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NL DIVISION SERIES: DODGERS v BRAVESOctober 2, 2013Kris MedlenATLANTA, GEORGIA: Workout Day Q. Being a California boy, I don't know if you ever grew up dreaming of playing for the Dodgers or Angels or‑‑ KRIS MEDLEN: Yeah, I went to Dodger and Angel games growing up, dreamed of being an infielder for the Dodgers, but not quite. Yeah, I mean, it's a pretty cool feeling being able to play against them during the regular season, but I think the fact that I've had a couple years in the Big Leagues to kind of get over that love for the Dodgers. You know, it's cool to face them, but they're just another team. Q. Growing up did you have posters in your room? KRIS MEDLEN: No, no posters. I had a Ken Griffey, Jr. trash can. That was like my one favorite player. Yeah, my room was a mess, and I didn't have much going on in my room other than a mess. Q. The experience you had last year in the postseason, what did you learn from that that you can bring forward to this one? KRIS MEDLEN: I think I'm doing just as bad doing this as I did last year. But I think the buildup and the anxiety of playing in a Game 7 type situation last year, didn't get to me, but I just thought it was more than a regular season game, than it typically is. But I think we're in a different situation this year, and we have a chance to win a series instead of one game, although every game matters. I'm fired up with the start, and I'm definitely not as nervous as I was last year. And the kind of team that we have and the players that we have on our squad, we're pretty fired up. Q. If there's just a regular routine infield fly call at some point in time in this game‑‑ KRIS MEDLEN: Oh, God. Q. And if it's not even controversial, are you to the point where you can kind of smile about it and laugh about it or are you still gritting your teeth? KRIS MEDLEN: It happened a couple times this year when I was in the dugout. Obviously it was a big call last year. I don't know if we agree still to this day, but I think it's okay to turn the page now. But yeah, I mean, it was something I paid attention to all of this year. There was a couple of the same exact calls during the year that weren't called infield flies. You know, obviously we still have that deep down, but I mean, for the most part we're over it and we're ready for this game and this series. Q. I think over the weekend a couple of your teammates said they felt a little disrespected that the Dodgers were going to get all the attention, the big payroll, the big stars and so on. Do you guys have a chip on your shoulder a little bit? KRIS MEDLEN: I think we have the entire year, honestly. I mean, Dodgers are a great team, like you said, some big‑name players. But we had to play against them during the regular season and we played pretty well. All the attention, I mean, we're not running for prom king; we're ready to play this series and play this team, which is a quality team. I mean, it's really not that big of a deal that they may get more attention than us. At the end of the day, I hope we're getting all the attention with the World Series. Q. The recent history of the Braves is kind of counter to what they were from the '90s through the early part of this decade. Does this feel like a team or are you guys enough removed from all that period that you kind of go into this like that wasn't us, we don't know what happened before us really? KRIS MEDLEN: For the most part, yeah. Guys were probably two or three years old in the '90s, some of the guys we have on our team now, and it's just a completely different regime up top, Frank and all that. That's something we don't even think about. I'm sure those teams were just as confident going into the series that they lost as they were if they were going on to win. We're extremely confident. And wire to wire first place the entire year, we have a lot of confidence going in. And obviously they're a good team over there, and we'll play that day and worry about things that day. Q. Every team's goal is to win their division, but with what happened last year in the postseason, was that maybe emphasized a little more in Spring Training, the fact you want to play in a series, not just that one game? KRIS MEDLEN: I mean, I don't think it was different this Spring Training because we talked about the same things the spring before that and the spring before that which was winning a World Series. Obviously we're happy we won the division and it's put us in a better situation than we were last year, but we still have to play the games. You know, a lot of times a wild card team wins out, with the Cardinals the past couple years and whatever. We don't really think too much about that, just over the course of the year, we've found what team we are, and we're confident, we feel like we can beat anybody. Q. How well do you know Kershaw, if at all, and then can you talk about your thoughts ongoing up against him in Game 1? KRIS MEDLEN: I do not know him at all. I mean, I know Peter Moylan who's been over there. I always ask questions about other guys, and he says he's a great guy, but you don't really need to know him to know he's one of the best, if not the best pitcher in the league. He's elite and has four or five great pitches, competes, and he's had an unbelievable run this year. I think the Cy Young award winner I think with a lot of people. We've missed him twice this year, the both times we played in this series, but I think our team, the confidence that we have, he missed us. I think we've beat teams, No.1s, and we've lost to teams, No.5s. Baseball is that kind of game where it's different every day, and obviously you know you're in a challenge with the pitching staff that they have. But like I've been saying this entire time, we're confident, and we're ready to go. Q. Did you watch the game last night, and did you see the crowd and the boost they gave the Pirates? Are you hoping you can get and feed off the same thing tomorrow night? KRIS MEDLEN: I mean, that was an unbelievable crowd. I popped in a couple times. I wasn't tuning in the whole time. I've got a kid and wife at home and she's excited that this time of year is coming around because I'm home more. But I hope if we play Pittsburgh, we kick their butts. But I think I'm really happy for them and their city and having gone through years and years of not winning baseball and to see that kind of crowd and the kind of support that they get, it was really great to see on TV. You can't be anything but happy for them. Q. A few years ago the Giants left Barry Zito off their postseason roster and he was given credit for the way he handled the news. You have some teammates that got similar news yesterday. Is there a way they can have a positive impact on the team by the way they deal with this? KRIS MEDLEN: I think just being around each other because we have been around each other the entire year. I think this time of year, those kind of things happen all the time. It's kind of that put up or shut up time of year. You make the team, you play with the team. If not, you're there rooting on your guys and we're practically family because we're around each other so much. Whatever veteran guys got left off, just being that support system for the guys that have never been here and never been in this situation. They've been there for us the entire year, why wouldn't they be there for us now. Q. As well as you've been pitching, do you kind of relish the opportunity to go up against a guy like Kershaw that you said you think is the NL Cy Young winner? KRIS MEDLEN: I try not to get too involved in that, because for the most part I'm not going to be the one who's going to be coming up in the clutch having to really drive in runs. Obviously I'll be the ninth hole hitter, but I'm going to be relying on my guys to hit him well and hopefully see him well. But yeah, he's been the best pitcher in baseball. I've said that, and it's going to be a challenge. But I think we're up for the challenge, and we're just ready to go. Q. When you look at the arc of the season, you won in six in May, and here you are now. How much satisfaction do you take at having overcome that, and what is the difference between yourself now and in May? KRIS MEDLEN: I've had a good support system with the veteran guys, Tim Hudson, and talking to Roger about that same situation. I was in the outfield in Arizona with a 1‑6 record saying, what am I supposed to do, what do I do. They're all about simplifying and they're all about everything kind of working out and evening it out, and that's exactly what happened. Obviously you can't get to 15 wins without taking it to the second win and the third win. For me it was just simplifying and taking my time. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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