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#DoYourJob
OVR: 61
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Mass
Posts: 31,536
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Re: Official Boston Red Sox 2005 Thread
Here's an interview with papelbon, fron Red Sox Nation:
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RSN: Last year you worked on a cutter, and temporarily shelved your slider and threw more curveballs. This spring you changed your fosh into more of a true split. How much of an ongoing process is developing a repertoire, and do you foresee a time when you aren't tinkering with, or fine-tuning, it?
JP: I can see a time down the road where I'm comfortable with everything, but I think you always want to keep refining. You always want to try to find something you can improve on. Last year I learned a few grips on my slider and change, but this year I'm pretty good with both. So right now I'm just trying to build on last year.
RSN: Are command and feel the two most important words in a pitcher's vocabulary?
JP: Of course. For me, command is the most important because I throw a lot of fastballs. If you don't have command, you have nothing. Feel is more for offspeed breaking pitches, and it's big, but not as big as command.
RSN: If your fastball has less pop than usual, or you're not locating it well, how much do you still need to throw it to be effective?
JP: You can't just quit throwing it. Nobody can win without a fastball. At this level, most guys can make adjustments with their mechanics and find it. If I don't have good command, I just step back and re-evaluate. As for going out there without your best velocity, it happens. But if you're out there competing, and pitching, you can get guys out without your best stuff.
RSN: If you're going to throw 100 pitches in a game, how many do you want to be strikes?
JP: I'd say about 70 or so. If a hitter knows you're not going to walk him, and that everything will be in the zone, he can go right after you. Even if he doesn't know which pitch is coming, he can sit on strikes. You want to work ahead, but you can be effective off the plate, too.
RSN: Is there such a thing as a good walk?
JP: I think there is, in certain situations. If there's a base open and a good hitter up, pitching around the zone can be the smart approach. If the game is on the line, you have to be willing to nibble rather than groove one to a hot hitter. You want to attack hitters in most situations, but you have to pitch smart, too.
RSN: You gained some notoriety by buzzing Sammy Sosa this spring. How much do you need to intimidate hitters, and if you knock someone down by accident, do you want him to think it was intentional?
JP: Everyone has to pitch inside to be successful. I want the hitter to think I meant it, and I'd use that to my advantage. You don't want the hitter to feel too comfortable up at the plate.
RSN: Some hitters have reputations as guys who can't be intimidated and become tougher outs after getting knocked down. How much do you need to know about a hitter's psyche when you face him?
JP: I study hitters day-in and day-out, but you can't really know a lot about that unless you know someone personally. You just have to assume that everyone who picks up a bat is out to get you, and can't take anything for granted.
RSN: I often ask hitters what they consider to be the hardest pitch to hit in baseball. As a pitcher, what would you say it is?
JP: I'll stand by it being a well-located fastball. It's the toughest for the simple fact that without it, you don't have a pitcher. Everything works off the fastball, and if you locate one well, the hitter is going to have a hard time handling it.
RSN: The Red Sox just drafted Craig Hansen -- like you, a closer in college -- and there's conjecture that he could likewise be converted to a starter. Where do you think you'd be if the Sox had kept you in the closer's role rather than made you a starter?
JP: Boy, that's a tough question. My work ethic wouldn't be any different. If I was still in that role, I'd imagine myself as still being successful. As a closer, you can work with one or two good pitches, which is what I did. It's been to my advantage that I've been able to develop other pitches as a starter. But who knows, I could still end up in the bullpen someday.
RSN: What advice would you give Hansen once he signs and starts his pro career?
JP: I'd tell him to have fun, and not to get too high or too low. Just go with the flow, and everything will be all right. I came to that realization myself, once I started getting settled in. You want to approach it like a job, but still remember that you love playing the game.
RSN: When you look back at your first year -- in Lowell -- what are your memories?
JP: When I got there I was a little excited and ready to get going. Maybe a little scared. It was a lot of mixed up feelings all at once. And it was a turning point in my life. It was like, "This is what I'll be doing, and if I'm going to make it, I'll have to commit myself to it. This is my one chance."
RSN: In your Lowell days you won a cow-milking contest, and on another occasion dyed your hair bright red. Now that you're a few years older, and seemingly on the verge of playing in the Major Leagues, are those fun-loving days behind you?
JP: No way. If I'm not having fun, it's not worth it. It's a long season, and if you get too stressed and focused every minute, it's going to backfire on you. My personality is to have some fun -- that's just me. My brothers are the same way.
RSN: I understand that you and your brothers were very competitive with each other growing up, and on more than one occasion there were fights. Tell us about that.
JP: It was crazy bad. There have probably been over 400 fights, all with us competing over something. It was us three boys, and we grew up wanting to beat each other. If it wasn't sports, it was cards or something else. I remember one time playing basketball -- we were only six or eight years old -- Jeremy got so mad he slammed the side gate of our house into Josh so hard that he had to go to the hospital. And we got a trampoline once, which was a bad idea. We were always fighting on it. Man, we'd try to beat each other in everything.
RSN: Your brothers are playing college ball now. Are they the same way on the field?
JP: They are. We all think we're the best, but it's all about confidence. Without that, you're not going to get anywhere. As athletes, they're really starting to understand that now.
RSN: What do you see as the main difference between confidence and cockiness?
JP: Guys with confidence go about it the right way. Cocky guys only tell you they're going about it the right way -- they're not necessarily doing it.
RSN: Your brothers just played in the Division-2 College World Series. What was it like following them in the tournament?
JP: It was awesome. I was proud as hell. I was always on the computer, following them as closely as possible. I listened live when I could. Playing in the Series is a lifelong dream, and I couldn't have been happier for them. They'll be back at North Florida next year, and the baseball program is moving to Division 1, too.
RSN: Even though they're two years younger, and you're the one in pro ball, I assume you still learn from them?
JP: Absolutely. We work out together in the offseason at North Florida, and they're persistent about knowing hitters and staying focused, just like I try to be. They're good at the mental part of the game, and we talk about those things. And without their support, I wouldn't be where I am now. No way. As twins, they show each other support I can't even imagine, and we feed off each other. I definitely get a lot from them.
RSN: I understand that you have a fiancée. Tell us about her.
JP: Her name is Ashley, and I proposed to her in October of last year. We met at Mississippi State -- we were friends first -- and we've been dating for three years. She's from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and we're going to get married in New Orleans in November.
RSN: I assume she's a baseball fan?
JP: She didn't fully understand it until she met me -- things like definitions and technique -- but she does now. She went to all of the games at Mississippi State.
RSN: Last one: when did you first think, "I want to be a pitcher?"
JP: I didn't think that until I was a sophomore in college, because that's when I really started pitching. My brothers and I grew up playing tee-ball in Louisiana, and then kind of went to the next level when we moved to Florida. We played together on the same team when we got there. It was called the Red Sox, interestingly enough. They pitched in high school, but I didn't pitch until college. Once I did, I decided that if I put it my mind to it, I could do it. I could be successful at it. It's all about believing in yourself.
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He definetly seems like he'd be a perfect fit on our team, with guys like Schilling and Tek, because like them he seems to be a cebreal pitcher who studies non-stop, and that seems to be what our team is built on...studious players.
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06-27-2005, 10:22 AM
