| | Atlanta pitcher John Smoltz, set to start Game 4 in the World Series against Roger Clemens and the New York Yankees, says the Braves aren't having much fun and they won't until they win a game.
|  | | John Smoltz and the Braves have played in every National League Championship Series since 1991. |
During an Up Close interview with Gary Miller shortly before Game 3 of the Series at Yankee Stadium, Smoltz also said he has a newfound appreciation for the bullpen after relief appearances during the NLCS with the New York Mets.
What follows is an edited transcript of the Oct. 26 interview, conducted by Miller from Up Close's Los Angeles studio:
Miller: John, you are down in a two-to-nothing hole, you're in Yankee Stadium, New York is trying to win this thing for the third time in the 90's. What is the demeanor of the team and your good friend Tom Glavine, who missed his Game 1 start and has lost some weight and is just getting over the flu?
Smoltz: I think Tommy will be fine and the demeanor of the team is simply, it's happened in the reverse to us in 1996; anything is possible. You have to create that feeling like you're back in the World Series by winning the next game, so tonight is very important.
Miller: We saw what the Indians and the Red Sox had happen to them, how much does that harden you to know that even if you dig a 3-0 hole tonight, it's not over yet?
Smoltz: Personally, for me, I approach every start like that. I look at it as "I'm going to win the start" and don't think about losing. You've heard so many other people talk about when they're down 3-0, your backs are against the wall, you've got nothing to lose, so now we can go out and have fun. I don't believe in that, I don't think we will have fun until we win some baseball games. Whether it be down 3-0, or 2-1 my take is going to be, "I need to win."
Miller: You were used out of the bullpen twice during the NLCS against the Mets. You got a save in Game 1 and then had a disastrous outing in Game 6. What has it been like for you, when you've been available in the first two games in this World Series to be ready in the bullpen as well as your start for Game 4?
Smoltz: It has been difficult, it's a little out of my element. I have always said that I like to throw whenever possible, but I obviously love to start. I have pitched and started in about 23 or 24 postseason games. I like to think I am pretty tough when I start; given the fact that I got that save was neat but the 7th inning (of Game 6) was no fun getting the team back tight again. I'm learning in that role. I mean, there is no way that I could be prepared for that and I have gained a lot of appreciation for our bullpen.
Miller: John, you have had a magnificent postseason, 12-3 overall, 2-1 in the World Series and an ERA of about a half a run, but one of those losses is 1-0 to Andy Pettitte. As much as we like Glavine, who won game six in 1995 and has shown his World Series mettle, Pettitte is a pretty tall order for your offense.
Smoltz: Pettitte is a great pitcher for this time of the year; he, much like Glavine, won't give in, won't give the hitter too much to hit, and if he's off his game, that may be the only way we are going to get some rallies going.
Miller: I think what makes the Yankees tough, John, is Jeter, Williams, O'Neill, no matter how the outcome of the at-bat goes, they take something out of you every time they come to the plate, make you throw a lot of pitches. What's been wrong? Besides Chipper and Eddie Perez, who's had a great postseason, where has the rest of the offense been and why hasn't it shown itself so far for you?
Smoltz: Well, I think the biggest thing is, collectively, we've got too many guys, maybe at times wanting to be the guy, to drive in the run, hit the home run, do the things that spark a team. I think what the Yankees do is, it's a game plan from their No. 1 hitter to their No. 9 hitter, and they make you throw pitches. No three pitch innings, no five or six pitch innings and they don't necessarily have to hit the long ball to win. I think what we have to do is create traffic on the bases, we have got to put the ball in play more, we're talented enough to do that; we just have to execute. And I think our biggest problem right now is maybe individually we're trying, maybe to be too many individual heroes, but you know what, with the year we have had I still won't count us out of any situation because we seem to find a way to win.
Miller: You've been in the '91, '92 , '95, '96 World Series, here we are in the '99 Series, this will be the fifth one. If you only win one what does that say about the team?
Smoltz: It still means that they can't take that one away from us. I know there has been a lot of situations and talk that maybe they think that they should take that one away from us, because I've never understood how successful we could be, but yet be viewed as something other than that. We were compared before to the Buffalo Bills, which is so unfair for them and so unfair for us. But whatever they say, we're still alive and still kicking.
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AUDIO/VIDEO
 Mike Hargrove and John Smoltz on ESPN's Up Close
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