Eastern League Extra:
What would you say is your best moment in baseball?
David Pauley:
Getting drafted. You ask anybody, and that's probably what
it's going to be. Other than that, getting put on the 40-man
(roster) and getting to pitch in a big league game.
ELX: How about your worst?
Pauley: I don't know, I guess giving up eight runs to
Bowie in the first inning last year.
ELX: Who's the most talented player you've ever
played with?
Pauley: Talent-wise, either Dustin Pedroia or Hanley
Ramirez. Dustin plays his hardest every day, every play he's
out doing what he does. He's a hustle guy and he does what
he can. Hanley, he's got just pure, raw talent. The kid is
going to go a long way. He can hit the ball, he runs, he's a
great fielder, he's your total package.
ELX: The Padres took you in the eighth round of the
2001 draft. You said that was your best moment in baseball,
so take me back to that day...
Pauley: I had family and friends over the house, so
we turned on the internet. The funny thing was, our internet
had shut down between the sixth round and the tenth round,
so I never even heard it. The scout that signed me called
and gave us the news. After that, it was kind of a big
party.
ELX: Baseball America had you ranked as the #7
prospect in the Padres organization in 2004. It seemed like
you were progressing as the organization had hoped and you
were on your way to the big leagues with San Diego. Did you
feel like you were on your way to the show with them?
Pauley: Yeah. Over the years, there was a steady
progression for me and each year got a little bit better. I
learned more about the game every year. Being with the
Padres, you get a lot of opportunities to pitch against
better hitters in Spring Training, and I got a couple of
opportunities to throw against older guys and bigger guys.
If I would have stayed with them, you never know. It's like
it is over here, it's timing, it's whether spots open.
ELX: So when you get traded to an organization like
the Red Sox where there's a lot of depth, what goes through
your mind?
Pauley: It's a trade where it can benefit or hurt
you. I look at it is a benefit, because being here, you're
around so many good players and it just makes you want to
perform that much better to get to that next level. Getting
an opportunity to play in an organization like the Red Sox
where there's so much history behind it; the fans are so
die-hard around here, it makes the game that much more fun.
ELX: So now that you're on the Red Sox 40-man roster,
what kind of expectations do you have of getting up to
Fenway Park?
Pauley: If not this year, as a spot start or whatever
it might be, I'll just take it year by year. When my
opportunity is given to me, I've got to make the best of it,
whether it's this year, next year or the year after. You
never know when it's going to be, and you can't really have
expectations. You just have to go out and do your job and be
in the right place at the right time.
ELX: This was your second Spring Training with the
Red Sox, and your numbers probably weren't what you wanted
them to be. You went 0-2 with a 8.18 ERA. What was your
experience like up there?
Pauley: It was a new opportunity for me, going up
against the best hitters around from every team. For my
first experience with it, I thought I handled it pretty
well, and it put me in a new mental state of the game. It's
helped me out now, where I know how to face hitters and make
adjustments on the fly. I learned a lot more about the game
being around the older guys, like (Mike) Timlin, (Tim)
Wakefield, (Curt) Schilling and those guys. So I think there
was nothing bad about it.
ELX: Your numbers this season have been pretty good.
Were you afraid you'd lost some confidence after your Spring
Training outings?
Pauley: No, actually I think it gave me a little bit
of confidence because it wasn't like I haven't ever had a
bad outing, even up there. I did some things wrong, but I
learned from them and I took those into this year. Yeah,
I've had success so far, but it's also the team behind me.
