AL DIVISION SERIES: RED SOX v ATHLETICS

October 5, 2003

Johnny Damon

JOHNNY DAMON: First of all, thank you. I attacked the ball like I needed to get him out at third. I wasn't worried about that guy taking second base. In most situations during the course of a season, our team was able to out-slug other teams, and we just weren't scoring runs today. I felt I needed to cut him down at third base, got around the ball good, made a good throw, Billy made a great tag, saved the run perhaps, and possibly saved our season. No way were we going to know what was going to happen.

JOHNNY DAMON: Yes, it's been a huge pick-me-up. Especially Williamson, he's struggled all year with his command. And he comes in here, his velocity is up, his splitter is working well. And Mike Timlin has been our ace out of the bullpen all season long, for him to go three innings yesterday and for him to be able to rest up today. Just in case we do need to use somebody tomorrow, we can use Wakefield again tomorrow. We're in a good spot. Zito is coming back from four days rest, because we saw him a couple of days ago. Hopefully that means the guys have a better idea.

JOHNNY DAMON: Against these guys, they definitely make it real tough, not only on our team but for the rest of the League. They like to get that first strike and make you chase. For Tim Hudson to come up lame, you never wish ill-will on anyone, but it was great to see him out of the game. My swing is feeling decent right now. Hopefully with the hit that David got, his confidence level is back to where it was. I have to commend my guys. David was holding his head down quite a bit, but we were telling him he has a great shot of being MVP. 0-for-16 doesn't make or break a year, but that one hit you got certainly does.

JOHNNY DAMON: We're so close, and if they don't step up, hopefully other guys do, like today Walker, like Trot yesterday. We know if we're going to win we need those guys to hit. I think the guys just keep supporting each other. I think that's what makes this team special. It's the most special year I've played. This is my ninth year. This is a great feeling to be down 2-0 with our backs against the wall against a former team. This is really special for me.

JOHNNY DAMON: A lot of times we don't know what the knuckle ball is going to do, especially on Tim Wakefield's. But that one, I was just trying to hit the pop fly to the outfield. I was trying to hit it to left field because of that strong arm Guillen has. I just made contact and I wasn't sure if it was going to sail over the wall or not. It came at a good time, put us up, and we were able to stay close to them.