Oct. 8 Ichiro Suzuki pregame interview

Q. Just wondering, a question about base stealing. Yesterday, the first inning, it didn't work out. Do you just accept that as part of the risk you take, you're not going to succeed every time?

ICHIRO SUZUKI: Obviously I'm not running to get out. You're not going to make it every single time, but obviously you're trying to make it there.

Q. What is it like for you to be on a team where there's so many guys who have your level of stardom?

ICHIRO SUZUKI: I'm not sure if I'm a star like you say, but mentally the players on this team are very matured and very just adult. I've always wanted this type of atmosphere before coming to America. I was hoping that I could be in this type of environment playing with these types of players.

Q. Now that you've had a postseason game under your belt after a long wait, how does it feel, and just describe your emotions last night in getting back to postseason baseball.

ICHIRO SUZUKI: The atmosphere of the stadium was obviously different, and I didn't I didn't know how I was going to react. But I didn't think that I wouldn't be able to control my excitement, and that wasn't the case, maybe because I'm with the Yankees and just the atmosphere that we have at the stadium.

But this is not our goal, and so this wasn't the type of place that there's more to it than this, and that's what my experience was.

Q. After last night, did it just not feel different from, I guess, games at Yankee Stadium because there are already so many people there, or was there something maybe a little bit different about the game last night and the games you're going to play because there's more on the line? Do you see any differences, I guess, so far, after one game?

ICHIRO SUZUKI: What I felt yesterday was you come on the road and you get booed by the fans, but that felt really good. I think a lot of players got booed last night, but it just felt really good to get booed on the road.

Q. There's been a lot of talk about how experience makes a difference in the playoffs. Since you're the very example of how that cannot be true, what is your assessment of experience making a difference?

ICHIRO SUZUKI: We don't have enough time to explain in detail that question. But I think if you're talking about just being a human, when you've done something in the past and you can actually do it now but it would take me a lot more time to explain in detail that question.

Q. Obviously with the playoffs there's different starting times and there's obviously different rules and things that come into play. Obviously you've prepared yourself well throughout the year. What is that preparation that you've done that's really helped you be ready for the playoffs?

ICHIRO SUZUKI: I've played in America 12 years now, and the thing that I've learned the most about being here is that there are many things that can happen in America, and that's what has prepared me for this time.

Q. Last time you were in the playoffs it was 11 years ago. It's a long time ago. Are there some things that you can remember about that, and what's the difference between this time around and the first time you were in the playoffs?

ICHIRO SUZUKI: Obviously it's been a long time. It's been, what, 10 years, and so even when you commit a crime, I think if you commit a crime and it's been 10 years, sometimes it can be erased off your records. I don't remember really the good things that happened. But I do remember that we lost to the Yankees, and I remember at that time not being able to imagine what it was like to keep going and move on in that postseason.

But now I think this team, we can see the future and we can see where we're going.

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