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AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: YANKEES v RANGERS

October 18, 2010

Tommy Hunter

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Game Three

Q. Wash talked earlier, he said loose and goofy is the way he would describe you. How has that helped you, or do you completely shut it off once you start pitching?
TOMMY HUNTER: I don't know -- no. I'm pretty loose the whole time. That's just the way I've kept it. Kind of a way to hide the nervousness, I guess you could say. Some people would say that. It's just a baseball game. You've got to have fun. You've been doing it since you were little. Why not be a kid when you're big.

Q. Never having pitched in Yankee Stadium before, what do you think that's going to be like, pitching not just here for the first time, but in a game of this magnitude, ALCS, Game 4?
TOMMY HUNTER: Probably going to be loud. I would expect it to be. You know, it's a baseball game. That's what these other guys keep telling you; all of us young guys, we probably have the youngest bullpen ever in the ALCS. I mean, probably.
You know, just being out there with those guys, being out there with Oliver, he pretty much says, "It's just another game."

Q. Cliff Lee coming during the season, how much of an impact has he made on you? Can you take anything from what he does and apply it to what you do on the mound, or even in your preparation?
TOMMY HUNTER: I'd like to be left-handed, too. But you know, other than that, just being an older guy; experience. I mean, he tells you how it is. He doesn't sugarcoat many things. He's a guy with experience. Not a whole lot of us have it, and somebody we can ask questions, and he answers them. He's going to tell you the truth, too, whatever you ask. Sometimes it's not what you want to hear, but you know, especially me being a little bit of a clown with him. But, you know, it's all right.

Q. So far this post-season, the Rangers have done really well on the road. Is there a reason behind you guys playing so well when you're away from your own park?
TOMMY HUNTER: No. I don't know why they don't like winning at home. I would have liked that last Game 4, if they would have won at home, too. But you never know.
I don't know. Maybe they get better sleep on the road. Maybe we get better sleep on the road. Some guys don't travel with the kids maybe. I don't know. Sorry. (Laughter.)

Q. What did you learn from your start against Tampa Bay last round? Do you think it's going to make you a little more comfortable tomorrow night?
TOMMY HUNTER: They are two pretty powerful, good-hitting teams. You've just got to take it with -- I don't -- it's two totally different teams, though. Some guys are -- I don't know. You've just got to play, play baseball, throw a fastball down and away, and see what happens, react to it. That's what Cliff taught me. (Laughter.)

Q. You mentioned, I think you guys might have the youngest bullpen in the history of the ALCS. When you have a guy like Feliz back there, you saw he was a little bumpy in the first two games of the ALDS and settles down on Saturday, what's the confidence level amongst the starters when you hand it over to him?
TOMMY HUNTER: We have all the confidence in the world. He's 22 years old and throws it a hundred miles an hour. I'd give it to him every day of the week if I can.
That's the good thing about our bullpen and our pitching staff in general. We're good at forgetting what happened yesterday, whether it was good or bad. That's just the way they are. That's what makes him good.

Q. Can you describe Ron Washington, what you think of him as a person and as a leader --
TOMMY HUNTER: Awesome. Awesome. I like him. He's a good guy.

Q. Can you say why?
TOMMY HUNTER: I don't know, he's just the guy -- you walk past his office and you say, "What up, Skip" and he says it back to you. I don't know. Open-door policy. He will have your back and we have his. Whenever you have a guy that has your back the way he does with us, you're going to like him.

Q. When you say you expect Yankee Stadium to be loud, I suspect from talking to Lee and from Darren and stuff that there's probably more to the story. Can you elaborate a little bit about what you've heard about the stadium and the post-season crowd and all that. You seem like a person that's not going to be intimidated by that kind of stuff.
TOMMY HUNTER: No, I think it's pretty fun. Gets blood going. Gets adrenaline going. Especially when you see people waving flags and stuff. Gives you goosebumps. Yeah, I get them. Everybody gets them. We have been doing this all year. We have been doing this since five years old. I had Mom screaming at me when I was 12, that's probably more intimidating than people I don't know.
Just another game, really. That's how we are going to treat it. That's how I'm going to treat it, at least. Go out there and play ball.

Q. Anything the guys have told you about the stadium?
TOMMY HUNTER: No. I just -- it's going to be loud. You expect it. I mean, there's going to be sold-out crowds, playoff atmosphere. It's a playoff game.

Q. Obviously every other stadium is loud, we all know that, but Yankee Stadium, the playoff aspect of it brings a different aspect to the game, and it's really your first time being out here. So how much of that factors into your mindset getting into the series?
TOMMY HUNTER: Not at all. Not at all. I mean, you know, there's a lot of tradition. Everybody knows that. There's 20-some-odd world championships have been won here. Everybody knows that.
We would like to win our first. So got to go out there and you've got to play baseball, and as soon as, you know, you step in between the lines, it's still a game. Just got to block it out.

End of FastScripts

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