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NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: GIANTS v PHILLIESOctober 21, 2010Aaron RowandSAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: Game Five THE MODERATOR: Questions for Aaron. Q. I'm just wondering how many of the guys, younger guys, even some of the older guys, who have never been to a World Series or won a World Series have talked to you about the experience, not only of playing in it, but winning a ring? AARON ROWAND: I think it's been talked about in the clubhouse. Especially early on in the playoffs, as far as what to expect media-wise. The excitement of playoff baseball and those types of things. I wouldn't go so far as to say that everybody is asking questions about this and that and the other, I think it's just more conversations about what playoff baseball is like. What you have to do to win. And I think everybody believes that this club has a golden opportunity with the talent and the way we're playing right now to have a chance to reach that ultimate goal. Q. Aaron, those of us in the media here locally, and the Giants fans, certainly, have been following you all year. But for the new media and maybe folks on the East Coast that are kind of catching on to this Giants fever, would you share with us why you think this club is so captivating? AARON ROWAND: I think when you win, it's captivating. That's what sports is all about. That's why there's ESPN and MLB Network, and all the different media outlets that cover all sports. Fans, especially hometown fans, want to see winners and gain excitement from their hometown team doing well. And with this squad and the group of guys that we have, you have the young phenom guys like Buster Posey and two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum. And you've got journeyman guys like Aubrey and Freddy and Pat and myself, guys that have been around for a while. There's a good mix of older guys, younger guys. There's a lot of -- I can't forget Brian Wilson, obviously. He's a man of his own. But there's a lot of character with this club. Character and characters. So it's a fun group to be around. And it's exciting to go out and play and hopefully be a part of something real special right here. Q. You've made that throw from center field a million times during your career. How impressed were you with the play that Buster made last night to receive that throw? AARON ROWAND: He made a great play on it. I let it go. I knew it was a good throw. I knew it was on line. I was just praying I didn't give him an in-between hop, because that's real tough. Short hops and long hops are a lot easier than the in-between ones that will eat you up. And luckily it got there, and he made a great play on picking it and putting the tag on Carlos as he went by. So hats off. Q. Kind of going back to what we were just talking about, is this team sort of a refreshing team, because you guys aren't a lineup of All-Stars and necessarily a huge payroll here that some of the other teams have, that you guys are doing this? Can people relate to that a little bit? AARON ROWAND: I think so. I think any fan can. I think going out and playing the game and playing the game hard, playing the game the right way, I think, draws interest to your everyday baseball fan and even those who aren't baseball fans. I think most of the time you see the teams that do win and do win the World Series and bring home those championships. You don't see All-Star lineups in there. Occasionally, like last year, I mean, you saw the Yankees go out and do what they did. But if you were to look back they weren't as stacked last year as they were previous years where they didn't make it to the World Series. If you're going to get close to an All-Star lineup, you're looking at the New York Yankees. But if you look back over the years, I'd say most of those teams, anywhere from the Angels winning in '02 to Chicago White Sox in '05, to the Cardinals, all the teams that you see, most of which don't have that All-Star lineup. And you gain a lot of fan support, not only from your own hometown fans, but from fans around the country for that. Q. Can you talk a little bit about the -- if you could compare that Sox team and this team, the atmosphere in both situations, and talk a little bit about Uribe's contribution then and now? AARON ROWAND: Juan's done a great job here. He did a great job there. He's in the middle of a lot of rallies and a lot of big situations, runs scored, RBIs, big hit, home runs, that's what he does. He did it then, he's doing it now. And to come off the bench last night and against a good pitcher, Cole, and get the job done with a sac fly to win the game was huge. And I'd say if I had to compare the two teams, it's pretty obvious in 2005 we relied heavily on our pitching and our defense. And I'd say if you looked at this squad this year, you'd probably say the same thing. Q. In that vein, Ozzie Guillen and Bruce Bochy, compare and contrast, please. AARON ROWAND: I'm not going to touch that one (laughter). Q. Let me try this way. Outwardly, obviously they're different human beings, but is there anything different about their managerial styles? AARON ROWAND: That's tough to say because you're looking at American League managing versus National League managing, which is completely different. Q. A lot of times media members and fans have short-term memories and get a little parochial. In the last 18 hours, people are saying the game last night might have been the best game they've ever seen. How did last night's game rank in your career? AARON ROWAND: It's definitely up there. Actually was talking to Aubrey about it a little bit when we got to the field today. You don't really realize what kind of game that was during the game and then even directly after the game. You go home and obviously turn on ESPN or MLB Network and watch all the highlights and stuff and see the comments being made, the comparisons, stuff like that. And you wake up in the morning and it kind of hits you what kind of game that was. But you can't be in the midst of the game going: Wow, this is a great game. Because then you're not going to do all that well. You're concentrating on what it takes to get the job done and win the game, and then after the fact it kind of settles in what kind of game it was. It was an exciting game from the beginning to the end. And a lot of big plays, a lot of big hits, a lot of big situational hitting. A lot of great pitching, and it was exciting for the fans. It's exciting for us in the dugout. On the field. And I think that's one that's going to go down in the memory books for everybody involved. Q. We've kind of talked ad nauseam about how you guys played in so many intense games in September. Maybe that's benefited you and a heightened atmosphere in the postseason. Could you maybe talk about how that could have helped Bruce Bochy being in managing in so many tight games since September? Seems like so many of his postseason managerial decisions have paid off. AARON ROWAND: Well, I'm not on the coaching side yet, not yet anyway. But I can speak from a player's perspective. And we were very lucky in 2005 as well to play some ridiculous number of one-run ballgames and come from behind wins in eighth and ninth inning, and I know in that situation it paid off for us when we got to the playoffs, because it seemed over the course of a season, everybody numerous times had been put up to the plate standing in the batter's box with the game on the line, having to get something done, having to deal with the pressure of the situation, knowing that the ballgame's on the line. And when you do that repeatedly, when you get to the postseason and everything rides on every pitch, and the pressure mounts, you have something to fall back on. You have that experience to fall back on. And that played a big part in 2005 for our squad there. And I feel like that's played a big part in this season and this team, because we played so many close ballgames. And I think you see the quality of at-bats in those situations, they're still there. They're not getting sped up, they're not getting too anxious, too excited. Guys are still putting together good at-bats. And I think a lot of that has to do with the stuff that you can go back and know that you have been in that situation before and you know how to deal with that. Q. For guys who don't play every day, how do you maintain a sense of belonging? And who sets the tone for that? Is it the player himself? AARON ROWAND: You keep asking the same question to me every time you ask a question, and the same answer is right now it's been winning. You prepare. You try to get ready for the game and it's about winning. It's about the team. As much as I know you want to make this about me or Renteria or the guys that haven't been playing all the time, it's about the team. And it's about winning games. Q. But the reason I'm asking that is because you guys are playing now. There's a lot of moving parts going in and out. Like they were yesterday, like three double switches. AARON ROWAND: You've just got to stay prepared. You get to the field early. You watch your tape. You take your swings. You try to keep everything where you need it to be to be as prepared as possible when you get called. And that's whether you're starting or you're coming off the bench. And your routine doesn't change because it's the playoffs. You've got to be like that in that situation whether you're playing, whether you're not playing, from day one to day 180 or -90 something, hopefully, if you can play all the way to the World Series. Q. You were asked earlier about the younger players, maybe talking to you about the World Series experience, the playoff experience. You guys were up 3 to 1. Obviously going to try to close it out at home. What's the mindset in there as far as not looking ahead and saying, hey, we're this close to the World Series, as you're going into this big game? AARON ROWAND: I think anybody who has been around this game, from the fan standpoint to front office, and especially to the players who know the game pretty well, you can look across the way over there and see the kind of talent they have in that locker room. The kind of talent they can run off 10 straight wins, regardless of who is pitching. That's the kind of talent they have on that team. And to get ahead of yourself because you're up two games and only need to win one would be a mistake. Because they have the capability against a Tim Lincecum or a Matt Cain or if they had to hit against Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt, you know, that offense can do that. And they have the capability of pitching, of shutting down teams, too. So we have to take it one out, one at-bat, one pitch at a time, and grind it out to the end until it's over with. When it's done and you've done what you came here to do, then you can look back on it and be excited and be relieved that you got it done. But you have to keep pushing. You have to keep pushing to the end, otherwise you're going to let your guard down and they can jump up and bite you in a heartbeat. Q. How much confidence does this team have when Tim's on the mound, and what's your thoughts about how he's responded in his first postseason? AARON ROWAND: Well, I think the way he's thrown kind of speaks for itself. But everybody has the utmost confidence in Timmy when he's out there. He's a special individual on and off the field, for that matter. I mean, he goes out and gets it done. He's a gamer. And he knows what he has to do to prepare himself. He does that on a daily basis, and he goes out, every time he takes the mound, you feel like you've got a real good chance of winning a ballgame. And the way that he's handled his first postseason and the calmness that he's thrown out there, I think, is impressive from fans and everybody and all the way down to his teammates. Q. Just a follow-up on the last one, I'm just wondering your general thoughts on how Bruce Bochy has managed you guys in the postseason, your thoughts on his managing in the postseason? AARON ROWAND: That's a tough question. Well, we're winning, so obviously he's doing a good job, you know? I don't know how to -- I have a tough time rating managerial moves, you know what I mean? But what he's done has worked out and we've been winning ballgames. So obviously if you want to measure it by that, he's doing a great job. I don't know really how else to answer that. Q. I think it's more like -- another reporter was mentioning the moving parts and trying to put the right person in at the right spot at the right time and seems like you had things come together in the postseason, that's more my -- AARON ROWAND: He's doing a great job, then. I honestly -- it's working. I'm not sure how else to answer that. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Aaron. End of FastScripts |
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