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WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC POOL B: MEXICO CITY

March 8, 2009

Travis Blackley

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO

Q. Travis, you're one of the guys on this starting staff that has Major League experience. Where do you think you fit into the tournament? Obviously Craig Anderson is going in this Game 1. Do you know where you're going to be?
TRAVIS BLACKLEY: I'm expecting tomorrow. Most likely South Africa, we want to make sure we win that one and have a crack at Cuba or the other way around. If we manage to win tonight then I'll probably take South Africa, as well, just to run it out in two wins. If we can get the first one now, we'll get South Africa next time, in three days, I think, and if not make sure we're not eliminated in Game 2. Yeah, I'm expecting South Africa.

Q. As one of the veterans on this staff, what do you tell some of the other pitchers in a big tournament like this?
TRAVIS BLACKLEY: Just not to get caught up in the crowd and in the atmosphere. You want to treat it like it's just any other game, believe in yourself and in what you've got, and use your strengths. Don't pitch outside yourself, you'll just get yourself into trouble that way.

Q. You missed the 2006 World Baseball Classic with an injury. How excited are you to be in this one?
TRAVIS BLACKLEY: It's awesome, Mate. I missed out on the Olympics twice now, and the last time we played the WBC. Any time you get to play for your country, it's just -- I don't know, it brings the best out of you. You want to prove to the rest of the world that Australia is a competitive team.

Q. You were the 2003 Texas League pitcher of the year, you went 17 and 13. How are you different now as a pitcher from when you were a pitcher then?
TRAVIS BLACKLEY: I think I'm totally different. I mean, my whole entire game is different. I used to be a change-up guy, and I used to have a really good change-up, and that was pretty much what I was successful with, and guys had to honor it, and if they got caught looking for it, they'd be beat by something else.
Now since surgery that pitch isn't nearly as devastating as it used to be. It's still a good pitch, but now I've developed a cutter and I'm generally a fastball guy that looks to work in and outside of the plate and pitch off my cutter.
I think I've matured a lot more. As a pitcher I know what's going on, I know my strengths a little better and situations in the game, what I should and shouldn't do. I mean, I was 20 years old back then. I just threw whatever finger the catcher put down. I actually can think for myself a little bit.
Yeah, not until this year did I start thinking I was back to where I was before surgery.

Q. Would it be fair, a lot of pitchers who threw early in their careers described themselves as a thrower rather than a pitcher. Would you say the same?
TRAVIS BLACKLEY: Yeah, I always needed to learn how to pitch. I think I got exposed a little bit when I did get called up to the Major Leagues because even though I didn't throw hard I was still a bit of a thrower. Now being able to become more of a pitcher, and it's definitely helped me out.

Q. You've played in international competition like the World Cup in 2007 against teams like Korea and Japan. Where does this stack up and what are some of the differences?
TRAVIS BLACKLEY: This is way better. We're playing against a Major League All-Star team right now. It's great for us because we don't get this kind of competition to play against very often, and I mean, all this can do is make us better.
I think we've got a great team. I think we can surprise a few teams in this tournament, but what's really exciting is you look at -- if it's every three years, you get the '12 and the '15 Baseball Classics, we should stack up pretty strongly. You look at the Netherlands, no one expects them to win like they did, even though they've got a couple guys from CuraÃ§ao and a couple guys from America, but nobody really expects them to beat Dominican, and they took it to them. That's what we're going to do tonight, just take it to every team we play against and not make mistakes. Anything can happen. Baseball is a crazy sport like that.

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