Mets outfielder Curtis Granderson took some hacks at some Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby:
Q: What do you like best about this team?
A: I think it’s a mixture of young and old. I think it’s a team that has fun, I think a team that doesn’t get too serious, understanding what actually is going on and understands that we still have a lot of baseball to play — there’s ups and downs — never getting caught up in the outside. I think one thing that [former long-time manager] Jim Leyland brought to my attention one season was “Don’t believe the hype.” It’s really easy to look and say, “Wow, we got these guys and we got those guys and we’re going to do X, Y and Z.” But regardless of what you have, you still got to go out there and produce and perform, and I think this team has done an amazing job no matter what’s been written and what had been said about this team, especially on the outside, there’s a lot of optimism, but you still got to go out there and produce no matter who you happen to be playing against.
Q: Can this team win a World Series?
A: I definitely think so.
Q: How does this team compare to your Tigers team that lost in the 2006 World Series?
A: You had a team that hadn’t necessarily been there in a while. You mixed in a couple of veterans along with some guys … and it kind of flowed really well together.
Q: How hungry are you to finally win a World Series ring?
A: The days of two or three teams dominating the American League or the National League I think are over with. … It would be great to get a chance to go to the final two teams left in baseball and be remembered as a team that’s won it. Another thing that was mentioned too, is no one remembers the runner-ups, which is definitely true. I’m now one of those teams that people don’t necessarily remember because we lost to St. Louis in ’06.
Q: What is the key to thriving in a September pennant race?
A: A lot of it’s just timing, I think. I don’t necessarily think there’s a specific formula — you got to get hot and get hot at the right time, and unfortunately in baseball, you never know exactly when that’s going to be.
Q: Does your blood boil with excitement when you come to the park?
A: It’s fun because you know you’re going to have a lot of people in the ballpark, which is cool, especially as you get later in the season. I’ve been on the opposite side where people know the season’s basically over with, and they go ahead and turn their attention to other things, but when everyone continues to keep that focus on you guys, it makes it definitely a lot more fun to come to the ballpark.
Q: How would you feel about a Subway Series?
A: It’d be fun. I remember talking to [Derek] Jeter about it when he played in it, and he said the city was rocking, it was on edge, and they felt they needed to win that, and obviously they did. So given the opportunity to be back in that same situation, obviously each team is going to feel the need to win that. But will it be as intense as before? Who knows? Hopefully it would be. Hopefully it’d be a chance to look back and legitimately call it a rematch.
Q: Is it a pipe dream? Or is it more than a pipe dream that it could happen?
A: It’s definitely a possibility, but there’s a lot of other great teams in this game that are playing, and it’s amazing how teams continue to get better — teams you think are out of it, make a move here or there, including us, and all of a sudden, it’s a completely different lineup than it was two, three months ago.
Q: How do you deal with stress?
A: Just try to relax and get away from it a little bit … watch television, communicate with friends and family … just chill out as best I can.
Q: Playing the outfield behind Matt Harvey. What have you observed about him?
A: Poise, confidence, wants the ball. Definitely aggressive. Looks to attack and wants to be out there every fifth day when given the opportunity to do so.
Q: Jacob deGrom?
A: A person who’s been able to develop into what he has been today, considering the road and path that he’s taken, not necessarily being a pitcher starting out his career, transitioning to that, and having the athletic ability and mixing it in with the ability to be able to pitch — because there’s guys that definitely can throw hard, and there’s a lot of them in baseball, but not everybody has the ability to go out there and pitch, and he’s been able to do that.
Q: Any reason you haven’t grown your hair like his?
A: I wouldn’t go through the hat phase of it, so if I could wane up with a ’fro I would do it (smile), but I don’t want to go through the in-between phase of it.
Q: Noah Syndergaard?
A: Definitely physical presence, one of the taller pitchers in the game, and size-wise … power, able to attack. I think feeding off of the other pitchers around him, when they go out there and pitch well, he’s looking to go out there and rebound with a very similar performance. And if there’s a performance ahead of him that isn’t as good, he’s looking to go ahead and try to stop that.
Q: How would you compare Terry Collins and Jim Leyland?
A: I would say both very experienced, been around the game for a long time, had some great players that they’ve got a chance to coach and/or manage. Jim Leyland, I think, is probably one of the best managers I’ve ever had in terms of handling personalities, no matter if you’re the highest-paid guy or the new guy on the team. Terry Collins, obviously working alongside with Leyland, has taken some of that and put that into his management qualities as he’s handled different teams. And at the same time, he’s not necessarily a big speech guy, he’s not a big yell guy, he’s not a big meeting guy. I think Leyland was a little bit more of that, but neither one of them is a good or bad thing, it’s just the way their personalities happen to be.
Q: Yoenis Cespedes?
A: Still learning about him, but calm … probably a little calmer than I imagined coming in. Willing to adapt, came in right away, said, “Hey, I can play all three outfield positions.” Can bat anywhere in the lineup. Is probably as close to a five-tool guy as I’ve seen in baseball — can run, can throw, can hit for power, can hit for average, and plays defense obviously very well.
Q: Do you think he’s intimidating in the batter’s box?
A: Possibly. The swings he takes, teams get a chance to watch his batting practice prior to games … there’s certain guys that can do some things in batting practice, you’re like “Wow!” or if given the opportunity to watch, there’s a guy that you want to watch, and he’s definitely one of ’em.
Q: David Wright’s captaincy style compared to Derek Jeter’s?
A: From a captain’s standpoint, I think those guys do a good job of just making sure everybody’s ready to play. Understanding that even on days where things don’t necessarily look right, you still got to go ahead and try to continue to make sure everybody’s up and up — it doesn’t necessarily have to be a rah-rah pep guy like you would assume I guess on a high school captain standpoint, but a guy where people can look to and lead by example.
Q: Your best Mets moment so far?
A: Probably taking the field last year here at Citi Field to start the season off. Any time you get a chance to do Opening Day is obviously great, and any time you do it with a new team, it’s that much more exciting.
Q: So you haven’t had, in your mind, one signature Mets moment yet?
A: I don’t think so, except for that, getting to start things off here in the blue and orange, got a chance to go through free agency for the first time, and finally get a chance to step on the field as a Met.
Q: How come slumps don’t bother you?
A: It’s part of the game. And quickly, in a matter of one at-bat, things can change, one game, things can change.
Q: Best Yankees moment?
A: Probably getting a chance to bat behind Jeter for his 3,000th hit. Being on deck for it, feeling the crowd go through that moment, and the intensity and everything he did on that particular day. Then he hits the home run for his 3,000th hit. I’m one of the first guys close to him (smile). Jorge Posada sprinted past me, rightfully so, to go meet him and greet him. But to get a chance to watch all that stuff unfold was pretty cool.
Q: How amazed are you that Alex Rodriguez, at age 40, has had the season he’s had?
A: I think it’s a testament to how competitive he is, how great of a player he is. He’s never going to put himself in a situation where he can’t be his best. I would bet that he was hitting with somebody, he was fielding with somebody, running with someone, working out with somebody, constantly trying to improve so when he got his opportunity to get back on the field, the best of Alex that could be was going to get a chance to come out.
Q: Will you play until 40?
A: I don’t know. When I was 25, I said I’d love to play til I was 35, and now I get a chance to pass that right now, and then talking to Robinson Cano, actually on our flight to Taiwan, when we played in a postseason exhibition and stuff, I asked him, and he goes, “Yeah, I want to play as long as I can,” and I asked him why, and it opened my eyes to it, he goes, “You’re only going to get one chance to do this, so why not take advantage and do it for as long as you can, because when it’s all done, you’re never going to get a chance to go back and do it.” So if given the opportunity and teams want me to play, I definitely want to do it, but I don’t want to be the guy that’s taking away a spot from somebody that can definitely go out there and do it better than me.
Q: Would managing or being in the front office appeal to you?
A: Managing, definitely not. Front office, possibly.
Q: Are you going to wait until you’re done playing to get married?
A: (Smile) When it’s ready to happen, it’ll happen. No set time frame or timetable on that.
Q: Are you ever in a bad mood?
A: Yeah, of course.
Q: Other than me sitting here, what gets you in a bad mood?
A: No no, not at all, there’s other things that obviously put me in bad moods, but at the same time, there’s a lot of things that, if you can control it and change it, then obviously you do things about it, but there’s a lot of things, even your actions and your responses to it still isn’t going to change the situation that you’re in, so there’s no reason to go ahead and do those type of things.
Q: Everybody has a skeleton in their closet. Do you?
A: I’m sure I do. Again, I don’t know exactly what it would be obviously that’s bothersome and stuff like that. There’s different things that do it, and there’s obviously things that upset other people and frustrate other people that would or wouldn’t for me and things that would for me that may not for you, so…
Q: How and why have the underprivileged become a cause for you and your Grand Kidd Foundation?
A: It’s not necessarily the underprivileged that I’m focused on, I’m focused on just trying to get kids in general back playing baseball, and that happens to encompass some of the people that happen to be underprivileged. But in general, it’s providing opportunities and making it available for all demographics, ethnicities, no matter where you happen to be located to get a chance to play baseball. We actually just had a 30-team tournament in the surrounding inner cities, which thanks to the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox helped to provide some of the funding to get those kids there, and the cool thing about this was you got kids from certain parts of the cities to play against other parts of the cities.
Q: Was that at Curtis Granderson Stadium?
A: Yes.
Q: When you go home, you must be like the Pied Piper.
A: Oh no, not at all (smile), just try to do the things I can, but it takes a lot of other people to help me out.
Q: You’re one of the good guys in sports. Tell me, who is Curtis Granderson?
A: I’m a big kid (smile). I like to joke and relax, I never get too intense or wrapped up in what’s going on. I try to dibble and dabble in multiple things, whether it be friendships, relationships, career, community, different things like that. And trying to help out others any way I can.
Q: Your best practical joke as a Met.
A: I got David Wright, when we were doing towel waving last year [in Cincinnati]. He didn’t want to do it at one point in time, I forgot what it was, I think he said we forgot to do it for him. I took his locker and I taped it up full of towels, and he had no clue who it was because he didn’t think I would do it. So he went after deGrom, and cut his pants up, thinking it was deGrom (chuckle). So I’m just sitting back laughing, and eventually he found out it was me. He said he was going to get me, he still hasn’t yet, so hopefully he’s forgotten about it.
Q: You live in Manhattan. Are you recognized?
A: It’s weird, both with the Yankees and with the Mets, I’ll walk by someone in full gear, and walk right by ’em. And then randomly, across the street, a guy in a truck will yell out the window at me.
Q: You’re one of the most polished, politically correct athletes I’ve ever dealt with. Now say something controversial.
A: Let’s see … I can probably go with … I had this conversation with people — if we landed on the moon, how come we’ve never been back? I think there might be some conspiracy stuff to that.
Q: You do?
A: We haven’t been back, it’s been [43] years, technology’s all gotten better, and I’ve actually looked that one up a little bit and saw something on the NASA website and it said something that that space shuttle that was made back then is no longer made any more. They’re making one now, but it costs $30 billion to be able to go there. And we’re constantly coming back, you always hear of spaceships landing: oh, so-and-so just got back from its mission … where’d they go, you know? No one else in the world has ever been, so…
Q: More sex as a Yankee or Met?
A: (Smile) I had four years with the Yankees, I had more time, so … at the end of four years, I might be able to better answer that question.