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HOME RUN CHASE

September 4, 1998

Brett Tomko

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI

Q. Did you take some heat from your teammates when he said it would be way cool to pitch the homerun record?
BRETT TOMKO: Yeah, a little bit. The way that the interview went, there was more to it than what they put on CD. I basically said if I was up ten runs that I would want to challenge him and say, "Let's go. Let's do it. Here it is," meaning here's my best one. I don't want to pitch around you. And that's kind of what I meant by it, that I'd like the opportunity to be able to challenge him and throw my best ball and if he hits it, he hits it. That's part of the game. I took a lot of heat in the last couple of days. It's been kind of crazy.

Q. Would you have preferred to start him out and let him hit the homerun?
BRETT TOMKO: You wouldn't want to be the guy that walked him, and you want to be the guy that goes after him and give him your best ball, and if you check him out, you check him out. I want to stop him from doing it. That would be something great.

Q. How would you feel if you were the victim of No. 62?
BRETT TOMKO: Well, I mean, the whole thing is a great thing. It's a great thing for Mark. It's great for the game of baseball. At the time when I think it happened â€‘â€‘ if it would happen, you'd be upset if you were losing and you went down a few runs, you would kind of be bitter, because we're trying to win the baseball game. But I think looking back on it maybe in a few years, if it happened, then you would say I was part of history. And I don't think it would be a big deal. It wouldn't be disappointing to do it. It's just something that â€‘â€‘ it's going to happen, someone is going to give it up. And if it's me, so be it. It's not the first time.

Q. Are you at all reluctant to pitch an inside?
BRETT TOMKO: No, not at all. That's part of the game. I'm sure Mark knows it's part of the game, and he said all along, he knows pitchers have to pitch inside to get him out. If you hit him, it wouldn't be on purpose. It would be something that just happened. I don't think anybody would purposely go after him. But you can't change the way you pitch just because there's something like this going on, you have to stick to your gameplan and be aggressive, because if you don't, you could get hurt, yourself. He's a big man, and he hits the ball pretty hard. If you didn't pitch the way you wanted to pitch, you could get in trouble.

Q. You recently gave up a couple of homeruns against Sosa, the team hasn't given any up to McGwire. Can you compare them?
BRETT TOMKO: I think with Sammy, he's a little bit more of a free swinger, and you're able to pitch to him a little bit more. You can throw some balls out of the strike zone, and he may chase them. Unfortunately the ball that he hit weren't great pitches and he hit them. They're both swinging the bat really well, any mistake you make they're capitalizing on.
With Mark he's a little bit different than Sammy. He's a little more selective. He walks a lot more because people try to hit the corners. Sammy might â€‘â€‘ I think it's much tougher to pitch to McGwire than it is to Sosa.

Q. What's the impression a pitcher has when McGwire comes to the plate?
BRETT TOMKO: It's exciting. I grew up in California when he was in Oakland and I was in high school, and he was part of the Brothers and all that and the first couple of times I faced him, I mean I was kind of in awe, because it's Mark McGwire up there. It's just kind of a weird feeling.
But now you're kind of used to it. When you're in the game and you're in that zone, I honestly don't even see him up there. You know what you've got to do, you know the spot you've got to hit. It's not even an issue that he's up there. I realize now there's a little different situation on the line, and fans are going to be going nuts. You've got to kind of try to block that out and know what you've got to do.

Q. Does the fact that he's so strong and can hit a homerun on a pitch, any good pitch that gets in the air, does that affect you?
BRETT TOMKO: It's something you don't think about. You have your objective, you know how you want to pitch him. If he hits a good pitch, that's part of the ballgame. You can't worry about that. It's something you've got to deal with. You've got to make those good pitches, and he's got to put good stuff on it. That's why he gets a lot of balls out of the park because he is so strong.

Q. Following up on that, when he's so strong, and the third base coach stands in the next county, how does it feel standing on the mound knowing he might hit it right back at you?
BRETT TOMKO: Very good person. It's not something to think about. You can't go out with the thought that I'm in trouble if he hits it back up the box right at me. It's a very freak accident that happens, and it doesn't even enter your mind, doesn't even enter my mind.

Q. How much have you and your teammates talked about that you may be part of this history making?
BRETT TOMKO: I think a lot of people are chattering about it, what would they do if they're playing third and he hits a homerun, do you hit a high 5. I think everyone has that feeling of how they would react. It's a great thing, it's a monumental thing. It doesn't happen very often that someone is going to achieve this kind of fate. I think everyone is preparing how am I going to feel, how am I going to react when this thing happens. It will be great to see. It would be nice to be in the ballpark when it happens. Not necessarily on the mound, but in the ballpark.

Q. Did you sit around last week, figuring out who was going to be on the mound for him?
BRETT TOMKO: I thought about it, because I'm going on Sunday, and that's three days away, with three homeruns left to go. So I kind of sat back, and said, well, if you get the first couple of games, you play little games and little scenarios and try to think how you would feel. But it's not something you worry about. You've got an objective and that's to go out and try to win the ballgame.

End of FastScripts

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