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AL DIVISION SERIES: TWINS v YANKEES

October 6, 2009

Mark Teixeira

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Workout Day

Q. Mark, all along, we've asked Joe Girardi if he has a sense this is a team capable of greatness. He's always said you have to wait and see. You won't know until you know. Do you have an intuitive sense about where this team is headed or are you also in the dark?
MARK TEIXEIRA: It's kind of deep, isn't it, Bob?
No. We want to win every game. That's kind of been our motto all year. I've said it dozens of times. And we feel like we should win every game. And I think everybody in here doesn't want to look at the World Series or Game 7 of the World Series. We want to look at Game 1 ALDS which starts tomorrow. We have the confidence we're going to win that fame tomorrow. And keep taking it one day at a time. But we've had fun all year having that same kind of attitude.

Q. Mark, I know you have confidence in all your starters. What's the feeling going into Game 1 knowing you have CC on the mound and what he's done all year?
MARK TEIXEIRA: CC, there's probably seven or eight guys in the entire major leagues you can really call an ace that you expect to go out there and dominate. And CC is one of them. You know, to have him on the mound for Game 1 of the playoffs just gives us a huge boost. A lot of times you're fighting just to get into the playoffs and you have to use him in the last weekend of the series. We were lucky enough to clinch early, set up our rotation and CC Game 1 is huge for us.

Q. Mark, are you rushing home to see the Twins-Tigers? Will you watch that and is there anything you can pick up watching that game?
MARK TEIXEIRA: I'm rushing home to beat traffic. It will be on. It will be on the TV. I'm going to have dinner with my family and put the kids in the bath and that kind of stuff. But the game will be on all night. I'm not sure exactly how many pitches I'll see, but if it's close to the end I'll be glued to the TV.

Q. Mark, just how weird has it been not to know who you're going to play, this close to it?
MARK TEIXEIRA: It's actually been pretty good. Because we have to worry about ourselves. If we play our own game, play the game we've played all year long, it doesn't matter who we play. So you know, we're not sitting up and last three or four nights saying we're playing Minnesota or we may go to Detroit. We have to worry about this guy and that guy. We have to worry about ourselves. So it's been nice because of that.

Q. Mark, I know you haven't been around Alex the last couple of years. But this year he's talked a lot about just feeling more relaxed and playing free. I was wondering if you noticed that and talk about bats and things like that, what kind of feeling you've gotten for how he's gone through the season and how you might use that going forward.
MARK TEIXEIRA: I can't speak for Alex. But I know he's had a lot of fun this year. We have had fun together. I've really enjoyed being in this hitting group. Having him hitting behind me it's been a lot of fun, actually. And after every win, you know, we're the first two to greet each other first and third base. We just enjoy the time together that we've had this season. He's having a lot of fun and playing well because of it.

Q. You weren't here, obviously. But the record in the last few division series for the Yankees hasn't been good. Is there a sense of urgency, a sense of determination in the clubhouse?
MARK TEIXEIRA: Not at all. Because we've had a lot of guys that weren't here. I'm not sure of the exact numbers. But the last time the Yankees were in the playoffs, a bunch of us weren't there. So that doesn't really matter to us. What happened last year, ten years ago or 100 years ago doesn't really matter because we have to take care of our own business.

Q. Mark, obviously you had a great season hitting in the third spot this year. Knowing that you had power and RBI hitters such as Alex and Matsui hitting behind you, did that affect your mental side going into the batter's box at all?
MARK TEIXEIRA: A little bit. I can take a few more risks this year. There are certain seasons where you look at your lineup and you say, hey, I've really got to get the job done. Maybe you have to walk to extend an inning because I'm not sure how many chances we're going to get. This lineup is so deep this year, I might take a few more hacks, might be a little more aggressive. If I don't get the job done we have one through nine that can get it done. It made it fun. It made it a lot of fun playing with that lineup this year.

Q. Mark, you knew coming in here sort of the expectations that come with the Yankees. Are you feeling that more now? Do you feel the sort of weight of the pressure of this team franchise now, the playoffs are about to start?
MARK TEIXEIRA: You put pressure on yourself all year long. You want to succeed. You don't want to go out there and play poorly. I think over 162 games we showed that we can handle any kind of pressure. In the playoffs if you try harder you're not going to play better. This isn't football. This isn't maybe some Olympic sports where you just have to try your hardest and reach the end line. Baseball you have to play under control. Play calm. And play your game. That's what we're going to do.

Q. Mark, you spoke about the game that's going to be played later on tonight between the Twins and the Tigers. Who do you think will win?
MARK TEIXEIRA: I have no idea. This is baseball. I mean, you can't predict what's going to happen. The only thing I'll say is whoever pitches better will probably win the game. That's the way baseball works.

Q. Mark, you talked about pitching. Specifically, the power pitching that you guys can throw at other teams, how much do you think that element of your guys staff will help?
MARK TEIXEIRA: Strikeouts are huge in the post-season. You know, I think if you have guys that can put the ball in play and anything can happen. Bad bounces, errors, a little broken bat hits. Those things happen. But a lot of guys in our team can strike you out. And because of that, you're not going to put the ball in play as much. Hopefully we'll get out of some innings because of it. Thanks, guys.

End of FastScripts

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