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NL DIVISION SERIES: CARDINALS v PHILLIESOctober 2, 2011Lance BerkmanPHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: Game Two Q. I'm just wondering, I know you just re-upped with the Cardinals, and last off-season you signed a one-year deal. You're probably at the position in your career where you could explore other options or sign other deals. What is it about the Cardinals that made you want to sign last winter and now? LANCE BERKMAN: Just real comfortable in the organization, great group of guys. We have a great team this year, but I think we're going to have a real good team next year, great chance to win. So really, I think it was a no-brainer for me. Where am I going to find a better situation than that? Q. Now that you've gotten through the full year and really been productive against lefties all year, what do you attribute that sort of rebound to aside from health, or is it all health? LANCE BERKMAN: Yeah, I mean, I think that some of it -- I think just some years, I've been good right-handed and some years I've been bad, so it's hard to understand why that happens. This year I've felt pretty good about my right-handed swing. Q. We know that they're friends, Chris Carpenter and Roy Halladay. You've hit against both. Are there similarities and differences, and can you talk about that? LANCE BERKMAN: Well, I think, yeah, there's definitely similarities. There's really similarities in all those guys that you consider aces or just the big horses that are in people's rotations. I think the thing that stands out to me about both of those guys is just the competitiveness. And with a guy like Roy, and also with Chris, if you're going to get to them, it's usually going to be early in the game, because if they get into a rhythm it gets increasingly difficult to get anything done. They know how to bear down. All the great pitchers really have that competitiveness like no matter what happens, they're going to keep coming at you and keep trying to make their pitches, and they're just -- I think mentally they understand how to win and that separates them from guys that have great stuff but may not necessarily have their track record. Q. You and Albert (Pujols) and Yadi (Molina) and a lot of the veterans get a lot of -- people focus on them, but can you talk about the young guys and how important Freese and Jay and Descalso, Craig and some of those guys were to your success this year? LANCE BERKMAN: Yeah, I mean, you can't win without guys like that up-and-down the lineup. We have a tremendous group of young players, and the one thing that's just impressive to me is just the poise that those guys had this year. You put essentially rookies into big spots and you don't know how they're going to react, and to a man they were able to help us tremendously, and it just seemed like it didn't matter what the situation was, they were equal to it. I know from experience that it's tough to be a part-time player and get sporadic at-bats, and you just don't know when you're going to be in there, and then to have to come in late in games and face tough pitchers in the back in bullpens, and heck, they did a tremendous job with that all day long. Jon Jay, I think, is a team MVP candidate for being able to step in there and play center field like he did and as productive and kind of getting things started at the top of the lineup. He's just been great for us. Q. You guys have had stretches where you've had to go without Matt (Holliday), and this is now part of -- kind of continues one. What kind of asset has it been to have Allen who can slide in there? And after you signed your extension did you ever have a conversation about what that means for him next year? LANCE BERKMAN: Well, I think the world of Allen as a hitter. I think he's a middle of the order guy. He can really hit, and I think he will be that one day when he gets an opportunity to play every day, and heck, it's just -- like you've seen me with Matt, an injury can happen at any time to anybody, and before you know it you're right there in the thick of things. He's been big for us. He's got a lot of big hits. He's just a very, very talented offensive player, and I think he'll be in the league a long time, and he's going to be a guy that will hit in the middle of somebody's order, probably in St. Louis, but if not there, then somewhere. Just another example of a guy that's been big for us this year in spots where we've needed him, and he's done great. Q. You've been to the playoffs with a few different teams. Can you compare sort of the approaches and expectations of the different teams as you head into this post-season play? LANCE BERKMAN: It's been pretty similar, to be honest with you. When you get to the post-season, there's an excitement, there's a sense of -- it almost is like it used to be back when you were in college because you don't want to -- this sounds bad, but there's -- you're always trying to win the game. But in the regular season, there's individual statistics and guys are thinking about ERAs and batting averages and how many RBIs because. That relates directly to our salaries. You get to the post-season, nobody cares about that stuff because it's all about winning the game. Nobody cares who got the big hit. Everybody is working for the same goal, and it's really a neat thing to experience, and the excitement level that comes with that, the energy that's in the ballpark, you can just sense it when you step out there. The ballpark has a different feel, a different buzz than it normally does for the regular season, and it's been a great experience all three places that I've been in the playoffs. It's very, very similar. Q. You have three ex-teammates on the other side with Hunter (Pence) and Roy (Oswalt) and Brad (Lidge). I'm wondering if you've had any kind of friendly back and forth with them, whether it be by text messages or seeing them on the field before the game or anything like that? LANCE BERKMAN: I talked to them when we came in here towards the end of the year. I haven't talked to them since we've been back for the playoffs. Those guys are great. Roy and Lidge are two of my all-time favorites, and we played a lot of years together there in Houston. We're in situations like this together, and that will really bind you closely, and certainly I think that Hunter has been a big key and a big addition for the Phillies. His energy and his passion for the game is something that -- you're talking about a veteran team over here, and they've been to a lot of post-seasons and they've experienced a lot, and having that infusion of newness with Hunter out there and what he can do offensively and just he's a great ballplayer. So I think a lot of all three of those guys, and certainly with Roy and Brad, we have that history together. So if I see them out there, obviously we always say hi, and I talked to them, like I said, last time we were around here, but haven't had a chance to this time. Q. Not too many players get to stay with the same team for 16 years. What is it about Tony that allows him to get his message across year after year without going stale? LANCE BERKMAN: Well, he has a great approach. He's not overbearing. Some people -- he's totally different from the inside than he is from the outside looking in. I know what I thought of him when I played against him, and I know what I think about him now, and it's just totally different than you would expect. He's not an overbearing guy. He's not a meddling manager that has to micromanage all the players. He's not in our business. He kind of lets the clubhouse run itself unless there's a problem, and then he steps in and addresses it. But I just think he's passionate about the game. I think he takes his job extremely seriously, not that other managers don't, but you can tell that he really lives and dies by the competition. And I think he has a great message that he preaches to the players. And I think he's got a good core group of guys that have been with him for a long time that help -- that have bought into the message and that help facilitate it with the rest of the ballclub. I think when you have those ingredients in place, not to mention the fact that he's been wildly successful, I think that in and of itself lends itself to longevity, and it has an inherent amount of respect that comes with it. When you have a manager that's as accomplished as Tony is, guys want to play for him and they want to see what's this all about, and he's just been great. Q. After going an entire year of playing the outfield this year, I wonder if the old adage of riding a bike seems to fit there for you and what you've maybe learned about playing the position from Spring Training to where we are today. LANCE BERKMAN: Well, I played most of my career as an outfielder, so like you said, going back out there, that felt like it took me maybe a month or so to get comfortable. And as the season has progressed, I've felt more and more at home out there. It's not something that -- I know a big deal was made out of that, but it didn't seem like that big a deal to me. I'm glad to show, I guess, that I can go back out there and be a reasonably productive outfielder and just try not to read more into it than that. Q. I was wondering, is there any way you can quantify how Matt's season, especially lately, has affected y'all as an offense? You remain fairly productive as an offense, but obviously he's a core guy, and to a lesser extent, Albert seems to be playing with some stuff right now, and I just want to know your take on to what extent that has an effect on the overall look of the offense? LANCE BERKMAN: Well, Matt certainly is irreplaceable. He's one of the top five or six hitters in the game. When you lose a guy like that, you're losing a lot. It just makes the lineup a lot longer when he's in there. If we can put him in there 4th, and then everybody -- it's just a longer lineup. The pitcher has more to deal with. Certainly his reputation is something that can't be overlooked. I think it just has a big effect. It's hard to quantify it. I don't know that you could statistically, but certainly I don't feel like we're quite as potent. Not to take anything away from Allen or some of the guys that are in there, but just the reputation alone has an impact. Q. What about where you see of Albert? LANCE BERKMAN: To me, Albert has been swinging the bat just fine. He had a good September. He looks just fine to me. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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