Edwin Jackson Arizona Diamondbacks (5/2/2004)

What’s your pitching philosophy?

I don’t know.  I think pitching is a game of inches. I think staying aggressive, pitching the innings, and putting the ball in play, get you outs.  I think it’s about not trying to miss the bat, but trying to have contact with the bat is the way I always looked at it.

Not the strikeouts?

I always looked at it as try to hit the bat.  Let them make contact.

What’s your strength right now?

Right now, my strength in pitching I would say my fastball.  I throw everything off of my fastball.

What’s your out-pitch?

The out pitch would be the slider.

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

Depending on the situation, early in the game I pitch for my strengths.  I’ll challenge the batter to his strength. I give it my best and throw to his best and see who comes out on top.  But, then again, it goes back to the situation.

Do you approach hitters individually or do you have one basic approach?

I approach hitters as a batter-to-batter thing. I don’t throw to everyone the same way.  Some people have strengths, and some people have weaknesses that are my strengths and my weaknesses.  So I so I would say I go hitter to hitter.

Now, it seems at times, they say this guy has all the talent in the world, but he doesn’t seem to go as far in the ranks as some guy with lesser talent.  Do you ever see that?  Do you think that’s true?

Sometimes it’s true. Sometimes you have the people that don’t necessarily have all the tools. They know they have to work harder and they go and give it 110 percent.  When you have someone that has the tools might just go give a 100 percent, when a 100 percent might not be enough.

Do you think the first-round draft picks get more chances?

I’m not sure there’s more invested in them. I don’t know. Maybe sometimes, but in general I think everyone has a fair chance.

You think once you start playing ball everybody gets the same chance no matter what?

I think so. I think talent speaks for itself.

When you go to spring training and there’s all kind of pitchers that are just as talented as you, how do you approach that competition?

Try to be the hardest worker. You want to be the leader of a group. You don’t want to be the follower.  You want to be first at everything.  Try to stay ahead of the pack.

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

Never.

Do you read the sports pages and scouting reports about you in Baseball America, prospect lists?

Not really.

Does that have any effect on you?

No.

How does the chemistry in the clubhouse affect a baseball team?

I would say everything starts from the clubhouse.  If you have good chemistry in the clubhouse it’s going to carry over to the field. Everybody’s going to play as a team.  If you have bad chemistry it’s going to be I, I, I.  It’s not going to be a team thing.  It’s going to be everyone for themselves.

What are the things about pro-sports about pro baseball you learned the hard way that nobody told you about?

You have to get used to the traveling.  If you’re not used to traveling, the traveling will get you.  Time zone to time zone you might get off a plane, sleep a couple of hours and go to the field.  I would say definitely the traveling.

How have you handled the fans and loudmouths, people yelling and screaming?

You don’t hear it.  You zone it out.  You might hear a blurt or two every now and then but once the game starts it’s one big noise. You don’t hear one specific thing.

How about the umpires?  How do you handle the umpires?

Show no emotions; throw a pitch.  If you don’t think it’s where it is, get the ball back and keep throwing.  Show no emotions.  They see no emotions the next time maybe they give it to you.

What are your opinions on knockdowns, brush-backs and retaliation?

It’s part of baseball.  It’s always been a part of baseball.  I think it always will be a part of baseball.

Now being a pitcher, you know when your guys get hit on purpose. You hit guys; the other team hits your guys; that happens in baseball.  That’s just part of baseball.  You know and everybody knows when somebody does something like that on purpose, right?  Have you ever retaliated?  Do you take it upon yourself?  Or does somebody have to tell you?

It just depends. Sometimes it may be deceiving.  Sometimes it might be a retaliation situation but it might be a situation where you’re in trouble and you can’t really retaliate. I think it’s just all about sticking up for your team. You stick up for your team. They see you have their back; they’re definitely going to have your back.

Do you have any thoughts on being traded?

I never think about it.

What do you tell young kids in high school about professional baseball?

The game is still baseball, everyone’s smarter, and everyone’s stronger. The game doesn’t change it’s just played faster. In reality you’re still throwing a ball and you still hitting it and catching it.