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2005 season November 12, 2005 The players' views on the championship game Brandon Wood (Angels - SS)
About the championship game: "Right now everybody's been playing baseball since the first of March. The days get kind of tired, but it's days like this that you grind it out so that you can play in championship games. I think everybody's excited and loose and ready to go, and finish up their season with a bang and try to get a win." What he learned from his AFL season: "Play hard and realize what the ultimate goal is ... success in the big leagues and helping the big league club win the championship some day. You've just got to keep the same mindset you had in the minor leagues about working hard and keeping that dream in mind. That's where you want to be, so just play hard between the lines and everything will work out." About playing for Team USA in the Olympic qualifying tournament: "You get a little tired, but when you're playing for your country and you're playing baseball ... we're playing a game for a living and you've got to realize that. You're not going to an office and working 9 to 5 and doing something I wouldn't want to do. It's everything I've ever dreamed about, so it's not too hard to get out and play." --------- Jarrod Saltalamacchia (Braves - C)
What he gained from his AFL season: "It's a really good league. I think I held my own, did pretty well catching-wise and offensively. Seeing this kind of pitching, I can go into spring training and use what I've learned, which is pretty much a lot. I learned how to catch pitchers and how to deal with everything." About the championship game: "We've always come out wanting to win ... that's pretty much what we've done. So in the clubhouse right now, everyone's relaxed and ready to play." About playing for Team USA in the Olympic qualifying tournament: "Everyone's tired, but once everyone gets on the field it's a whole different story. The adrenaline starts pumping and you just forget about it. I think everyone's ready." --------- Charlton Jimerson (Astros - OF)
About the championship game: "It's one game, so you never know. It doesn't matter how many times you beat the other team during the Fall League season. It's only one game, so it's whoever plays their best today. You never really know, but there seems to be a little impatient anxiety to see what's going to happen today." About his second season in the AFL: "The biggest factor of playing the Fall League this year is seeing myself develop and being able to compete as the competition gets better. I can take that because I'll be competing against guys with a higher level of performance, so I have to perform at a high level, too, in order to stay on top of my game."
All photos on the Arizona Fall League Report are credited to Bill Mitchell, unless noted otherwise, and are not to be used for any other purpose without express permission.
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