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AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: TIGERS v RANGERS

October 7, 2011

C.J. Wilson

ARLINGTON, TEXAS: Workout Day

THE MODERATOR: We're going to get started in the interview room with C.J. Wilson. He'll be followed in here by Ron Washington. And we'll take a first question for C.J.

Q. Game 1 versus Verlander, your ballpark, ALCS. What all does that mean to you?
C.J. WILSON: You know, it's always good to open at home. It's always good to have home-field advantage. Have 50,000 happy Texas fans cheering for us. Gives us a chance to get some momentum, you know. And I think in the playoff series, whether it's five games or seven games, momentum is the key.
You saw this the last series. I had a bad start in Game 1 and we came off and rattled off three. I'm hoping to have a good start this time and get it going a little earlier.

Q. What about Game 1 ALDS did you not like and that you need to fix?
C.J. WILSON: The homers for sure. Anytime you give up two or three homers in a game, especially if it's two to the same guy, it's bad. I'm going to focus on my location. I think strategy-wise I'm going to do what I do the same as always. It's just a matter of executing my plan, getting ahead in the count. I think. I was behind in the count a lot. I didn't feel like I was at my best the other day. I feel better now.

Q. There's a perception that your value as a free agent this offseason will go up or down dependent on how you pitch in postseason. How do you feel about that?
C.J. WILSON: I don't really care. I don't really care what people talk about as far as my value is or what the number eventually turns out to be or whatever. The most important thing for me is ending this year hoisting a trophy. We put up one trophy last year with the American League.
Now we want to do two this year with the American League and the World Series. It's nothing other than just trying to fulfill your childhood dreams. You don't know how many chances you're going to get to be on a god team like this. We're lucky to be able to go two years in a row. Some teams are there perennially. That's what we're trying to establish here in Texas is a team that goes every year. That's the primary focus for me. I think I had a good body of work this season. Everything is fresh. I'm out there to win. If they asked me to pinch run, I would do that. I don't care about anything achievement-wise right now other than winning.

Q. C.J., can you talk about the type of lineup you'll be facing?
C.J. WILSON: Yeah, obviously like throughout the year they added some pieces that have proven to be really good additions for them with Delmon and with Wilson Betemit. Those guys I faced on different teams. I haven't really seen them up close and personal in this lineup. So I don't know how they're going to integrate against me. But the biggest thing is just to try to go out there and be ahead in the count and make them adjust to me, because I think if I'm in the driver's seat, which is a metaphor I like as a race car driver, obviously, I get to steer the course of the game a lot more. As opposed to having to try to pitch around their hot zones or whatever like that.
You really can't worry about that. You have to focus on your strengths and attack that way.

Q. I'm not going help you hit or over and under quota.
C.J. WILSON: Thank you.

Q. I don't know if you were asked this, but I'm wondering about your last start, the one in the Division Series and what you took out of that and how that will affect maybe what you do here?
C.J. WILSON: I'm very positive guy. I try to always find a way to frame it in a way that's going to be beneficial for me. That particular game was my first bad game I had in a while. I had a lot of really good games leading up to the playoffs. I'm looking at it, things even out. You're going to hit a bump in the road. I had it happen on National TV. It was unfortunate. I had extra rest. I was on three day's rest that time. I feel like it gives me a chance to get back in my routine and execute the way I did all year.

Q. C.J., how does that extra rest affect you in your routine. It does change it up a little bit. How do you attack that when you have had that extra rest?
C.J. WILSON: I think the important thing is when you have the extra rest, you have -- in regular rest, I should say, you have four days in between. So.
You have your heavy conditioning day, leg weights, long toss, then you have your bullpen day, upper body weights and then you have your kind of cardio cross-fit type workout on day three and day four sprints. On longer rests you do the same workouts.
But you might spread them out. Take a day off here and there. I took the other day completely off the other day. I hadn't had an off day personally since, I don't know, maybe July or something like that, because I had been coming in on the off days to throw since I have had no extra rest the whole season.
For me, it was kind of like cool, I get a little breather. That's nice. It's refreshing. Especially this time of year when it really matters most. It's the most critical thing. I threw off the mound twice instead of throwing off the mound once because I think I've had seven days in between instead of four. I feel good about it.

Q. What goes to your mind when you look at what kind of season Verlander had and what goes through your mind when you think about going head to head with him specifically Verlander in Game 1?
C.J. WILSON: I guess Verlander is one of those match-ups like, I don't know, he's got obviously phenomenal stuff. No one is going dispute how good he is, how good of a season he had.
But at the same time we beat him earlier this year. So I feel like we have a team that can hit anybody. And so that's -- my confidence is in our hitters, not so much anything else. He has to pitch against them. He's got to face the chef, Mike Napoli, he has to face Beltre, Mike Young, Kinsler, all those guys. That's his job. My job is to get out and against Miguel Cabrera, Victor, Delmon and those dudes. That's the only way I can look at it. We're two completely different styles of pitchers. If I had his fastball, I would love it.
But I don't. I don't throw 100, 101. It's similar to going up against a guy like Sabathia or Lester or anybody else, everybody knows who they are. Halladay. It's not the National League. I don't bat. There's nothing I can do to score runs for us. I have to prevent their team from scoring. That's the biggest thing for me.
I don't know what kind of leash we are on. A long leash or a short leash. I'm going to go out there to throw until Wash asks for the ball and hopefully it's not before the end of the game.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, C.J...
C.J. WILSON: No Cliff Lee questions. Very good, guys.

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