Coming off his first trip to the post-season, Gibsons' Ryan Dempster says he has some unfinished business.
The 30-year-old hurler with the Chicago Cubs went 2-7 last year with 28 saves, helping the Cubs to the Central Division title in the National League. The Cubs lost their first round series 3-0 to the Arizona Diamondbacks with Dempster seeing very limited action.
Dempster was back in town just after New Year's Eve for a short visit with family and friends. He sat down with Coast Reporter over coffee for an in-depth interview on his thoughts about the upcoming season, what his goals are for the year, his return to the starting rotation after two seasons as the Cubs closer, the state of the current game and the steroids and drug testing policies that are currently dominating sports headlines in every major U.S. daily newspaper.
Coast Reporter: What was it like to win the division and get to the playoffs after such an up and down season?
Ryan Dempster: It was big for us. We were 10 and a half games out at one point and to come back and win our division by two or three games was huge. We fought through a lot of stuff. Whether it was just us not playing well, fights in the dugout and different things like that, we just seemed to turn things around and start playing really well, towards the end of the year especially. We had a lot of guys who stepped up. It was a big accomplishment to win the division. That's what you set out at the beginning of the year to do.
CR: What was your mindset going into the playoffs?
Dempster: Going into the playoffs we had as good a chance as anybody of winning, but we just didn't play well for three games. When you play a five-game series, you have to play well every game. We lost the first game in a tough, close game and after that we didn't get it done. We didn't hit well throughout and we had a few games where we didn't pitch well for one inning and that one inning cost us the game. It was a combination of a few things - when you don't hit and you don't pitch, it's kind of tough to win a short series like that. It was a good experience a lot of fun and hopefully we can build on that this season.
CR: How exciting was it to be in your first post season and get to pitch?
Dempster: I pitched in one game and we were down 8-4, but it was fun. The adrenaline was flowing and obviously the intensity is a lot higher. You're hanging on every pitch.
CR: Was it frustrating for you in the role you were in to not be able to get in there and help the team win?
Dempster: I think it was frustrating being behind every game. When you're constantly playing catch-up it's just frustrating in general. It was frustrating for us as a team. I would have liked to see us come out and play hard, roll through the games, have some fun and move onto the next round like [Arizona] did to us. That was probably more frustrating. In the playoffs, that's the time of the year where you want to be in every game and contribute. Unfortunately, my role never came up - we didn't need a closer in any of the three days. It was a lot of fun, but it was also a bummer.
CR: You are going back to being a starter. Are you excited for the challenge and the opportunity?
Dempster: I'm excited. It's what I did my whole life. Most people don't understand, including a lot of people in Chicago, that I never asked to close. They asked me to close and so, I said yeah, I would and I went down and did a good job with it, but I like starting, I enjoy it. I enjoy all the processes that go into it - between the work in between starts and the actual starting itself. Closing, there is not a bigger adrenaline rush, between warming up and going in and pitching. But being a closer is like being a kicker in the NFL. You can kick 40 in a row, but as soon as you miss one to lose a game, it's your fault. I miss starting and I want to do it.
CR: Are you preparing any differently going into spring training?
Dempster: A little bit. It's not easy to go from 70 to 75 innings the last three years to throwing 200 - that's a tough thing to do not only for your arm, but also for your body. If you get your body in as good enough shape as possible and your legs as strong as possible, that will in turn allow your arm to hold up to that many innings. I've been getting myself in good shape and preparing myself to go out and pitch 34 starts and 200 innings.
It's not just physical preparation, it's also mental preparation. As a closer you might come in and throw nine pitches and they might all be fastballs. As a starter you use your fastball, your off-speed pitches, your change-up a lot more. You're watching video and already starting a bit of a game plan on certain hitters. That's the one thing about the Big Leagues - it's such a game of adjustments. It's the people who can adjust from pitch to pitch who are the really good ones out there. Not from inning to inning or game to game, it's whether you can make that adjustment from pitch to pitch, and that comes from experience. I look back now, and last time I started I was 27 years old - three years ago. Now I've gained some experience and some knowledge. I've been around some guys who know the game and try to learn as much as possible from them and try to implement that into when I go out to pitch.
Editor's note: Part two of our Dempster interview will appear in the Jan. 25 edition of Coast Reporter sports.
