Oct. 6 Hanley Ramirez postgame interview

Q. Your first time in Postseason play. Why are you having so much success at the plate? You talked about how much fun you're having as well?

HANLEY RAMIREZ:  I just try to keep everything the same at the plate and on the field. I don't try to do too much and just let things happen. That's been the key all year.

Q. Talk about the mindset. You guys fall down early and then you gain the lead, then they catch you again. What is the mindset in the dugout with regard to the offense maintaining the type of production that you have all season?

HANLEY RAMIREZ:  We've been doing it all year long. It happened a couple times during the season, the beginning of the game we were down and we knew we could come back any time.

I just tried to keep everybody in the game and letting everybody know we can win this game. I think we did pretty good tonight.

Q. You're one game away from moving on to the next series, and you have never even been in the playoffs before. What is this like for you?

HANLEY RAMIREZ:  It's an unbelievable feeling, just the energy around you, in the dugout, on the field, the crowd, playing in front of our crowd. I knew that it was going to be crazy tonight, and you've got to thank the fans for bringing that energy from the beginning ‑‑ from the first inning all the way to the end of the game.

Q. You started your career with a lot of success. Won a batting title at a young age and then had you some injuries. Do you look at this Postseason as a chance to show everybody you are again one of the best players in baseball?

HANLEY RAMIREZ:  I knew what I was going through the last two years after that big surgery on my left shoulder. I wasn't feeling the same. So I knew that I've got to put extra work on my shoulder to get back on track.

After I got here, the medical staff, man, they've been unbelievable. I think they're part of my success, you know? I think I wouldn't be where I am right now without them. And my teammates, you know, they show me a lot of support all year long. I really appreciate that. You don't go anywhere without your teammates and whoever is around you.

Q. On your triple, that was the type of ball that it seems like typically you settle for a double stand into second base. Were you feeling physically better today when you were rounding second base and going all out to third?

HANLEY RAMIREZ:  The treatment I get here every day early to get my treatment. I work on my back, my hamstring to get going. I think those guys ‑‑ those trainers, they're keeping me on the field. I've been feeling great. What Donnie did at the end of the season or the regular season, gave me those days off helped me a lot.

Q. Similar question, regarding the pain you've played through this year, what parts of your body are hurting right now?

HANLEY RAMIREZ:  That's a secret (laughing). I don't try to think about that right now. We're going to finish what we start. We can't stop right now. We've got to stay positive. We've been doing that all year. That is one of the good things that we have. We always stay positive, and everybody's happy around the clubhouse. Lots of good vibes.

Q. How have you spent October the past seven or eight years? What have you done? Have you gone home? What have you done? Also, when you feel like this at the plate and you look this good and feel this good, what is going on in your head? What feels good physically and mechanically? What is happening that allows the results?

HANLEY RAMIREZ:  I don't remember, just have the season. Go back home and watch the playoffs with my family. I remember telling them last year that I want to be there. It's a different feeling. You know, the fans, the energy, it's unbelievable. It makes you pumped.

My family got me back and said, next year you're going to be there, and they were right. We're here now.

At the plate, right now I'm not thinking. I'm just looking at the ball and hit it, whatever the pitch is. It's an unbelievable feeling when it's just less thinking, just produce. Go out there and have fun and play hard.

Q. 13 runs on 14 hits, what's that do for the confidence of your team and you personally get a couple of clutch hits to day. Was it as much fun as it looked like you were having?

HANLEY RAMIREZ:  I don't like to talk about myself. I think it's 25 guys out there that we come here every day and we put in hard work on the field. Everything I do I do for my team and for the city. You know, when I see a big smile from my teammates and my fans, that makes me happy.

Q. What about the confidence of the on team overall?

HANLEY RAMIREZ:  It's great. I felt like after that tough loss in Atlanta, we knew we had to come back in and play in front of our crowd. It was going to be unbelievable. You know, just we've got another game tomorrow.

Q. On those games that you weren't playing down the stretch, Don Mattingly was telling I want the world to see your talent. Were you still fighting him on trying to play those games, or did you understand?

HANLEY RAMIREZ: You know, I want to play every day. But at the same time I knew that he was doing the best for me for me to be ready to go for the playoffs. He played this game and he knows what he's doing. That's great when you have a manager like that. That makes you keep doing your best every day, every inning, every out, every pitch.

Q. You're batting .538; you've already tied a Dodgers record for extra base hits in a series. If you weren't hurt, what were your numbers look like if you weren't playing good right now?

HANLEY RAMIREZ:  You know, everything happens for a reason. So I'm just really happy we're here to be part of this great organization that I have a lot of history. We just got one come and go; and everybody knows what it is, and that's what we're here for. We don't think about personal stats or nothing like that.

Q. When you were talking a moment ago about not feeling right for the last two years going through what you went through, was there a time or times it crossed your mind where you might never get back to where you were before? How did you deal with those thoughts?

HANLEY RAMIREZ:  Oh, yeah, it was tough. It was really tough. I don't want to remember those moments the last two years. It was awful. I think mentally it was really tough for me.

But I've got my family, and I've got my teammates. When I got here, they changed everything around me and in my mind. From the first day, Donnie, I remember when I got to St. Louis and when I walked into his office, he just told me just be you. We've got 24 more guys out there that come here every day and play hard and have fun. I want you to be the same. Since day one, I think it's what I've been trying to do every day.

Q. You shared with me how much you wanted to win the division in front of the fans. You didn't get a chance to do that. What would it mean to win it for the fans tomorrow?

HANLEY RAMIREZ:  It would be great. We can spend some time with the fans, but we have to win the game first and then we can decide what's going to happen.