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MLB WORLD SERIES: ROCKIES v RED SOX

October 24, 2007

Carl Yastrzemski

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Game One

Q. What are you doing these days?
CARL YASTRZEMSKI: Just fishing and playing golf.

Q. There's some potential we might have to deal with some weather over these couple days. You were in a World Series that was pretty heavily affected by rain. What do you remember about how that affected things and how you dealt with it?
CARL YASTRZEMSKI: You know, I don't think either the pitcher or the batter has any advantage. Of course you'd like to not play in the rain. I'm sure the ball for the pitcher is not great for grip, and the bat is always damp and that if you've got rain coming off your helmet and stuff like that.
It's difficult circumstances. Like I said, I don't know who has the advantage.

Q. At least in terms of having a bunch of games delayed and having that sit for a while, how much of an issue was that?
CARL YASTRZEMSKI: Well, it's tough when games are delayed. You'd rather see them start on time and go right through. It could affect your starting pitcher. He goes three or four innings and then has to sit for an hour. That's not too good.

Q. How did it feel to walk out there with your teammates from '67?
CARL YASTRZEMSKI: Oh, it was great. It's been great all year. This is my second time back this year, second, third. A lot of them have been back five, six times. It's a great thing, bringing it back.

Q. Was this the first time you've been together as a big group like that?
CARL YASTRZEMSKI: We were together opening day.

Q. I was just wondering, you played in two of the most famous World Series ever. I'm wondering if you think the extra rounds of playoffs have made the actual World Series less memorable, a great LCS, a great first round?
CARL YASTRZEMSKI: Well, I wish I had a wild card a few times (laughter). It was 18 teams in the league before they expanded. It was tough, you had to win first place or that was it.
You know, everybody talks about the '75 World Series. I think the '67 World Series was comparable. I'd liked to have seen Lomborg with one more day's rest, what a match-up that would have been between him and Gibson. Then the '75 World Series, you know, I would have liked to have played that with Jim Rice being available. A lot of people forget that Rice didn't play, a lot of people forget Conigliaro didn't play in '67. You don't replace two players like that. You know, if you go '67, hey, suppose Gibson couldn't pitch, or if you go, '75, suppose Rose or somebody like that couldn't play for that, or Perez.

Q. I was looking at the stats, and you're about the same size, believe it or not, or same height and weight of Coco Crisp. How did you hit so many home runs?
CARL YASTRZEMSKI: Well, the athlete is just bigger nowadays. Look at the shortstops in the '60s and early 70s, they're all Luis Aparicio sized, and then the bigger shortstop came in with Ripken.

Q. How did you generate your power?
CARL YASTRZEMSKI: Swung hard (laughter).

Q. When you come back now as opposed to '04, is it a different feeling now that the team is not trying to win its first one in a long time?
CARL YASTRZEMSKI: The ownership has done a tremendous job, money is no object. They want to put not only a winning team on the field but they want to put a team on the field that has got a chance to win the World Series. They made some tremendous moves.

Q. Not just the team on the field, but are people more optimistic? I mean, for a while people didn't ever believe it would happen. Now they have a chance to do it twice in three years.
CARL YASTRZEMSKI: You know, I went to spring training with the big club this year. I worked the big club in the morning and then the minor leagues in the afternoon. The more that I saw the hitters with the big club, you knew that they were going to go a long way, very professional, work hard.
Look at the year Pedroia had, what a great year, rookie of the year. Look at Lowell. I mean, you've got so many guys -- you can go right through the lineup. You can't relax. Even like Lugo didn't hit that high of an average, but he drove in 80, 90 runs. He got some big hits. It seems like one guy after another keeps getting key hits.

Q. Can you compare the guy going tonight, Beckett to having a Lomborg, what that means at this stage of the season?
CARL YASTRZEMSKI: Well, the big thing with Beckett is every time he steps on the mound you're on a limb. He's going to win the Cy Young, no doubt about that. There shouldn't be any doubt about it. And the same with Lomborg in '67. You weren't going to go on any prolonged losing streaks.

Q. Seemed like, though, in Cleveland they were down 3-1, it's like the team -- they get the confidence of a No. 1 pitcher? Do you feel more confident when you have that guy on your team?
CARL YASTRZEMSKI: Yeah, because it almost -- like when Lomborg was pitching, you almost knew you were going to win before the game started. You have that kind of confidence.

Q. How much joy did you get out of them winning it all in 2004? Did that kind of even scratch an itch for you?
CARL YASTRZEMSKI: Yeah, you know, it's been such a long time, so much is written about not winning a World Series. I think 2004 by winning stopped all that. What's this, the second World Series in four years.

Q. When you look back at '67, the announcer said it was the year that brought the franchise back to life. How proud are you to have been part of that team?
CARL YASTRZEMSKI: Not only did it bring the franchise back to life, but I think it changed the whole attitude in the Red Sox' organization. I think the organization became winners. I think after '67 you expected to go out and win, and I thought we were going to have a dynasty in '67, Conigliaro got hit, Lomborg had a skiing accident, José Santiago popping his elbow beginning of the '68 season. You don't replace players like that.

Q. What do you see in the two Japanese pitchers this year, Matsuzaka and Okajima?
CARL YASTRZEMSKI: Of course I think Matsuzaka, a year under his belt, will benefit from this for next year, and the left-hander has just had a great, great year. Talk about second-guessing the seventh game, and Terry left him in. I'm sure it gave him a tremendous amount of confidence, and he did the job, especially right-handed hitters.

End of FastScripts

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