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AL DIVISION SERIES: RANGERS v RAYSOctober 1, 2011Michael YoungARLINGTON, TEXAS: Game Two THE MODERATOR: Okay. Michael Young is here. Questions for Michael? Q. Michael, with shortstop part of your duties now, too, I know it's been -- do you have to take more balls at short now during BP or anything more to just stay we refreshed at that spot in addition to the other spots? MICHAEL YOUNG: No, pretty much bear down in first right now. I don't anticipate playing shortstop. I am not going to plan for an injury. I am not going to take balls at third or second. I am not going to anticipate anything happening to any of our guys. The majority of my work defensively will be at first base, so I'm going to put my work in at first. Q. Michael, given all the things that happened to you, all the demands that were placed on you, is this in some ways your most satisfying season? MICHAEL YOUNG: I'll let you know in about a month. Everything boils down to winning and losing for me. I mean, this is a team game. It's been a satisfying season in the sense my teammates are incredible. I love playing with this group of guys. We had a successful regular season. So in that sense if has been very satisfying. From an individual standpoint, I don't put too much stock into a stat sheet or anything like that. It doesn't really matter to me. I care about winning, being a good teammate and going out and playing hard. Those are the things that make me proud as a player. Q. When in the past five years did you think that the team had grasped on to what Wash wanted to do and started kind of trending in the way he likes to play baseball? MICHAEL YOUNG: Pretty much right away. It is also getting in the personnel that can execute that kind of idea. And I don't think -- Wash's idea of playing baseball isn't something that's this monumental switch from what we did in the past; it is just allowing to us play along with the scoreboard a little better, do what the situation in the game calls to us do, whether it is be aggressive at the plate or find ways to be patient, steal a bag, bunt a guy over, find ways to chip away and be versatile offense. That's something we have done really well over the last about three years or so. But the first couple of years he was here, it was a matter of getting the right personnel that can execute that kind of a plan. Q. Michael, could you please talk about how different, if different at all, is your preparation now, your physical work now, compared when you were like 28, 27 years old. MICHAEL YOUNG: I feel exactly the same, to be honest with you. I've been really fortunate to be healthy my entire career. Apart from one strained hamstring, I have been healthy my entire career. Nothing really kept me off the field. Nothing really changed for me. The only difference is making sure I prepare a little bit differently defensively. That's depending on where I get the majority of my work at that given time. Everything has been exactly the same. Q. Did you work more? MICHAEL YOUNG: During the season it is about the same. I think my offseason stuff gets tweaked a little bit. But during the season Jose and I come up with a good game plan for the season and we stick with it. It's worked in the past, and I imagine it will work in the future. Q. Michael, you went to the same high school as Dan Haren and the two of you have been two of the more durable players in the game. Is there something they did there to prepare you? How do you explain that? MICHAEL YOUNG: I do think there is -- I don't know about the high school itself, but I think there is something in the area we grew up in that people take pride in playing baseball. I do think there is something to that. You know, where we grew up is baseball was a huge part of what we did as kids. So it's something that we took -- it was a very blue-collar environment. We took a lot of pride in that. The way I approach baseball now, it is a huge byproduct of where I grew up. And I imagine the same thing applies with Danny. Q. How much do you think going down last year in the series will help you out experience-wise if at all? MICHAEL YOUNG: I think experience can only be a positive for us. You know, I think for the most part we filed last season away, but experience can only be a good thing. We know what to expect. Nothing is taking us by surprise here in the postseason so far. We know exactly what to expect. We know how big every game is. And momentum basically shifts from game to game. If we go out and play our style of baseball today, we can get it back on our side and go out and play the way we know we can play. Q. Mike, looking a little back to yesterday, what surprises you the most about what Matt Moore was able to do? MICHAEL YOUNG: Getting strike one was big, especially when they got to a bit of a lead. He was pumping in first-pitch strikes. And that's always good. Anytime you can get a lead and get first-pitch strikes and get the count in your favor, you can pretty much dictate the action there. That is always a big thing for any pitcher. I know our pitchers are really good at it when we give them early leads. That's probably the biggest thing that he did right away, strike one. That was big. THE MODERATOR: All right. Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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