How to get ready for Game One of the ALCS

Barry Zito and Nate Robertson both blog.

As the visitor, Robertson goes first. The entry at Nate Robertson's Gum Time. Gum Time? Is Back to Business.

It's back to business. We've put closure to what we've done this past weekend. Guys are out there and they're loose and they're having a good time and they're enjoying being here for the League Championship Series. But also beyond just enjoying being here, it's going to be back to business come together. It's just an exceptional feeling, especially not knowing coming into the season where we were actually going to be at this point.

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The media coverage here is certainly something that we're not used to, but we know it goes along with being one of the final four teams in baseball playing. You just have to deal with that. Whether we get the attention or not, all we want is what's rightfully ours. When things are said about us and people remember us, we want to be remembered for the right reasons and not because somebody else didn't play well. If you can't play your best game this time of year, then you got beat. It's not because you didn't play good enough to win. That's the biggest thing. We've earned what we got, and that's why we're here.

Here is an explanation for the blog title: Why I Chew Bubble Gum. It's a kind of a rally cap, I guess. Kids these days.

As the home team, Zito gets the last word:

Today, I was asked about clubhouse chemistry in my press conference and how it’s changed. It’s kind of tough to really put your finger on a tangible difference between different teams, because you have so many different personalities brought into the mix. I can say overall that the consistency in the team dynamic has always been that we’re nice and loose, we’re relaxed. Billy Beane sets the tone for having kind of a pressure-free environment. He’s not this suit who’s going to come down to the locker room and grill guys and get on them and make big scenes and let everyone know what’s expected of the team.

From mlb.com

I wonder if Billy Beane expects that baseball to be used as a hacky sack?

More Zito:

Tonight [Monday], I’m just going to chill out at my house. Watch a movie, surf the Internet, play some guitar. Just relax. Same old stuff for me. It’s just another start. Everything around me seems a little more intense or amplified, but my preparation out there on the mound is just about 60 feet and six inches, me and a catcher and a hitter, and if we win, we win. If we lose, we lose. Time will play itself out.

Okay, California. Later, Dude.