Q. Obviously when you look at last year looked like, preparing yourself from this year, you dealt with injuries and stuff like that, but to be in this situation right now, one win away from winning the World Series, what does that mean to you at a high level but also the success you've had personally in this postseason?
GAVIN LUX: Having it taken away for a whole year, it makes you appreciate the game a little bit more with the ups and downs and everything. Would have given anything to be able to play last year, and you definitely appreciate it more. But we've still got to win one more game. Nothing's over till it's over. It's a good team over there. We've got to finish things out. It's not done yet, so just got to keep going.
Q. What is it like to play for an organization that, when you report to Spring Training, the only acceptable outcome is winning the whole thing?
GAVIN LUX: Yeah, it's huge. Not everybody gets an opportunity to play in the postseason. And kind of with us, at least every year I've been here, we've been in the postseason, and it's expected, like I said, which is a good thing.
You've got a lot of good people that care about winning and that want to win, then obviously the guys in the clubhouse want to win and are winning. This is what everybody wants to play for right here. Not everybody gets that opportunity, so you definitely don't take that for granted either.
Q. You were taxi squad in 2020 and obviously been around for some of these postseason runs. What would the chance of a parade mean for you, and do you feel like to the city?
GAVIN LUX: Yeah, not having the fans really get to enjoy it during the COVID year obviously, and not having that kind of sucks. Hopefully we can just get rid of the whole short season thing, people not counting it, get that taste out of our mouth. Like I said, still we've got to win one more game, and that's the main thing. You just take it pitch by pitch, and it's not over till it's over like I keep saying.
We're not letting our foot off the gas pedal here. We've just got to keep playing our game.
Q. How much has that short season thing been something that you guys have been conscious about? How difficult has that been the last few years for you to block out in that sense?
GAVIN LUX: I think it kind of bugs everybody. We were all in the same situation, and we still won that year. We were all in the same boat doing the same thing. I personally don't think that's the right narrative, but I think it kind of bugs everybody a little bit that you don't get the recognition that you're deserved.
If anything, I think it was probably harder to win that year. You want the full season one, though, just to get that whole narrative out of the window.
Q. Could you tell us about your relationship with Mookie in terms of position-wise and as a leader in the clubhouse and what you've learned from him, not just over the years, but this year specifically in terms of everything you guys have had to do together?
GAVIN LUX: This guy just wants to win. He'll do anything. He gets thrown in at shortstop in Spring Training, doesn't complain about it. He's out there working hard early every single day to try to get better. Just watching him, how he goes about his work every day. He's in the cage for hours before the game. He's out every day doing his early work defense.
He doesn't take a day off. The main thing that I've watched him and learned from is his work ethic is just relentless. He's one of the best players in baseball, and he doesn't take a single day off. I think that's why he's so great and that's what makes him different from everybody else.
Obviously he's super talented, but he's a big leader in our clubhouse. He's vocal, and he works his ass off. When you've got a guy that's that talented that is doing that every day, it kind of rubs off on everybody else.
Q. For as frustrating as the last couple of postseasons were, how much do you think those struggles have helped you guys build the culture and play with the kind of intensity you have this month?
GAVIN LUX: The main thing that's different from years past is the intensity and the compete every single pitch and to not give an at-bat away or a pitch away. Not to say that we did in years past, but just the intensity every single pitch, every single inning feels different this year than it did in years past.
I think that just the guys we have in the clubhouse, and like you said, we kind of learn from our past mistakes. This year where we spent pretty much every day together for the last three, four weeks, I think that's made a big difference. We're all pulling the same direction, so let's get together.
When you're close with these guys in the clubhouse, it just makes pulling for each other that much easier.
Q. There aren't as many teams that have as much star power in the clubhouse as you guys do, with Mookie, Freddie, and Shohei. How have you seen those three coexist this year and what's allowed them to have that kind of level talent in there, star level, and also still build what you guys have talked about in that room?
GAVIN LUX: None of them have egos. I think all three of those guys just want to win at the end of the day and know that our ultimate team goal is to win a World Series. All three of them are obviously three of the best players in baseball. That's no secret. But at the same time, there's no ego. There's a lot of selflessness and just want to win.
You see it with Freddie. Obviously Shohei. These guys are playing with broken bones and needing surgery and still putting their bodies on the line every day. That just shows you these guys are selfless superstars and they just want to win.
I think that's part of the reason why that makes us special.
Q. When you got moved off of shortstop in Spring Training, what was that initial sting like, and how did you prevent that from being a pretty big mental blow?
GAVIN LUX: I think initially it sucked. Coming off the ACL surgery, I expected myself to be a lot better and more prepared to play the position. It just didn't happen and it didn't work out. Initially it stunk, but my view of it was there's no time to sit around and sulk. Let's go play the best second base possible and pour into second base and just try to get better there.
Woody and Dino and Miggy and a lot of other guys just helped me along the way and poured into me. And just watching Mookie every day get out at short makes you want to get out and work every day too.
Initially it sucked, but at the same time, there's no reason to sit around and sulk. What's done is done, just go out there and try to get better.
Q. Setting aside the fact that you have one win to go, up until this point, there have been a number of times throughout the season where things could have gone terribly wrong. The experiment of putting Mookie at short, as you guys just talked about, to all the injuries, to being down to the Padres 2-1 in the Division Series. How have you guys been able to make that happen, have everything turn out the way you want it when it all could have gone wrong?
GAVIN LUX: I think ultimately it's probably only helped us because throughout the whole season with all the injuries we've had to deal with, other guys have had to step up and have more responsibility to try to help us win games. I think dealing with all that, we've had other guys step up. And ultimately at this time of the year, we're still banged up, guys are beat up, we're missing guys.
I think just going through that has made us a better group. Like you said, everybody has had to step up a little bit. This group, no one cares who gets it done as long as it gets done. I think that helps us a lot.
Yeah, we went through some struggles where it felt like this might not be where we want to be, but it all kind of worked out.
Q. Just looking at today's matchup against Luis Gil, what did you see from him over the summer? You guys saw him in Game 3 in that series here at Yankee Stadium, and what can you take from those at-bats just to come into this one and put it in play?
GAVIN LUX: He's got really good stuff. He throws hard, got a good three-pitch mix, really good fastball. It's not the usual Game 4 starter you usually kind of run into. He's really good.
We just game plan obviously really well, don't want to give away any secrets.
Yeah, he's got good stuff, and I think when you get a chance to see a guy a couple times, it always helps a little bit to try to feel him out, know how he feels in the batter's box. He's got good stuff. We've got our hands full, and we've just got to keep competing like we have been.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports