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AL DIVISION SERIES: YANKEES v TWINS

October 6, 2010

Ron Gardenhire

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: Game One

THE MODERATOR: We'll get started with Ron Gardenhire.

Q. What has Carl Pavano meant to your team?
RON GARDENHIRE: Well, we picked him up last year. We needed a veteran; we had a bunch of younger starters. He came in and kind of showed the way. Took the ball. He's one of those warriors for us, and just went out there and doesn't like to miss a start, doesn't like to be backed up. He is kind of like Jack Morris, I guess. He wants the ball every five days and every time you screw with that, he gets a little irritated and we like that, because it shows the other guys a little bit about what we like to see.

Q. What, if anything, can be done against Sabathia? What is the approach against him that you want your guys to take?
RON GARDENHIRE: Well, you've got to get some hits. You have to make him work. Make him throw some pitches. As with all big starters like that, No. 1 guys, you have to make them work. You have to try to see what they do and take some pitches. You're going to have to battle. We used to try to irritate him by bunting on him, make him get off the mound a little bit. We don't bunt as much as we used to, but there are a few guys that can do those things.
But I think the biggest thing is make him work a little bit. If he gets through the first part of the game with very little pitches, he's going to get tougher and tougher as we have seen over the years, tougher and tougher as the game goes along. So make him work a little bit, see what happens.

Q. It turned out to be a relatively big day in Minneapolis sports. I am curious what your first reaction when you heard about Randy Moss? And did you chuckle at the timing?
RON GARDENHIRE: Well, I don't have Moss on my fantasy team, so I wasn't worried about him. And I couldn't get Favre, somebody took him before my team drafted, so I don't really give a flip. (Laughter).
But Coach Childress if he's happy, I'm happy for him because I like him a lot. And I want to see the Vikings do well. But if I can get somebody to trade me Moss I would be really happen right now in our clubhouse.

Q. Ron, it took a couple of years but Delmon Young finally had the year that people had been expecting. What do you think was the reason for his turnaround here or emergence?
RON GARDENHIRE: I think there are a lot of things that went into play. I think he just turned 25 years old. He's been playing in the league for three or four years now. And he kind of feels like he has been around forever, but he is still a very, very young player and still learning and getting stronger. And he's had some issues. He's had some things that happened in his life that really affected him and turned him around. And I thought last winter he went home, he dedicated himself and came back to spring in great shape and has really made a huge turnaround as a player and a person. He is one of the funnest guys we have in our clubhouse now. Very enjoyable to be around and he has grown up right in front of our eyes. And he also has put many some really, really good numbers this year, which helps that. He's a fun guy to watch. He is very talented and he still is a young player.

Q. Ron, I wonder how big after role does Joe play tonight keeping Frankie on an even keel early and making sure he maybe doesn't get too excited and stays calm and relaxed out there?
RON GARDENHIRE: I think Joe understands that now. That's his job. And Joe's gotten better and better over the course of time at handling our pitching staff and he knows what's going to happen with Frankie. He has seen him. At times he will get a little too pumped up and overthrow, and Joe recognizes it pretty well now. So he should do a good job of controlling him, and hopefully get him through the ballgame because the young man is pretty good. He is a really good pitcher, and it takes a good catcher to see those things, and Joe's that, too.

Q. Ron, you don't get a chance to open up too many of these series at home. How would you say the guys are in terms of are they loose? Excited? Even keel? Where are they at now?
RON GARDENHIRE: I think it is impossible not to be fired up and excited. This is, you know, Target Field, our fans. We enjoy coming to this place against the Yankees. Sure, everybody's going to be pumped up. Your hearts are going to be racing, but that's the greatest thing about it. It's the adrenaline rush that you get when you go out there on the field. And then once the game gets going, everything settles back in. But it is playoff time and everything is big. The pitches, every pitch becomes big and it is who handles that the best. Hopefully we will be able to handle it. We've added some veterans and these guys are all pretty excited to play baseball. It is a fun time of year.

Q. Ron, you have seen a lot of Jim Thome over the years on the other side as a member of the White Sox. What did you think about him then? And what, if anything, surprised you about who he is now that have you gotten a chance to manage him?
RON GARDENHIRE: Knowing him from the other side, coaching third base, he played third base in Cleveland -- I coached first base and he was at first base in Cleveland and then a little bit with the White Sox, so have I gotten to know him over the course of time. And we've gotten to see him trot around the bases against us a whole bunch. And we always talked about one of these days, you know, maybe it would work out, he'd get a chance to play for the Minnesota Twins. But he always had those $13 million, six-year contracts and that wasn't going to work out for us. But finally he came down to within reason on our budget and we got him playing for us. And he's everything that we saw on the baseball field against us. He's as good a person as they get. And he's really produced for us. He's had a lot of fun and he brings that to the ballpark every day. He is a calming influence with our young hitters and he's got a smile on his face. It reminds me a lot of Kirby Puckett. Comes to the ballpark every day, smiling, happy to be there, and that's the way it should be. That's the way you should come to the ballpark.

Q. Ron, with Carl, do you feel like he's as close to you know it, you actually know what you're going to get when you put him out there? He has been your most consistent guy out there.
RON GARDENHIRE: Yeah, he's a veteran. He has been there and done it. And he critiques himself worse than any of us could ever critique him. He is always trying to be a perfectionist, which is really good; a lot of our young pitchers learn from that. But when he takes the mound, we expect a good performance from him. We expect to get a chance to win a ballgame. And he knows how to pitch. He studies the other hitters, and he does everything you're supposed to do as a veteran.

Q. Ron, Pavano joked about his struggles in New York before he came here, and then you were just talking about Delmon and some of the things that he brought to this club, you know personal-wise that were difficult. Do you take players like that immediately and talk with them when you hear about some of the, for lack of a better word, baggage that they bring? Or do you let them come and perform and see how they fit in or don't fit into the clubhouse?
RON GARDENHIRE: When he was introduced in New York last year, he got booed pretty hard, I don't know if you remember, and I just gave him a big hug. What more do you want a manager to do? I just gave him a hug. This game you go through times in your career when it doesn't work out and it is not a great time and injuries happen. When he was in New York he was hurt, you can't perform when you're hurt. And he has a track record. And he had a track record before that that he can get it done. And he has moved on and we have kind of forgotten about that.
All I know about Carl is he has been fantastic for our ballclub. He has been a work force. He helped his teammates. You love listening to him complain because he complains about not everything being perfect all the time, and that's what makes him special. We give him a lot of grief because of that stuff and he takes it and wears it and he still goes out and gives you a great performance. And he's a leader on our baseball team.
So all of that baggage and stuff from players beforehand, we don't worry about that. I make my own judgments on people from Delmon to Carl. They are fantastic. They have been great.
THE MODERATOR: Okay, thank you.

End of FastScripts

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