Jeff Weaver

Q. We know that your Anaheim experience this year was a disappointment. Could you tell us or try to put your finger on why the difference in St. Louis, what has happened to you there that has led you to being here now, pitching so well?

JEFF WEAVER: Well, it's hard to say exactly. If I had stayed there the whole year who would say it wouldn't have turned out the same way for me.

I've always been the kind of a guy that after a certain amount of time getting situated after I've kind of gone through teams before, seen hitters and established some sort of knowledge on guys, I've always seemed to do better. But when things are immediate success or move on, I think that has been evident in New York, it's been evident in Anaheim.

I just knew when I came to St. Louis it was a fresh start. I was going to be out there every five days. They were going to let me work through whatever troubles I had. And I had always stayed confident through the whole experience, it was just a matter of getting in that groove and getting comfortable. And La Russa and Duncan have been great about being big supporters and they told me from the get-go they loved the way I competed, and they didn't want to change a thing, just go out there and, "We believe in you and things will turn." When you have that support behind you, it's that much easier not to be looking over your shoulder when you make mistakes.

Baseball season you just never really know, some people have slow starts and finish up strong, and some people start out fast and finish slow. It was just one of those years and I'm just very fortunate it ended up the way it has.

Kenny Rogers

Q. Going through the playoffs this year watching you pitch, and it appears that you've become more aggressive, more ferocious emotionally. Did you make a decision going into those starts, I'm going to be sort of a different character on this thing or did you just find yourself out there working with that?

KENNY ROGERS: I think for the most part it wasn't a game plan going into that first start, but it was because of the opponent, with the Yankees. If they wouldn't have had that type of success in the past with me, I may not have tried to make an adjustment. But in my whole career that's what I've done. If I failed at something I've tried to change it in whatever ways I can that I feel would be more beneficial. Once you get in the flow of the game, you never really know what type of stuff you're going to have or the ability to make certain pitches.

But the adrenaline level was there, and I just, for whatever reasons I used it, instead of trying to suppress it and control it. I just used it to help me. And I think I benefit from it, without a doubt. But I was able to do that. Sometimes overthrowing for me isn't beneficial, so I take a big chance, I guess, trying to pitch that way, mentally, but physically it's much more demanding. It's just something I felt like I was capable of doing and I needed to do. I didn't try to do it against Oakland. I didn't have the same fastball or nobody's ever described my stuff as ferocious in the last ten years, but I tried to be more of a pitcher, just because of the team I was facing.

Oakland, I've had success by pitching the way I know how to pitch, but I still tried to use the adrenaline and the emotion. And I think I benefitted, without a doubt.