	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

MLB WORLD SERIES: PHILLIES v YANKEES

October 31, 2009

Joe Blanton

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: Game Three

Q. Just want to see how you think the experience of pitching in the World Series last year helps you this year, both preparing for tomorrow and when you get out on the mound.
JOE BLANTON: I don't think it helps as far as preparing. I think you just prepare like it's another game, honestly. Which I mean, it is, it's another game. It's a big game, but it's another game. And I think just the experience you draw from last year, just the fact that you've been there before, you've been in that environment, you've been in that atmosphere, you've kind of been in that big-game situation and you can just kind of draw back and kind of keep your emotions in check.

Q. It has to be fun, especially in retrospect after you pitch a game like you did last year, to look back on it and how you contributed and how under a pressure situation you responded.
JOE BLANTON: Yeah, it's always fun to go out and pitch those games. Those are the games -- I mean, that's what we play for, to be able to have a chance to go out and play in those games. Ultimately that's what you play for all year and get yourself ready for all year is to be able to perform in those situations, as well. That's what makes the game fun.
Years down the road when you're done playing you can look back on it and really relish the situation and kind of sit back and think about what you've done and really appreciate it.

Q. Especially during last year's World Series, you showed your ability with the bat, especially during clutch situations. Does that actually give you an extra -- the ability to help yourself, you know you can do it, does that give you an extra boost of motivation during this series?
JOE BLANTON: I mean, you know, a pitcher hitting is just kind of one of those things, really. You kind of get lucky. Our job basically is to go out and throw, and then if we're at the plate to get the bunt down with guys on. Anything other than that, that's just extra right there.

Q. Two extra months, last October and this October. Does that take a toll on a pitcher's arm over the long run? And what do you do to combat that so you can stay fresh in October now?
JOE BLANTON: I think it's just a matter of personal preference, really, just how everybody sees fit getting ready in the off-season. Some guys may feel great and start up around the same time. Some guys may feel like they burned all their gas and really need to charge back up and take a little extra time in the off-season.
And as far as just staying fresh for the post-season, it's just keeping your arm in shape during the year, really taking care of yourself, doing your workouts, and at the same time being fortunate enough that you don't have any injuries along the way.

Q. In the year or so that you've been here, have you kind of gotten a sense for like the intensity or the rivalry between like Philly and New York, just what you've seen with the Phillies and the Mets, but even like in other sports, too?
JOE BLANTON: I haven't really paid much attention to it, honestly. I kind of don't -- try not to get wrapped up in all that stuff. I kind of really just go out and play the game. It's something that I really haven't paid a whole lot of attention to since I've been here.

Q. Will you look at tape from the last time you faced some of these Yankees hitters or is it so long ago that it's not worth looking back?
JOE BLANTON: It's kind of one of those, you could probably take a little bit from it, but at the same time that was last year. Even if it was early this year, you may or may not be able to draw something from it. It's really about kind of knowing the hitters, I guess. I just go off feel a lot. I have a lot of trust in my catcher, whoever that is. I mean, they're out there every day. They're out there studying the hitters. They're the ones behind the plate, and they've already caught X amount of pitches before I've even thrown. They've seen what the guys can do. And we have very good catchers here, so I put a lot of trust in them, as well.

Q. So you'll look back at video then from past years?
JOE BLANTON: Probably not, no.

Q. In that start you made against the Dodgers in the NLCS you went through the lineup the first time perfectly and then they started to get to you a little bit. It would be easy to say he wasn't stretched out or pitched in the bullpen or maybe ran out of gas. What happened in that game looking back on it? Did you get tired? Were there adjustments that they made, and will it be any factor tomorrow?
JOE BLANTON: No, I mean, basically it was just in that inning. It was just one bad inning in that game. There were two walks in that inning. That's where they get you. I had two outs, a guy on first, and a 1-2 count, gave up a hit, and then same situation, first and third with another 1-2 count and gave up a hit. So it wasn't like I was falling behind 3-1. I just gave up a couple hits and a couple balls found holes, and I found myself in a situation with a lot of guys on, and they got a couple balls in play. And other than that next inning I made a mistake, and next inning was just a couple bloops. That's kind of the way the game goes sometimes.
I could throw exactly the same way against the same team the next time, and it might be seven innings one run.

Q. Phillies pitchers have a really low ERA this post-season. Talk about Carlos Ruiz as a catcher, what he does defensively and how he is to work with and call a game.
JOE BLANTON: He does a fabulous job. I think we all know that as a staff, from relievers to starters. He gives you a lot of confidence out there, and his game-calling ability is great. His blocking gives you that -- really that comfort, I've got a runner on and I can still throw this breaking ball in the dirt when I'm ahead in the count and he's going to block it and it's not going to go behind him, and runners move up. That's a huge cushion for you when you're pitching. That makes you feel really comfortable. And the fact that he really takes control of the game, as well. If there's maybe a pitch that a pitcher and him don't agree on, he's not scared to go talk about it and say, "Okay, what's going on?" They get it right quick. Even in between innings he'll work with you on, hey, I saw this, hey, I saw this. Let's go with that. He's awesome to work with. He does an excellent job.

Q. We heard about Dobbs and Pedro said he felt sick the other night. I was just curious, have you been able to avoid the illness going through the clubhouse? And how do you do that in close quarters when you guys are always together and the bug starts spreading through the room?
JOE BLANTON: I don't know, I'm just a go-with-it guy. I don't really go out of the way to wash -- do all the extra stuff to try to keep from getting sick. If you're going to get sick, you're going to get sick. It's just one of those, this is the time of year. It's rainy, it's wet, it's cold, and we went from Colorado, which was -- I think it was in the 20s, to LA in the 90s and back here in the 40s. I mean, a lot of flying in between. People are going to get sick. That's kind of the way it goes. We're using our bodies a lot right now in a lot of pressure situations. So our bodies are getting run down and probably more apt to getting sick.

Q. Have you been sick at all?
JOE BLANTON: No, I've been okay.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297