AL DIVISION SERIES: INDIANS v MARINERS

October 12, 2001

C.C. Sabathia

C.C. SABATHIA: They are a great-hitting team and I'm pretty sure they have watched tape of me and I've been watching them the last two games so hopefully I can go out there and throw strikes.

C.C. SABATHIA: I haven't had jitters yet. Hopefully -- I'm pretty sure I will. Hopefully I can get them out of the way early and settle down into the game. But I have not really been trying to think about it today. Just trying to go out, you know, as my normal preparation as I do as I start any game, just looking at it as going out there and trying to win a game.

C.C. SABATHIA: I don't think I'll get out of whack. I think I'll stay calm, whatever happens. That's something I've been working on all year. This is the point where I definitely need to stay calm and just pitch my game so I think I'll do a pretty good job of that tomorrow.

C.C. SABATHIA: I talked to a lot of guys. A lot of guys have been coming up to me, just telling me to "just be calm tomorrow. You know you can pitch, you've just got to settle down and go out there and pitch like you can."

C.C. SABATHIA: Ellis Burks and Dave Burba played a big part with me this year. Just like being a good friend to me in the clubhouse and making me feel comfortable. That's the biggest thing they could do and it helped me out a lot.

C.C. SABATHIA: I don't know. I think we definitely thought we had the momentum after that first game. I don't think anybody is down. I don't think anybody is hard pressed. I think everybody is still relaxed and wants to go out there and win two games.

C.C. SABATHIA: To tell you the truth, I don't even remember all my starts. Like I had said, I've just been taking one start at a time. It's like one big start all together right now. I would probably say I started in Minnesota at the Metrodome about a month ago and that was the biggest to date because we were still battling to get into the playoffs.

C.C. SABATHIA: I've been trying to figure out Bret Boone. He's definitely a great hitter. He takes fastballs on the outside corner and hits them to right field or the ball is over his head, he gets base hits. He's a great hitter. Mike Cameron looked good yesterday. Edgar has always been a great hitter. So, they have got a lot of weapons.

C.C. SABATHIA: Stay humble and work hard. I got that advice from my mom.

C.C. SABATHIA: Yeah, my mom and my family is in town. I picked them up this morning from the airport. You know, this year, my first start, I didn't know whether I could -- it was kind of a feeling whether I didn't know if I could pitch and it was a weird feeling. Now I know that I can pitch here. It's just pitching in the playoffs for the first time is a different atmosphere and I don't know how it's going to be, so I'm a little jittery about that.

C.C. SABATHIA: It's been great. It's been a great experience and hopefully it won't be my last time back. Hopefully I can take this experience and build on it for next year.

C.C. SABATHIA: Jared has not been able to be around; I have not talked to him. Riske said it was like an adrenaline rush and I'm definitely looking forward to that.

C.C. SABATHIA: No, I don't feel any pressure. I just don't know how I'm going to feel with all of the fans and this being a playoff game. I'm not nervous about going out there and pitching, just the stuff around it. But as far as me going out there and pitching, I'm definitely very confident and hopefully I can get a win.

C.C. SABATHIA: I think it's definitely going to be hard to get him out and as far as when he gets on base, I've been trying to work on a slide step to shorten my move to the plate to make it quicker to give the catcher a chance to maybe throw him out. He's a great hitter and it's going to be hard to keep him off the bases.

C.C. SABATHIA: Yeah, I spent the whole morning with my mom. We sat down and talked a lot today. She's more nervous than I am. She's real nervous. She always gets nervous when I go out there, but I'm fine. We talked a lot about just keeping my head out there and just been doing the same thing that we've been doing all year.

C.C. SABATHIA: No, that's the least of my concerns. If I get concerned with that, then my head will be all over the place. That's the least of my concerns. I think they have got a pretty good grasp on things. But I can't worry about stuff like that right now.

C.C. SABATHIA: That's my biggest concern, not getting too pumped up for the game and staying calm for the game and trying not to overthrow and just make pitches.

C.C. SABATHIA: No. I learned from it; just to take it slow and not get too pumped up. I think he was definitely a little pumped up. He had not pitched in the playoffs in 15 years. I think he was definitely a little pumped up. This is my first time pitching and hopefully I can just stay calm.

C.C. SABATHIA: About mid-July I started thinking about that. When I first made the club, I was -- I just felt like I was there to fill the void when a couple of guys got hurt. I started pitching better and started gaining confidence. I started realizing that I might get a chance to pitch in the post-season.

C.C. SABATHIA: I think a big part of my game is pitching inside. That's something that I do a lot, and as far as me having the advantage, I haven't seen them yet, either, so we'll see tomorrow if I have the advantage or not.