|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: GIANTS v PHILLIESOctober 16, 2010Roy OswaltPHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: Game One THE MODERATOR: Questions for Roy Oswalt. Q. Obviously Game 2 didn't live up to your standards. You see Roy in Game 1 and Cole in Game 3, is that any motivation for you going into this start? And is that something that you've been thinking? ROY OSWALT: Not really, as long as we win games, numbers to me is not a big thing. I want to do well, but we won three in a row, so it doesn't really matter. Q. Starting with the family emergency in April, and then all the trade stuff in June and July, can you just kind of sum up your year for us. And going out on the mound every five days, was that anything of a reprieve from all the other weirdness going on? ROY OSWALT: There was sure a lot of things going on. I got a call in Houston that a tornado went through my parents' house the day after I started, and had to go home for a couple of days for that. And seemed like it's been a funny year, I guess you'd say, as far as different things happening. But when you get out on the baseball field, you try to put everything aside and just play the game. That's kind of home away from home when you're out on the mound. Q. You obviously wanted to play for a winner, but in July when all the trade stuff was going on, was there ever any uncertainty of not knowing what to expect? And has it been easier, can you talk about the transition, because it seemed like you kind of picked up right where you left off and didn't have any problems. ROY OSWALT: The biggest thing I was worried about was where they were going to trade me. It wasn't like I was a free agent and I got to pick where I wanted to go. I did have the luxury of having a no-trade clause where I didn't have to go if I didn't want to. But it worked out perfect for both of us, I thought. Houston got a few young players to try to rebuild, and I got to go where I wanted to; Philly was No. 1 choice on my teams I wanted to go to. And it worked out for both of us. Q. One or two starts to kind of get in that groove or -- ROY OSWALT: The first start, a little rocky. And in Washington I was trying to throw nine innings on three pitches and it didn't work out. After that, started to get in a groove and felt pretty well since. Q. I'm curious if you see any similarities between maybe a younger you and Tim Lincecum, just because of body type, maybe style. And I know you've had a few conversations with him and what were those like? ROY OSWALT: I actually never talked to him personally. They compared him to me when he came up and I think he came up in '07. Throws the ball well. I think he throws a little bit different than I do, as far as different type pitches and smaller guy actually than me. I'm not too big. But he has a great approach. He attacks hitters, and he's going to make you -- he's going to beat you by putting the ball in play. Doesn't walk a lot of guys. Kind of rare for a pitcher to strike out as many as he does and also not walk many batters. You know, the biggest thing I said from day one is inning total, when you start throwing 200 year after year after year is to be able to do it for a long period of time, and still have the same stuff you did when you come up. A lot of pitchers have that two or three years where they have great years and then kind of start going off the radar screen. The biggest thing is after six, seven years, he throws 1,200, 1,400 innings. Q. Roy, obviously when you got traded here, your focus was on what was happening here, but I wonder how much you sort of kept your eye on what was going on in Houston and maybe what you thought of the job that Brad Mills was able to do this year after the start that team got off to? ROY OSWALT: I thought the coaches they have over there in place now, I think they'll turn the whole thing around. It's going to take a couple of years to get the young guys going. But Brad's great at what he does. Have a great pitching coach with Arnsberg. And I think they'll end up turning the organization back around. You go through that period where you're good for a period of time and you go through a little bit of rough stretch, and then you try to rebuild, and I think they're in good hands with the coaching staff they have. Q. When you were in Houston, with the Phillies have done the last few years, it was considered to win the National: League pennant you'd have to go through Philly, almost like the American League teams do with the Yankees, that the Phillies are almost the Yankees of the National League? ROY OSWALT: I think I heard someone say that. May have been Dusty Baker from Cincinnati that said that. The other clubs have that sense, the type of team they have here and the way the ownership here wants to win. They do whatever it takes to go out and get a player to push them over the edge. And the same way the Yankees does. If they need a player they're going to go get him to win. The organization here has been great. I mean, everything's first-class, all the way through. The clubhouse, front office people. They expect to win, and it's a winning atmosphere. Q. How often have you kept in touch with Lance Berkman? I know you're really close and maybe not allow yourself to look ahead, but you could be on a collision course here. ROY OSWALT: We talked about this when we both got traded, if we face each other in the last game, it would be a little weird. But I faced him, last time I faced him, I guess, was in Spring Training. Just BP, tell him what's coming. This time I won't tell him what's coming. (Laughter). Q. You've always been the clear-cut number one in Houston and now you come over to Philadelphia with guys like Cole Hamels and Roy Halladay. How have you benefited, or have you at all, playing with those guys to improve your game or have you picked up anything from them? ROY OSWALT: Getting to pitch with the rotation the way they have here with Cole and Roy, it's going to make you pick up your game. In Houston I went through a couple of years where I felt like kind of out there by yourself, and no one really pushes you like these guys do. These guys push you to the max. They're going to go out and throw quality starts almost every time. And the type of competitors they are, you're just trying to stay with them more than anything. And I got to do it in '04 through '06 with two Hall-of-Fame pitchers. And if these guys keep going the way they're going, they're going to be in the same boat as Roger and Andy. Q. You kind of touched on a little bit of what I was going to ask you, but since coming here, I mean, what have you noticed about the attitude of these guys? And does it compare favorably to what you experienced in Houston, you know, those years when you guys were going to the playoffs? ROY OSWALT: It does. You know, we expected to win. Everyone counted us out, and thinking '04, '05, we was 15-30 to start of the season, and came all the way back and got to the World Series. But we always expected to win, even when we were down. These guys were I think seven out in August, and was able to come back and win it with a week, week and a half to play. But they never thought they were going to come in second. Or we weren't trying to win the wildcard; we were trying to win the division. And no one ever doubted that we were going to do it. Q. You've said about being on an island a little bit at times by yourself. What kind of benefit is that to you as a pitcher, being one of the guys and not being the ace everybody stares at waiting for every fifth day? ROY OSWALT: It helps out a lot. Because, I mean, you feel sometimes when you're slotted the ace, you feel like have you to win every game. You feel like you go out there, if you lose the game, you let your team down for another four games until you get out there. With these guys pitching, you feel if you lose the game you're disappointed no doubt, but you feel like the next two games you're going to win. These guys, you know, probably in the prime of their career, both of them. Halladay is getting better and better every year. Cole's probably in the prime of his career. 26 years old, throwing the ball just as well as he's ever thrown. Q. Do you find any added challenges staying sharp when you go so long between starts? ROY OSWALT: Seemed like it was forever since we played. It helps some. You don't really -- you have in between you don't know exactly what you needed to do. Sometimes you feel like you needed to throw a lot more, sometimes you feel you need to stay fresh when you get out there. So it's kind of a funny place to be. I threw a simulated game two days ago just to kind of stay in rhythm, five days, and probably throw some more flat ground today, just to have muscle memory when you get out there. So we had six, seven days in between playing games and it's a little different when you get out on the mound every five days versus nine, ten days. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Roy. 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
|