|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NL DIVISION SERIES: CARDINALS v DODGERSOctober 8, 2009Jim ThomeLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Game Two THE MODERATOR: Questions for Jim Thome. Q. Jim, what's the biggest difference between getting one at-bat a game and four? JIM THOME: I think your preparation, playing every day and getting four at-bats you can kind of adjust as the game's going on. You're getting one at-bat, you have to -- I think coming off the bench pinch hitting you have to be aggressive, but you have to be under control. And it is a challenge. It is a challenge. And fortunately when you have Mattingly and our guys on the bench that have seen these guys through the league, it kind of helps to kind of get their input and go from there. Q. You've had a long relationship with Charlie Manuel. Could you talk about your feelings and the success he's had recently? JIM THOME: Well, Charlie's special to me. He was a guy that took me under his wing there in Cleveland. And really I would say the same thing for Manny. Charlie was a great mentor to us and really kind of taught us really how to play the game, go about our business with our routine as far as in the cage. And Charlie's very special. Very, very special. Over the years, obviously, since we've departed from each other, you know, he's obviously done very well in Philadelphia. And it's probably the one time, if we do play each other, I won't be rooting for Charlie. Q. You grew up about 150 miles from St. Louis. How much fun will it be for you to be in that ballpark with maybe your family on hand? JIM THOME: St. Louis has been a great baseball town. I've enjoyed being in there whether it was interleague with Cleveland, with Philadelphia. This will be my first time to the new park. I'm looking forward to that, and I've got a lot of friends around the St. Louis area that are excited as well. So it's going to be a neat experience. It always has. I've always said St. Louis is probably fans-wise one of the better baseball cities in the game. So it's fun to go there and feel that atmosphere towards baseball. They did a wonderful job there. Q. As part of this adjusting to just one -- kind of one shot at a game, how are you spending your time during the game? Are you doing anything differently while you're watching? JIM THOME: As a DH and pinch hitting it's similar, the one thing I try to do is I get up early in the game and I start moving around like I would as a designated hitter. I hit in the cage. I hit off the tee, watch the game, whether it's on TV -- you know when the TV's on down here, and just try to keep moving around, but yet watch the game. The starting pitcher, you want to know what he's doing and how he's going about his sequences, what he's doing as far as that goes. But just be prepared. Be prepared. And it is one at-bat. That is a little bit of the challenge. But the at-bats usually that I get mean something, and that's what's exciting. Q. Your neighborhood in Peoria, and the city, was it more Cardinal fans or Cub fans? Because you're caught in between, right? JIM THOME: It was about half and half, yes. Yes. We've even had family members of mine, my one brother was a Cardinal fan and the other brother was a Cub fan. My dad was a Cub fan. It's definitely I think half and half through the city, that's for sure. That's for sure. It's so close to both. So you get both sides. Q. There in Peoria, do you find that people tend to be kind of wavering back and forth now they're following your career and they're rooting the Phillies and White Sox and now the Dodgers. People root for their favorite players? JIM THOME: The city of Peoria has been great. They've treated me great. My wife and I, we've done a lot of community work there in Peoria, and I'm proud to call it home. I'm glad I grew up in the Midwest and was able to call Peoria home, because it's salt-of-the-earth people. They're genuine. They're just solid people, and I'm glad that I was able to call it home. And they really treat me great when I go back there. Q. That at-bat against Miller was an interesting at-bat last night. A lengthy one. I'm sure you've had some battles with him before. Describe how that went last night. JIM THOME: Well, with him, especially any tough left-hander, you know, again you gotta be -- you gotta come off the bench and try to be aggressive. He threw strike one. I fouled it off. I worked the at-bat. Ended up working it the 3-2, and he threw a real good pitch kind of up elevated, fastball up in the zone, it was a real good pitch. And in that situation obviously he doesn't want to walk me to get a run in. But, again, he's always been a very solid left-hander, not only on me but other guys as well. So with that being said, you can't miss pitches you get. Unfortunately, I did that in the first pitch, when you foul that off. A lot of times pinch hitting, you can't foul good pitches off, because those guys make good pitches and they can get you out. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. End of FastScripts |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|