Dodgers - 6, Yankees - 3
Q. Congratulations. Obviously we want to talk about you, but let's talk for a moment about Freddie. We saw your tweet, Freddie in Caps. Take us through your mind watching that ball go out.
JACK FLAHERTY: I didn't watch it go out. He hit it, and there was no doubt, which I said I was appreciative of. We didn't have to stress over whether it was going to go out. He hit it, he knew it, you could see by his reaction. That was incredible.
It was hard -- you look at it as we all enjoy baseball. We enjoy the game. We're all fans of it. That was just an incredible game from both sides. What Gerrit was able to do tonight, the way he pitched was unbelievable. Their bullpen, our bullpen, our defense. It was just an unbelievable ballgame on both sides.
Freddie put a good swing on a ball, and it was incredible.
Q. Dave said it was the best baseball moment he'd ever been a part of. Do you agree with that?
JACK FLAHERTY: Yeah, it's hard to top that. It's hard to top that. It's one win, and we get to come back again and do it tomorrow.
Q. This team talks about toughness a lot. I know watching Freddie for the last month, even the act of walking has been difficult. Seeing him kind of try to get himself even ready to play games even if he can't and then to come out and do it again tonight. Thinking of the whole month that he's kind of trying to get to this point, what has that meant to you as a competitor?
JACK FLAHERTY: It just makes you want to go out and give it everything you've got. That's what every single guy on this team has -- that's what it just makes you want to do. It makes you want to give everything you have for each and every guy in there, each and every guy in that clubhouse.
I know I haven't been here all year, but it's as close a team as I've ever seen. Freddie is unbelievable. What he has done day in and day out to try to play. And then to be able to understand certain days like I'm not at my best and somebody else should probably play today, that's probably the hardest thing to do.
So in some of those games in that New York series, he's a nervous wreck watching those games wishing he could be out there because all he wants to do is play. Just the work that he's done, the year that he's had, it's -- you appreciate that dude as a ballplayer and as a human being.
Q. You yourself, how did you feel about tonight in terms of having your stuff, battling through it, obviously going back and forth with Gerrit and figuring out what you were going to do to stay through that lineup?
JACK FLAHERTY: Just one pitch at a time. It was an incredible atmosphere, unbelievable setting. That dude over there, he's a stud. It makes the game -- it's just one pitch at a time. Make a mistake, and Giancarlo puts a good swing on the ball, which is what he's done all postseason and throughout his entire career really. So you'd like that one back, but you've got to go out and get ready for the next one.
So it was good. Adjustments were made, and now we've got to go make a couple more and just review today and go over it, take the good, and then just -- yeah, just pitch by pitch on the next one.
Q. I know you weren't born yet, but growing up here, how many times did you hear Vin Scully's call of Gibson's home run, Game 1 of the '88 World Series and on one leg, and just the drama that led to it. Did Freddie's home run remind you of it tonight?
JACK FLAHERTY: It reminds me of it as much as I can. That was the first walkoff grand slam in postseason history, I think they were saying. Unbelievable night, just an unbelievable game. We celebrate it and enjoy it, but we've got to make sure we get back after it tomorrow and ride that emotional high and keep on it and really never stop.
Q. Can you walk me through just your process in pitching to Aaron Judge?
JACK FLAHERTY: Judge is unbelievable. I was able to make some good pitches. Some days that's the way it goes. I made some good pitches and it worked out. We'll figure out the next time how to get him out in different ways because that's a good hitter that's going to make adjustments.
What he's done through his career and what he's done over the course of this year has been second to none. You've got to make really good pitches. You take today and kind of funnel it away and remember it, but remember that's one day and he's going to be ready for the next one.
Q. I know you've talked a lot about how meaningful it is to be pitching in your hometown, but is it different for Game 1 of the World Series? Can you talk about the environment here and maybe a message for Dodger fans, what it felt like for you to feel their love and to feel all that tonight?
JACK FLAHERTY: Walking out was incredible, even just to the bullpen, feeling the city behind you. That's what this city does. They're going to be there. They're going to show up. They're going to be loud. They're going to be into the game.
They were there. They were loud all night. That was as good as it gets. But we're going to need some more of it. We're going to meet again tomorrow, and if we end up coming back, we're going to need it again.
This city is incredible. The fans were incredible, and we're going to need more of it just because that's a really good team over there and we're going to need everything we've got.
Q. When you walk out to the mound and you see that giant 34 for Fernando Valenzuela, does that inspire you?
JACK FLAHERTY: Yeah, he was a legend, an L.A. legend especially. What he did throughout his career, what he was able to do inspiring a city, I mean, you see it. Yeah, that's a tough loss for the Dodgers community, but it was -- you just try to go out and channel the emotion and pitch with it and enjoy the stakes.
THE MODERATOR: Loved your Fernando jersey walking in tonight too.
JACK FLAHERTY: Needed to.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports