you're going to be trailing. So I guess it's the same for every team. If you play good baseball, chances are, you're going to win.

Q. Is it hard to watch Cliff struggle injury-wise the way he has and seeing him get hurt yesterday, and if he's not able to play again, what you would feel for him?
CARLOS DELGADO: Of course it's tough when you see one of your teammates go down with injuries and it's tough to see somebody that's going out there, getting treatment all the time, just go out and play, and second inning, third inning, the foul ball, he had to pull up because of his leg. It's tough this time of the year especially because we worked so hard the whole summer to get here and now that you have an opportunity to play in the most important games in the season and not being able to, it's tough. We definitely wish him the best. Hopefully he can bounce back and help us on the road.

Q. For a guy who is at the level you were at when you were in Toronto, what's it like now to get a chance to be in the post-season and to be on this stage?
CARLOS DELGADO: This is great. You know, watching it on TV, for the longest time, I tried to play as hard as I could for as long as I could to get here, and it seems that every year we came up short in that American League East Division.
Having the opportunity to be here and to have the opportunity to win is an amazing feeling. It's great, and I don't -- it couldn't happen to a better group. We have great guys, a great clubhouse, and we worked hard all summer.
So I think we've been rewarded, but we earned it and we've been rewarded. So I like our chances, what can I tell you; this is a great experience for me.

Q. Facing a guy like Carpenter tonight, is there anything that you feel that the team must do to have success against him, anything different in your approach, taking more pitches, etc.?
CARLOS DELGADO: I think the key will be stay in our zone. A lot easier said than done. But that's going to make a difference, if we stay in with our strength, because this is a guy that's got three quality pitches and he's got good control, he'll try to expand the zone.
So we have to be aggressive, but patient that we can hit in our zone. I think that will be the best approach that we can take.

Q. Just to follow-up on the question about this whole experience, first of all, did you always watch a lot of post-season baseball?
CARLOS DELGADO: No.

Q. And how are the games different from regular season games, the pace of them, the atmosphere?
CARLOS DELGADO: Just to answer your first question, I did not watch much, just because I hated not being there. And the moment you start watching, you start thinking, you just get competitive and say, well, he's going to throw this now and he should do this or he should do that. So I didn't watch much.
How is it different? This is it, for all the marbles. (Smiling) Everything, the adrenaline gets fired up, you get fired up a little bit more, the energy level is higher. It's still the same game, but the emotions play a big role here.
I think I mentioned this before. If you can control your emotions and just go out and play the game you've always been playing, chances are you're going to be better off.

Q. As a guy who was in a multi-year contract and you got traded, it sounded like you were pretty happy there; is it accurate to say that it's been an enjoyable experience for you?
CARLOS DELGADO: It's been a great experience. It's been a lot of fun, and this is one thing that I'm not thinking about. I'm thinking about tonight's game and then we deal with whatever we deal with after that.

End of FastScripts...

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