Your pitching coach is almost like your spouse. He's someone to go to when you want to gripe and complain. The big thing for me with Mel (Stottlemyre) is that we've been through so much together. He's been through everything I've been through on the mound. He was a Yankee who won twenty games in New York and a Yankee who didn't win twenty games in New York. For me, he's been there and that's what makes a good pitching coach. He's a good man, too.

He (Tommy Pettitte [father] coached me as kid. He bought all the books and videos and tried to learn as much about pitching as he could. But once I was in high school, he never tried to be my coach.

I let the other guys handle the talking. I love playing.

I've pitched in a lot of big games.

I'm not a negative-minded person. But maybe to keep me humble, I look more at my bad games in big situations than good ones.

I'm going to give up hits, so I'm going to need to get some ground balls, double plays and stuff like that. That's just kind of my game.

It kills me when I make a bad pitch...I want to be perfect out there.