AL DIVISION SERIES: RED SOX v ANGELS

October 8, 2004

Johnny Damon

David Ortiz

JOHNNY DAMON: Well, David's been pretty awesome. And here he is. I mean, I don't really think he knows how to swim. I took him out on my boat and he was scared. (Laughing). But David has been awesome. Our problem on our team is we've got so many guys who are so valuable, but when he came up we knew he was going to have a good at-bat. We didn't know it was going to be that good but we'll take it. He's the man.

DAVID ORTIZ: Definitely.

DAVID ORTIZ: Okay. Well, you just try to get in those other peoples' minds that I can hit to left field or whatever. My game is different than Johnny; Johnny wants to get on base, Johnny wants to get a walk, Johnny wants to get that one hit to put us in a good situation. I'm different, I swing harder than Johnny.

JOHNNY DAMON: Bigger, too.

DAVID ORTIZ: Definitely. Johnny sees the ball longer than what I do, so I've got to start everything going on before, than what you do. You always just stay right there with lefties. Our game is totally different. The people always, people just watch and think about what you hit for average against lefty, but they don't see what kind of lefties we have in the American League. They don't see how they pitch you. They don't see all of that kind of situation that I face. I don't think about lefties. When I see a lefty, if I hit it, I hit it. If I don't, I don't. If I don't get a hit all year, I don't worry about if I hit a lefty.

JOHNNY DAMON: Well, I was definitely a little bit worried because this Anaheim Angel team, I commend them. The way they play the game, I mean, they are definitely one of the better teams out there, you know, it's just unfortunate that they had to run up against the Boston Red Sox when we were playing really good ball. You know, they win tonight, it's a different story, and it's an early game tomorrow, and we just could not let that team get any kind of momentum. That's why those first two in Anaheim were big and this one was big. Thanks to this guy here, I mean, it could have been different but now we get to relax for a couple of days. The other teams get to beat each other up, and, you know, the Angels had to endure a tough series against Oakland before this series started. So they could not set up their pitching rotation as we were able to.

DAVID ORTIZ: Thanks to you, Jesus. (Laughter.)

DAVID ORTIZ: Well, let me tell you, I guess Mike went through the book, like, okay, I have this situation, if I had a lefty ready in the bullpen and I had a left-handed hitter coming to the plate, definitely you've got to enter the game with a lefty against lefty, you don't want to have a lefty ready in the bullpen and then leave K-Rod out there. And what about if I hit a home run off K-Rod; everybody will be all over him. So I think he did the right move. I mean, bringing a lefty against lefty, pretty much have good stuff for lefties, just he made a mistake, left a slider up there and things happened. I think he made the right move. Plus K-Rod, he pitched two innings plus, right? So I don't think he did anything wrong about it.

DAVID ORTIZ: Well, in that situation, let me tell you, I wasn't really thinking about hitting a home run. I want to have a good at-bat. I want to at least get on base. I want to make sure somebody else steps on the plate, you know, so when I think about hitting a home run, that pitch, I would hit it to second for a ground ball because that's pretty much what you do. You pull up and try to hit the ball right field and that's when you get in trouble. But when you just think about hitting the ball, have good contact with the ball, that's what happened. Pretty much that's what happens to me all the time.

DAVID ORTIZ: Slider. It was a slider, up, kind of high.

DAVID ORTIZ: I was looking for a pitch in the strike zone. These people, they have been pitching me really good in the whole series. I have a lot of walks when we were playing in Anaheim, so I think when they saw me driving the ball to the opposite field they are here, they was trying to make sure I don't get that pitch away that much because they saw me hitting away. But they was making good pitches the whole series against me, so I was just trying to lock myself in and see a pitch that I can hit.

JOHNNY DAMON: Well, we could not be more happier for Derek, and the fans really appreciate him and what he's given to this ballclub over the past years. You know, to hear them chant D-Lowe, that was special. I think they realize how important that he's been to our team. It's a big win. We'll see what happens during the off-season. But, this could not be any bigger for him.

DAVID ORTIZ: I was going to say that I don't think people should never give up on D-Lowe. D-Lowe is the kind of guy that when you really need it, he steps up. And last year, I remember he came out of the bullpen and look at what he did against the Oakland As; that tells you that the guy always, even when things are going in the wrong direction, he still has a big heart to offer to his teammates and the fans. So I think I'm very happy and proud of him; that he held this guy down and he got the win.