Gil Meche Kansas City Royals (6-23-2004)

What’s your basic philosophy to be so successful?

I think I got where I was from the get-go just from having a really good arm.  I think as I went, through the minor leagues that I developed better breaking balls and change ups. I was blessed with a good arm. In high school I threw hard and that’s a big reason, at 20 years old, I think it had a lot had to do with it just because I threw 95-96 miles an hour.

What’s your strength as a pitcher?

If I could get ahead with my fastball I still have three other pitches that a hitter is going to have to look for if everything is going well. The games when I get beat is just when I can’t locate my fastball and lock in the zone falling behind hitters.

What do you call your out-pitch?

I kind of look at all three of my off speed pitches like that. Probably more of a punch-out pitch is my curve ball, and get back even in the count pitch would be slider or change up.

Do you pitch to your strength or a batter’s weakness?

That’s a funny question because we have meetings in Seattle and the whole meetings are about what a hitter could do and what he can hit on certain counts or whatever. Sometimes I find myself just blocking myself out of those meetings ’cause I’d rather not hear all those things. If you tell me a guy is a fast ball hitter and I’m throwing 95 miles an hour, I think I could beat him no matter what happens if I locate the fast ball down and away or inside or whichever it would be. I think the best pitchers in the game have to pitch to their strengths and just watching certain guys pitch. Eddie Guardado that we have now in Seattle, he throws 88, 90, 91 miles an hour fast ball and I watched him close out a game with 15 straight heaters. You’re going to tell me that’s good for a closer to do but he believes in what he’s doing and he goes at it.  So that’s the kind of approach I try to take.

Do you approach hitters individually or do you have one basic style for everybody?

Some hitters you have to adjust, like some of the big guys you’ve got to watch out make sure you don’t mess up over the plate and some guys you try to pitch all inside. Frank Thomas is a guy that when their team goes to Seattle everybody just jams him in, jams him in and it seems to work as long as you get the ball inside. If you leave it over the plate he’s hitting a lot of home runs and he’s going to get you again.  So if I’m doing certain things good in the game, if I’m locating my heater down and away, I’m throwing my curve ball for strikes, I just try to stay with the same game plan throughout the whole game and I adjust as guys get on base.  I might not try to blow the heater away because I got a guy on second and third with two outs and I might have to make a little bit better pitch. That’s about it.

You see guys with all the talent in the world but don’t seem to go as far as guys with lesser talent, do you think that’s true?

I think it has a lot to do with your head, not so much what you have.  I pitched with Jamie Moyer for two years and he has the least amount of talent of anybody in the big leagues but it’s in his head that he knows he’s going to make this pitch. He doesn’t think he’s ever going to miss the spot. As a pitcher as soon as you start thinking negative things, it happens. I’ve been there many times. This year I struggled a lot with things like that and that’s why I came down here to just really work on getting back to where I used to be and not thinking and having fun again. I think any time a guy who throws 95 compared to a guy who throws 85 is going to get the first shot to show everybody he could do it, and I see it all the time.

The guy with the first round draft do they get more chances in the organization?

Yeah I’d say for the first couple of years yeah because they’re an investment for the team. Not only that but most first rounders are talented and they can throw hard or they’ve got great power, and also they’re going to perform I think at the lower levels no matter what. Their definitely be a little bit better shot out of the gates, getting in the pro ball, but as far as getting to the big leagues I think you still have to show you can pitch at AA and AAA to get the shot.

When you go to spring training they’re always drafting players, they’re always trading for players and they’re bringing more people in to take your spot, how do you approach that?

Luckily last year we had five guys that did a great job and when you’re looking at all the things on the news, in the papers and it all says Maddox was the guy the Mariners might’ve tried to get it just shows that our team really trusts what the five guys could do and pretty much gave us all the same chance that we had last year.  You can’t really worry about all those things. There are 30 teams in this league and I pitched for one organization my whole career and I think if something would’ve happened and the Mariners said “All right, we’ll give up Gil Meche,” I think anybody would take a chance. It’s a good thing to have when you have a couple of good years in the big leagues and any other team will take a chance just to give you the time to turn it around.

Was there a time in your career when you wanted to give up baseball?

No, you know I’ve been through a lot, I’ve had two surgeries and the thing that I think that helped me was when I got to the big leagues I was 20, I pitched for three months to close out the year. The next year in 2000 I pitched for three more months, then I got put on the DL so I’ve kind of got the full taste of what it was like to be there and even though the injuries came up I knew I was going to get over them and get back to where I thought I should be pitching.  And that’s kind of what drove me, just getting a little taste of what it’s like to be in the big leagues. I just went at it every day and tried to get back.

Do you read the sports pages so much?

You know, the times I see things about me is if I watch a game, the day after I pitch, just like what they said at the very beginning, good fast ball, you know, needs to get ahead of hitters, or needs to locate fast ball, that’s pretty much all I ever see, I don’t really try to look into all the stuff people think about me and I think it’s good.

Does the chemistry in the clubhouse affect the team?

I think totally it affects the team. In 2002 I played on the AA team in San Antonio, and as far as talent there really wasn’t a whole lot of talent. The guys in the clubhouse just had such a great time and a lot of these guys are here. I think it has a lot to do with a winning ball club. You have 25 different personalities and you might have a couple of confrontations during the year that just doesn’t seem to help a ball club. I think it helps totally.

What sort of things about pro sports you had to learn the hard way that nobody told you about?

It was just a battle. You leave home for eight and a half months out of the year, that’s the toughest thing for me being from the south I love being with my family. It’s just something I don’t think any young 18 year old is prepared to do to leave home for that long a time and know you can’t go home on any flight you want to. That’s your job for eight months and it’s 100 percent commitment and I think that’s why you see the signing bonuses and all that stuff. It’s a tough life, it’s every kid’s dream to do what we do, but it’s the traveling and being away from your families and not only that when you’re struggling during the year it’s a tough thing to go through because you don’t really have any family people around. So this team is the people you try to get some feedback from and the coaching staff and you pretty much have to be a family and that’s the best thing is probably when they’re real close and they talk about the game and just have a lot of fun.

How do you handle the people yelling and the loud mouths?

I think it’s fun.  My best times I pitch is in New York. It’s just fans, they don’t hate you, they might say everything to make you think it but they don’t even know who you are, they don’t know anything about your life or what you’ve been through, they’re just supporting their team. I think New York has a unbelievable feeling in that ball park just because of the way the fans back their team and it’s a fun place to play.

How do you get along with the umpires?

I never talk to them. It’s not that I don’t want to but I’ve never really known one umpire as long as I’ve been playing. I think there’s kind of a fine line in between players and umpires and it’s not like you’re going to maybe go have dinner with one of the umpires. I think it might look a little funny and that’s probably the way they think of it too.

What about knockdowns, brush-backs and retaliation?

It happens. A lot of times it happens when other pitchers really aren’t trying to do it.  A couple of guys get hit and you’ve got to protect your team. If you show as a pitcher you’re willing to step up and push somebody back off the plate when they’ve hit a couple of your big players then it’s just the way the game’s played.

You take it upon yourself as a pitcher to do that?

It gives you a bunch of respect from your teammates if you do it and not have to have somebody else let you know, “hey, they’ve rushed back a couple of guys, they’ve hit a couple of guys.” You need to start pitching in a little bit harder to let them know you’re need to come at them. I think if you could take it upon yourself to do it you just gain so much more respect and your teammates will appreciate it.

So by pitching in, you take that upon yourself to send the message?

I think every pitcher has to pitch in. It’s just a matter of when a pitcher is pitching in so much he starts nailing a couple of our hitters that’s the time when I think as a starting pitcher you’ve got to take the responsibility of letting them know that you’re going to protect your team just like they should be doing for theirs.

Do you have any thoughts on being traded?

Pretty much every year just because you hear all the reporters every year asking, “your name’s coming up a lot and they’re talking trade.” It’s like I said there’s 29 other teams compared to Seattle and if I could play this game as long as my arm will let me, I could care less if I played for the whole 30.

What would you tell a high school kid about professional baseball?

It’s a responsibility you’ve got to take upon yourself to just know that you have to work hard. Even in high school I felt like I was a really good worker. I played with some really good ball players at a young age and I think it’s helped me over the years stay consistent and have a real good work ethic. If you’re really inconsistent in this game it’s going to show on the field and a lot of guys get weaseled out just because they won’t run or they won’t lift and they don’t think it’s important. I think all the good guys that show that they’re willing to work and do all the things it takes to stay healthy for one, those are the guys that are good for it.