NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: MARLINS v CUBS

October 8, 2003

Chad Fox

Braden Looper

BRADEN LOOPER: Yes, he definitely did. I think that when he originally got there at the time, we were ten games under .500 or something right there, and just the fact of when he came out he pitched so well, that added a lot of energy. And his personality is one that just really people can grab ahold of and people enjoyed watching him. And I've said all along, when people ask me about him, he's my grandmother's favorite player, besides me. So what else can you say about the guy besides that?

CHAD FOX: Yeah, I probably put a lot of added pressure on myself in Boston, just with the whole thing. That's my fault. I'll take blame for that. You want to go out and be part of something successful. And I just put them in roles where they're doing the same thing everybody else is trying to do, they're trying to win. When you get hurt and you're out of the picture, it's hard to come back and get thrown in the fire. When I got let go and had a chance to come here. I made the best of the situation. I go out and pitch for myself and my family and for the Florida Marlins now. That's who I'm with, and that's all I can do.

CHAD FOX: I think we're going in like we have the last two months that I've been here. You look at what we've done. I think we've been kind of under the radar. We've been kind of the bullpen that no one wanted to give credit to. They all wanted to make a big deal with Braden struggling late in the season. That's a story, and something to write. You look at how we've stepped up and come together to get it done. Neither one of us have the ego of they want to be the safe I don't remember. We're all going to do it together and ride it out together.

BRADEN LOOPER: I think that personally being here all year and being here for five years that my whole time here I've never seen anything like this bullpen. When we got Uggie (Urbina) and he came over, that really started to solidify the bullpen. And I think at that point in time the change had been made. When we got Foxy, that really elevated the bullpen, and ever since then he's been dominant. And ever since then we've had, I think from that point on, a pretty dominant bullpen. We don't get a lot of credit, but I'm not saying we're the best out there, but we get the job done, and we've got a good group of guys out there, that's for sure.

BRADEN LOOPER: To be honest with you I was really trying not to have a mindset. I was just really trying to come in and keep it simple and try to go pitch by pitch. And I've been through a lot lately and had some down times, where I was struggling a little bit. I never lost confidence in myself. It was just a matter of making the pitches. And I just told myself I'm going to go out there and try to get strike 1 and work from there, and try not to worry about anything else. And I was able to do that. And I think if I could throw strikes and get ahead in the count, it definitely makes it a lot easier.

CHAD FOX: It's night and day. And I don't mean that in a bad way. Boston is just -- until you live and play and experience it, I can't sit here and tell you. It seemed like over there every pitch I threw was under the microscope. As a player it takes a special player over there to produce like that all year long. And my hat goes off to those guys that do it year in and year out over there. And you come over to the Marlins where it's so laid back. You have Jack walking around with the same attitude every single day, go out there and get it done. There's no added pressure, we have to win, we have to win. I think a lot of that is brought on by the fans in Boston. It's like Chicago, they're the true fans with the history, they know what they're trying to go for. And in Florida it's just so laid back, and I think that helps a lot, especially the young guys. It doesn't add the pressure of going out there and having to get it done. We go out and have fun, we believe in ourselves and that alone gets it done.

CHAD FOX: Yeah, last night was the first time I think in my career I actually took a step back and just kind of looked around and took it all in when I came in for Josh. And usually you don't want to do that because your mind starts wandering. But it was just amazing to sit there and realize what's going on and be able to step back and get focused. But when you lose a job and you get the feeling, okay, is this the beginning of the end? And that's the worst feeling. You think, okay, well, maybe this is, then I'm going to give it one more run, I have nothing to lose. When the Marlins called with the interest they had, that was a huge boost for me, mentally. They believed in me from day one. And we agreed I'd go to Triple-A and give them a week of work to prove to them that I'm healthy and ready to go. And from then on the confidence level was just -- it was where I needed it to be.

BRADEN LOOPER: Yeah, I think the situations are very similar. Me and Mike, we had been here together for a long time and been a big part of what's going on in Florida. And he was our All-Star third baseman all year, and I was the closer. And it's different in the sense that I was just struggled for a few outings at the end of the season and he had an injury. But when I struggled a little bit, Uggie (Urbina) was pitching so good. So you can't fault Jack for that. I think a lot of it has to do with our team collectively really bought into the idea of it doesn't matter how it gets done, as long as it does. And that helped a lot, not only from my personal standpoint, but to see him deal with the same thing I am or to see everybody accepting the responsibility of no matter how it gets done, as long as it does, that's all that matters. That whole team philosophy helped me deal with it, and I think it helped Mike a lot, too. He's an All-Star third baseman, and we've had guys playing so well, they haven't been able to get him in the line-up the way they'd like to. But he's handled it great. And he's got the attitude, he wants to help us win any way we can.

CHAD FOX: If you're a fan -- I'm a true fan, and you see -- it's only natural that he's going to get that. The guy is special. You look at the young pitchers in this series, to me that's the future of baseball. You've got a lot of future stars pitching. And the hype, it's only normal. The guy is pretty special. You can't fault him. His mechanics are perfect, he goes out there and pitches aggressive. If people want to build him up, he goes out there and you see why they build him up.

BRADEN LOOPER: And I think the guy produces, you can't forget that. You can build him up all you want, but if he doesn't produce, it's all for naught. But he's definitely a special talent. I enjoy watching him. It's like watching a Barry Bonds type player. He's one of the special guys out there, and hopefully we can get to him.

BRADEN LOOPER: Yeah, it's funny about that, I can still remember when he signed when he was 16 years old, and he came to the ballpark, and he looked like a baby out there. I was in the Big Leagues at the time. And when he signed you just never really imagine it happening this quick, and especially being the type of player he is now. He's been unbelievable for our club, not only offensively, but he's done some special things defensively. When he got to the Big Leagues, he'd never played the outfield, really. We had him playing leftfield every day. And he adjusted to that, the day he started. He's just been a special talent. He's gotten huge hits for us all year. And he's fun to watch.