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NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: ROCKIES v DIAMONDBACKS


October 13, 2007


Josh Fogg


DENVER, COLORADO: Workout Day

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. The season started with a snow-out in Cleveland. It's been a wild season for every team. They're predicting crazy things tomorrow. You never know what the weather is going to be like. It's October in Colorado. Snow, rain, whatever. Can you talk a little bit about how that mentally affects you and some of the other position players, mainly you because you'll be out on the mound tomorrow?
JOSH FOGG: I think if it rains, obviously the rain delay could be the one thing that might bother a starting pitcher not knowing. If there's rain early on 1st, 2nd, 3rd inning, it can throw off how many pitches you're able to throw that day. Your warmup routine is going to be in limbo, you're not exactly sure what to do. But the good thing is both guys have to go out there and deal with it. Not one person has the advantage. Fortunately being at home, I'm the first guy to go out there. So the game can't start without me.
So I'm going to get ready and hopefully have enough time to do everything I need to do.

Q. Your relief pitchers have been nothing short of spectacular the last month or so. Given that, do you go into a game with a mind-set, I just gotta get through six and you strategize that way?
JOSH FOGG: As a starter you always want to go out there and you're planning on going nine. But that doesn't work out all the time, obviously. Especially nowadays.
But with the group of guys that have been throwing the ball down there for us, Tito (Brian Fuentes) has been great, Hawpe and Corpas have been great, Hergie, everyone that comes in, Affeldt, they've been super for us both seasons. You don't want to come out of the game as third, but right now you've got to feel pretty confident when you do.

Q. Is there a time in your warmup or in the 1st inning or so when you can usually tell whether or not it's going to be a good outing for you?
JOSH FOGG: You can have bad stuff and get a lot of outs. So it's not really how you feel. It's more what kind of swings they're puting on the ball. You can make some bad pitches and get away with them. You can make some good pitches and get them hit. Like Brandon Webb the other day made a lot of good pitches, but we found ways to hit them in the holes.
You know how you feel but you don't know how the results are going to go.

Q. You've taken down your fair share of big-name pitchers to earn your reputation and nickname. Tomorrow you're facing the 1997 World Series MVP to add to the list of guys you're facing. Can you talk a bit -- do you get extra hyped up to face Roger Clemens, beat Roger Clemens, beat Curt Schilling and tomorrow Livan Hernandez?
JOSH FOGG: No, they're pitching on the other side. In the National League they're hitting too, Livan is a big hitter. I'm more worried about the other guys in the lineup more than who is on the mound. Our eight guys have to worry about hitting them. When they're the number one guys like some of the guys I face, I'm glad they're not relying on my bat because I don't want to have to get a hit off neither. But our guys do a great job against those guys and fortunately they've gotten me some runs and I've gotten a lot of run support this year especially in those games.
Hopefully they go out tomorrow and put some good swings on Livan and I can go out and get some bats swinging against the Diamondbacks.

Q. Is there a way to soak in the atmosphere when you're on the mound and at the same time focus on the job at hand?
JOSH FOGG: You can definitely feel the energy. That play in the game against San Diego, the energy was unbelievable. When this place is packed and loud, it's a lot of fun. You try to step back and regroup and not let it get the best of you. But you definitely feel the energy. You hear the crowd when you get two strikes. They want a strikeout, fortunately that's not the type of pitcher I am, hopefully they root for ground balls and pop-ups tomorrow.

Q. Clint kept kind of under his vest at least publicly what the rotation was going to be beyond the first two games. When did you find out you'd be starting Game 3 and what was your initial emotional reaction?
JOSH FOGG: I've been preparing. I was hoping to start this series. So I've been preparing to start. And I think it was pretty obvious Francis was going to go 1 and Ubaldo was going to go 2 because they've been our two best pitchers the last two months in the season. I've been preparing in my head to pitch Games 3 or 4. They told me two days ago the first game that I was going to go Game 3. Since my last relief appearance I realized there was a chance I was going to start this series, so I had to keep my pitch count up and go out there and do the regular work that I would do between starts.

Q. Your credo of the team is we want to go out and have winning streaks, but do you allow yourself the thought that you're two wins from the World Series?
JOSH FOGG: No, it's definitely in the back of your head. Everybody knows what we're playing for. We've watched it. We've grown up with it. We know what it takes to get there. But I think this team's been unbelievable to be able to focus on that one game. Nobody thinks about the last three weeks, everybody thinks about the one game ahead. I think that's one reason why I've been successful the last month is because nobody -- their team doesn't care if we've won 19 out of 20 or whatever it is. They're worried about beating us that day. We have to worry about going out and beating them that day.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

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