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MLB EXPANSION DRAFTNovember 18, 1997Brian AndersonPHOENIX, ARIZONA Q. Brian, how do you feel about leaving your hometown and the place you grew up? BRIAN ANDERSON: To be quite honest, it's difficult, to get the chance to come back to Cleveland and such a quick time line, I guess, after I was drafted was the biggest thrill. And it was awesome to play back home and to be part of the organization and get to the World Series and just all the different things they've done for me. So it was a definite shock to be leaving, but all year all the rumors coming up to it and everything I've heard about Arizona is awesome. Everything that's being done is being done in a top notch, top of the line way, and so it's sad to leave home, but now I get the chance to be the foundation of a franchise that looks like it wants to put a winner on the field right away, so that's very exciting and something to look forward to. Q. Brian, do you hope that maybe ‑‑ that you'll get traded back to Cleveland as part of the deal, would that make you happy? BRIAN ANDERSON: Well, if something like that happens, I'm going to have to stop and say, Hey, somebody make up their mind, what in the world is going on around here? But, no, I think all the different emotions that have gone through in the last 20 minutes to half an hour, I got a chance to talk to some of the Diamondback people, and I feel like I'm part of the organization now. Q. Has anyone told you that you're not going to be traded? BRIAN ANDERSON: No, no one has told me that I'm not going to be traded. Actually, all I talked to is the media, what do you call it, public relations and the clubhouse guy, but, yeah, nobody has told me that for sure. But I feel like, hey, I'm ‑‑ I'm an Arizona Diamondback now, and that's where I'm going to put my full ‑‑ all the workouts and everything is going to be geared toward helping them. PHYLLIS MERHIGE: The Diamondback's public relations person says you're not going to be traded. BRIAN ANDERSON: Well, good, even better. Q. Brian, could you describe the sensation of hearing your name called? BRIAN ANDERSON: Well, I tell you, it's something else. In the amateur draft you get a phone call and you don't know when that's going to come, and you don't know if someone is calling you just to mess around, it's a lot different than watching it on TV and having them come up there and say you're the first pick, but I was sitting still and I had a pulse rate of about 150, if that tells you anything. Q. How much advance notice did you have that this was likely to happen? BRIAN ANDERSON: Well, I had heard that Arizona was interested in me, but then again, I also heard the different rumors about picking guys and trading them for players that were protected and the different things that way, so I really didn't know. I knew that I was high on their list, that I had heard that they liked me more than Tampa did and there was a chance that Tampa didn't take another Cleveland Indian that I would probably go in that second or third pick to Arizona. So I knew that going in, but until they call your name, you never really know. But that's exactly how it ended up turning out. Q. Do you feel slighted by the Indians organization that they left him unprotected? BRIAN ANDERSON: No, not really. I mean it's a situation where the organization, Cleveland had so many top players and good players and guys that they had to protect, that it's hard to really feel slighted because you knew that going into the draft that Cleveland was going to lose two or three good ball players. I turned out to be one of them. And that's the way it goes. That's what expansion is all about. And this process, that's the way it was set up and it was fair game for everybody. So I can't say that I feel slighted. I knew that they had a lot of tough decisions to make, and unfortunately for myself, for Cleveland, anyway, I was left off, but fortunately for myself, now I get to be a guy that goes out to Arizona now, and I feel like I'm going to be ‑‑ obviously, when you're a part of that first draft, you feel like you're a building block to building a franchise, and that's exciting for any athlete, and I'm really looking forward to it. Q. Are you getting a new tatoo to commemorate this? BRIAN ANDERSON: I'm heading down to Bob's Tatoos and I'm going to get a big "A" put on the middle of my back (laughter.) I'm going to make sure I get the exact logo down right, yes, it will be in the middle of my shoulder blades. Q. Do you expect to feel particular pressure in this role as opposed to a guy battling to make a club? BRIAN ANDERSON: No, not really. I mean I don't think that you can get much more pressure than pitching in a World Series, a postseason atmosphere. So if a lot is expected of me, great, because I expect a lot out of myself, and that's the way I try to approach things, and I'm looking forward to going out there and having maybe not the spotlight, but the pressure, you're the No. 1 pick in our expansion draft, go out there and you've got to get the job done. I'm looking forward to something like that, and I think that's when I pitch my best anyway. Q. Brian, do you get another parade in Geneva? BRIAN ANDERSON: No, I probably won't. End of FastScripts |
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