My first at-bat, my emotions were all over the place, ... So you really sit back and think about what was going on. . . . You learn over the course that it`s all about how you can house those emotions.
It`s not emotional anymore, ... It`s not a head game anymore, because I`ve been able to come back for two or three weeks. Now, I`m in the groove where I need to be.
Carpenter did an amazing job, ... We all knew he had had a couple of bad outings. But there was no doubt in my mind he would be the Carpenter we knew and we had seen all year.
Each day is better, ... I`m not 100 percent. I`m not going to be 100 percent because it`s going to take another three to four months for it to heal completely. For me, it`s being 100 percent functional and doing what I need to do to help the ballclub win.
You don`t judge a team by its record, but its heart and tenacity, two things you either have or you don`t have,
He`s a faithful guy, ... He`s worked really hard this year to show this team that he`s worthy, and now to get the opportunity to do this for the first time ... I`m just so very excited for him.
It`s about the now, ... This is what we`re working for, to be in this moment, to go forward from here.
We`re playing a tough team. As you can see, they fought to the last out.
Hal and I really just sat back and started thinking about things, and the way that I need to go about seeing pitches and getting in the right frame of mind, ... I`ve just been working hard every day to get where I needed to be.
This is a team that really gets up for this series, and it`s a great series to play in and watch. You definitely can`t take the Cubs lightly at all.