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WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC POOL C: TORONTOMarch 9, 2009Chris DenofriaJason GrilliMarco MazzieriTORONTO, ONTARIO THE MODERATOR: Okay. Questions for the gentlemen up front. Q. What do you think of the pitching effort that you got today, basically all the way through, against one of the better line-ups in the tournament? MARCO MAZZIERI: Well, I think that the effort was there anyways two days ago, it just didn't work out. But I think if we want to say that way Team Italy showed two days ago that this is a team, and it takes a team effort to play those kind of games. I think we played very good against Venezuela. Today, we played even better. But as I said, you guys asked me the other day why I didn't keep DiFelice in, I said I got Jason Grilli. I feel as good as I can with this guy, and just didn't work out. But when had you have major league people first, and then major league player, that's what's going to happen, and that's what we have. Q. Jason, what was your mental approach tonight coming from Saturday's performance? JASON GRILLI: Well, you got to have a short memory in this game. Being a reliever now, there's days when you have a bad one, and I was pretty down about what transpired the other night. But, you know, this is so early to play this caliber of games. It's no excuse, but the intensity and the caliber and the importance of these games for everybody, this is spring training in a sense. But you know you're on a big stage, and it gets magnified when you don't do well. I'm just happy, like I said. These guys played unbelievable. The heart from when this team got together, and the guys who joined the Italian nationals, and the other guys they've compiled so wonderfully, you just could tell that this team was going to get along. And to have the chemistry that developed so quickly, you know, everybody wanted to be a part of this. And you could just see the effort, I mean, the guys played, even against Venezuela. I mean, one of the highlights of the game was diving plays, and, you know, we didn't compile some hits, but these guys played hard. They're all trying to get to the big leagues and this is their big stage to succeed. I'm just glad to be a part of this. I am so proudful about wearing the Italian jersey and what it means to be Italian. I can't even express what that means. I always say it the same way, when you're around more Italians -- when you are around Italians, you become more Italian. And you see why we take such pride in who we are. Q. How important was it to just use three pitchers in this game, to not have to exhaust five and six and seven pitchers knowing you're coming back tomorrow? MARCO MAZZIERI: Well, of course, when you play a short series like this, and you play every day, you try to stay away from big innings, possibly. And what we did tonight was enough to get by Canada. But we had guys out there in the bullpen that, they could come in and perform well. And I have so much trust in all my players that I won't be afraid to pitch anybody out there at any given time. Q. How big is this victory for Italian baseball, to beat the Canadians on their home turf here in Toronto? MARCO MAZZIERI: Well, when we get a victory like this, you always hope that it's going be an energy booster for the Italian baseball back home. Hopefully, we're going to get the media to talk about it a little more, as we had two years ago in the World Cup when we beat the U.S.A. team that eventually won the World Cup without losing any other game. And for one day, all the newspapers in Italy talked about that win. And we hope that with this win here, we can get everything together and hopefully that we are going to get a lot more attention from all the medias. Q. Jason, can you talk about Chris Denorfia's performance. He goes four for four with the walk and makes a diving catch in center. Obviously he was so important to you guys today. JASON GRILLI: I'll let you in on a little secret, if you notice his facial hair on Game 1, then today, he went with a straight mustache, He says he has done that before, and he had a big rally. But a heck of a performance individually, was the boost that we needed. I mean, I think when you get guys doing individual things, everybody follows suit. And we finally got into that rhythm, and we kept saying, like I said, going back to what we said in the clubhouse, don't sleep on the Italian team, because we got some talent here. We really have some talented players that have a lot of heart. And, you know, I mean, you guys are just seeing it from the vantage point of a game. But just even from practice and how much fun we're having together outside, that doesn't just happen, you know. I think, like I said, I give big props to the staff that's compiled this team and picked the right guys to come together. It's easy to say, you know, baseball is easy to love when you win. It's harder to deal with or to like when you lose. Because, you know, no one wants to go out there and do bad and lose a game. But I just can tell you from the way we feel on the field and off the field and together in that clubhouse and the hotel, doing what we're doing and this whole great experience, it's unbelievable. Q. Marco, would you also please comment on Denorfia's game tonight. MARCO MAZZIERI: Well, for those that did not see Chris play last week for us, maybe it's a little surprising. But this guy, he's been playing 110 percent from day one. And he's just incredible, just a very good ball player. And the three games we played against big league teams were outstanding for me. I had all the scouting reports, I had talked to him and all this, but to see him live, that's a pretty special thing to do. Q. ( Question in Italian.) MARCO MAZZIERI: The question is what are my feelings about the victory on Canada with all those Italian people in the stands and who is going to be the starter tomorrow. My feelings, of course, when you play away from home and you wear the Italian jersey, it gets a little heavy on your shoulders sometimes. And when you hear the national anthem, it's pretty special. I mean, I get, you know, goose bumps all the time. When we play away and I hear that national anthem, it's hard to describe actually. And I know as for guys like Jason and Chris, that they're so proud to wear that jersey, as well as all the fans that are coming out to watch us play, of course we are very happy for all those fans there. It's a pretty special thing. And starter tomorrow, I don't know. We're just going to talk about it with my staff and see how the guys are doing. And we have somebody that doesn't played in the game yet, but has thrown a lot of pitches down in that bullpen. So we just need to check that out first. Q. Chris, can you kind of rank this performance from what you have done in your career up to today. I mean, where does this rank? You have obviously had such a big day for the Italians. CHRIS DENORFIA: It's up there. I mean, a lot of things went well for us today. The biggest is that we got a win. Like Marco said, it's -- there's so much pride in our dugout, and guys didn't want to go home today, and we played like it. Q. How are you meshing in? You've talked about the chemistry a few times and how great the chemistry is. How are the major leaguers and guys you've never seen or heard of or knew until you met a week ago? How are you having that instant chemistry? JASON GRILLI: Well, you know, we've been nemesis on some occasions. I faced Nick Punto plenty playing in the Central Division. But baseball is a fraternity in a sense. And heck, I've been on five different teams, so I've played with several different people and coming and going. Baseball's like that. You play with a bunch of guys, and we all have one common goal, and that's to win. I think, you know, Denorfia will back me up in saying that's been our goal right from day one. We were just, like, looking around and looking at the names of people that we got, and there's some guys on some of these other teams that are Italian that could have played for us, but they decided to play for other teams. Buts that okay, you know. We like what we had. And we knew that's what we're going with. And the chemistry that we got is incredible. Like I said, playing against these guys, you know, again, I'll give it back to the staff, they compiled a bunch of guys that wanted to play together and are here for the right reasons. CHRIS DENORFIA: That was great. Just to add on to that. It is a bunch of different guys that play for a bunch of different organizations, but we put on the same uniform, and it's kind of a unifying thing. When you take the field and, you know, just the dugout atmosphere, it immediately clicked. And, you know, I'm really excited about tomorrow. Q. Chris, did you get a sense early that you were particularly locked in tonight? CHRIS DENORFIA: Not after my first at-bat. I could not have hit any less in my first hit. I mean, if I missed any more of that ball, I would have swung and missed it. But I was working in the cage earlier today with Piazza, and he really kind of nailed home some points for me. I made an adjustment the same pitch the next time up. And after that, it just ended up being one of those days where the ball just, you know, hits the barrel. And, you know, they don't come around very often, and I'm just really happy it came around today. JASON GRILLI: Don't forget to credit this mustache, too (laughter). Q. Chris, how do you like your chances for tomorrow's game? CHRIS DENORFIA: You know, one of the great things about international ball is it's a one-game final every day. So on any given day, any team can beat any team. I like the line-up we're throwing out there every day, so I would not count us out. Q. Chris, I think you've crossed paths with Mike Piazza a little bit in your career. Can you talk about what this experience has been like with him and what he might have been able to do for you this past couple weeks? CHRIS DENORFIA: I'd watch out guys, because he is a heck of a hitting coach. Just having him in there as a future hall-of-famer in your ear is -- you can't help but absorb just his presence and his knowledge. He's been really great. I'm going take the stuff I'm learning this week, and take it back to the regular season and hopefully I can carry it. THE MODERATOR: All right, thanks, guys. End of FastScripts |
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