Curtis Granderson talked to WDFN-AM on 2/21/08

Part 1

Curtis Granderson: Cabrera, Willis, Jones and Renteria are gelling with new team; Looking to improve on last year

FREE PRESS STAFF AND SERVICES

• February 23, 2008

Tigers outfielder Curtis Granderson talked to WDFN-AM (1130) on Thursday:

Your clubhouse has changed a little bit. Some more big names come in, the Brandon Inge situation that’s kind of up in the air. Do you detect something different or is it guys all the same?

For the most everybody’s the same, you know, were adding the new additions and everybody’s gelling with Cabrera, and Dontrelle, and Jacque Jones, and Edgar Renteria. It’s almost like they’ve been here for five, ten years now. Myself and Brandon Inge, we’re still playing like we always do. He hit me with two baseballs today so it’s my goal to hit him tomorrow and that’s just how we are all year round.

Is it amazing to you, as it is to some of us, it was just two years ago this time the big question was who’s coming up North Curtis Granderson or Nook Logan, and Curtis Granderson has become the ambassador of baseball, all the success that you had last year with the hits, the stolen bases, and everything and, Nook Logan he’s still in the Major Leagues but you’re up here and he’s wherever.

It’s amazing how stuff goes from one year to another. I still talk to Nook on a pretty decent basis and I think he actually just signed with the Dodgers, if I’m correct, so he’s still trying to make a run at it, get everything back going we talk in the offseason as much as we can, also during the season. He’s still one of the great friends of mine I met through baseball, and our relationship remains that way.

Speaking of friends, when the Cabrera trade occurred, you were with Cameron Maybin like two days before, and explain that, and you guys became really good friends, everyone thought you guys would be rivals.

It’s amazing. Everyone tried to put us together. The funny thing was Cameron stayed at my place a couple times when we were down here in spring training. We always go eat together, we’d always go shopping together, whatever it happened to be, and sure enough we were down here in Florida working out, right before the trade goes down, sure enough once the trade goes down everyone calls him, calls me, so are you happy now that you guys are separated? And of course both are answers were no. We were hoping we’d get the chance to play together in Comerica Park together, unfortunately that hasn’t happened. He’s in a great situation along with Rabelo, and Andrew Miller and we’re continuing to move forward here in Detroit.

It’s really amazing because you cant put a peg on Curtis Granderson, like he’s going to be this speedy leadoff guy, the centerfielder, but then you add power to your game, then you have the 20/20/20/20 double, whatever, triples, home runs, whatever, I’m missing it, looks like you keep adding layers to your game each year, people say you’re eventually going to be a middle of the order hitter, as opposed to a leadoff hitter. Is that fine with no label? How do you label yourself?

Yeah, I don’t like to fall into: got to do it this way, got to do it that way. Lloyd McClendon’s been like that. We’re not going to go up there trying to draw walks, if a walk happens great. We’re not going to try to hit the ball out of the ballpark, but if it does great. It’s interesting, you mentioned the middle of the lineup, with the acquisition we made, I don’t planning on being there anytime soon, but if they happen to move me up, move me up down, move me to the middle, I’m just going to adapt where it happens to be. That’s the way I kind of look at it, I’m just going to adapt to the situation each year.

Do you try to add something to your game each year? Do you pinpoint do this more or do this better?

It’s not necessarily a main focus, but I did know last year I’m going to come in and I said hey, I’m going to try and get a couple more doubles from singles out of the box right away, and I think I got four or five of them through the course of the season. I think that, also, instead of having a double, now I have a triple on this play. So trying to do one thing ended opening up a couple more things. So we’ll see what moving forward this spring is going to have talking with Andy Van Slyke, talking with McClendon to see what our main focus is going to be, and try to do something different this year.

You did cut your strikeouts down by 30 and you had more at-bats is that something that you’re conscious of as well?

It is, just because everybody talks about it so much. It’s one of those things that, hey, you led the league in strikeouts in 2006, so of course I’m going to try to find a way to improve on that. I did, but again there’s still ways that I got to try to improve on it even more, because I was still in the tops again, but looking at that, looking at my numbers against left-handed pitchers, and what not, and also my numbers of errors made in the outfield, there’s a lot of things I still have to continue to improve on.

What fuels Curtis Granderson?

It’s not necessarily I want to prove people wrong, that’s my main focus, at the same time I like to read and listen to everything that’s negative out there. The fact that I had too many strikeouts the year before, the fact that I am struggling against left-handed pitching; now that’s my goal. Everyone’s talking about it so that’s what I focus on, and then, hopefully, the next year, like I did this past year I can improve upon it. It’s not going to be drastic, I’m not planning on the season to hit .400 against left-handed pitchers, but if I see any improvement than the season’s a success.

In this division with the rivalry between you guys and the other teams especially Cleveland, you and Grady Sizemore, people pit against each other who’s a better centerfielder, what kind of relationship do you have with him, so you guys joke about that at all?

We don’t get a chance to talk too much, for one he’s not at a position where I can get on base and talk to him. I can’t go out to centerfield, but we’re always missing each other. We’ve said hi a couple times. I had him autograph a baseball for one of my friends. We’re pretty cool. I think the good thing about it, is it puts Detroit and Cleveland on the map more, so you have the Pistons-Cavs rival and now you have the Tigers and Indians rival so it’s great for the two cities that are close together.

Is it ever possible to ever have too many good hitters? It looks like you guys all do different things. Is it possible to have too many stars, too many superstars on a baseball team?

I think the one thing you touched on and we have so many different aspects on our team. You got a guy like Polanco who’s going to go ahead and get hits but he’s not going to draw a bunch of walks, because he’s constantly putting the ball in play, then you got power right after that, so its not like we got a bunch of guys that have 40 home runs or 50 home runs. I think there was the same type of good guys on our team then we’d be in a little bit of a problem. We got guys with speed, guys that walk, guys that hit for power, guys that drive in runs and its going to be mixed wherever Leyland happens to put us, that is going to be the key, the fact that we can mix an match where we want.

How many times have you looked at the catch you made against Boston?

It was amazing. The only reason I was able to watch it a lot is because it happened right at the All-Star break, so when I came home back to Chicago to sit and relax it was on TV a lot, so I got a chance to see it a few amount of times but one of the things people have said wow people forgot how far you had to run. I’m looking it as I forgot it was Wily Mo Pena I need to move back a little bit this guys huge, so that’s one of the ways I look at it. Working with Andy Van Slyke made that possibility of making that play.

You don’t spend a lot of time relaxing in the offseason, you’re always doing something. What was the goodwill baseball, ambassador baseball thing, where you went to Africa?

I try my best to relax but most my relaxation comes on the airplane so I flew to Africa for a little bit. We tried to promote the game of baseball. I was in Detroit doing our celebrity game, did the commentating for TBS and also ESPN this year in Bristol, Connecticut, down in Atlanta, did the Pepsi clutch performer out in L.A. the plane is my second home. I can sleep on any and every plane I’m like a baby in a car.

What’s the strangest thing you ate? Do they cook like giraffes and things like that?

Surprisingly, their main dish is ostrich. They love ostrich steak and what not. We went to a Brazilian steakhouse which is similar to the ones we have here in the U.S., but they had the chicken and the beef and the pork and what not, but they did have game food like you mentioned giraffe, and deer, and crocodile and zebra and what not my favorite was giraffe I loved it, it was great.

Curtis Granderson, part two: Red Sox and Indians still ahead of Tigers; Staying hungry and healthy is key

FREE PRESS STAFF AND SERVICES • February 23, 2008

Tigers outfielder Curtis Granderson talked to WDFN-AM (1130) on Thursday:

We all look at it, and we look at this roster, and we look at this team, and we say they’re going to make the playoffs, of course, and maybe even make the World Series, it looks like they should. Do you look at it like this team definitely should be in the playoffs?

We look at it as we want to. We want to get back to the playoffs. It was a lot of fun in ’06 and I think we fell short in ’07. Of course one of the things a lot of people forget is the Indians played great last year. They won the division outright, plain and simple. We also got to remember the Boston Red Sox are the defending champs. So there’s still two teams right ahead of us that we still got to knock off first and foremost, but we’d love to get back there. There’s no other place to be in October than playing. I got a chance to commentate it last year, but I want other people commentating me this October, this year.

What is the hardest thing about playing Major League Baseball?

I would say one of the hardest things about playing in Detroit is actually Comerica Park. It’s a tough field to play in the outfield in 04 and 05, when I came up we had difficulty judging balls during day games, so at first we thought, there’s not that many fans sitting behind home plate, now we’ve been packing the place, selling it out and we still can’t see out there.

There’s a glare of some sort right?

I’m not sure if it’s glare off shirts, glare off seats, glare off of what, and I thought it was just myself, but I’ve seen Torii Hunter misjudge balls, Ichiro misjudge balls during day games. So hopefully if were making the schedule up, lets get as many night games in there as possible.

I’ve heard people say that because the stadium is sort of tilted a certain way directionally and the sun somehow messes it up.

The sun is hitting the wrong angle so we need to go ahead and rotate the stadium around.

You mention Cleveland and the Red Sox; do you guys think we can win the World Series?

We think we can contend with any team, no matter who we happen to play on that give day. So looking forward to March 31, now to the end of the season, come that day whoever the opponent happens to be, we feel confident enough that we can contend with that team, as long as we continue to do that, and we’re confident enough to hopefully make the playoffs. If we happen to continue to make it back to the World Series again we’re going to continue to be confident that we can close this thing out finally.

You’re not worried about the pitching at all, especially the bullpen?

The guys have done a great job. They’re learning a lot from the experience that we brought in, Dontrelle, again having a World Series ring is over there helping to teach some of these guys. Bonderman as young as he is, is a veteran over there, and again we still got Todd Jones back there, who’s been doing lights out things, and again experience back there, so that’s one of the big things again, experience, the chemistry that we have, and just guys being hungry to want to go back out there.

Is the only thing that can stop this lineup is you guys yourselves?

I’ve used two things: hungry, which again puts in the complacency. We got to go out there, and to continue to get better, and hopefully stay healthy. If we can continue to have that lineup consistently in there day in and day out for 160 plus games, or as close to that mark as we can, then we got a shot just like everybody else does.

Who’s your Final Four?

I got to put Kansas back in there. I got to get Kansas in there. I’m going to get N.C. in there, they’ve been impressive. I don’t want to do this but, again, Duke’s looked impressive. I’m going to take away Memphis. I don’t think they’re going to make that run, and I’m going to probably go with another team from the Big 12 in Texas. They played well when they had Kansas coming in there, so that’s going to be my four; Big 12-big ACC matchup in the Final Four this year.

Giraffe?

Go :curtis: !!!!

But forget the Giraffe eating here! Not for me!

3/21/08 ? Is Granderson a time traveler? Just Kidding!

Thanks for the article;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6_RJib45A4

GO :curtis: !!!

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

But forget the Giraffe eating here! Not for me!

I thought eating giraffe was illegal? brob and I were discussing which kind of animals we would eat once (we were bored). I think both of us said no to giraffe (along with horses, cats, dogs, elephants, rhinoceroses, etc.) and I think I looked it up and discovered giraffe eating was illegal - at least in certain countries.

yes the Tigers lok great on paper...go Tigers 2008!

GO TIGS