Oct. 9 John Gibbons postgame interview

Q. You talked the other night about the difference that Josh and Russ made to this clubhouse when they arrived. They were both involved in that game-winning play. What is it about what they do that has made the difference for you guys?

JOHN GIBBONS: First, I want to start off and congratulate the Rangers. It was a heck of a series. Both teams were worthy of it. They played a great brand of baseball. Best record in the American League. It’s not easy to do. And once you get in the playoffs, it’s a coin toss. And you gotta get some breaks. We turned this month over, we got really hot and we played great baseball. But at this point tip your hat to those guys. They played — they’re a great team. Well, you know, I’ve said many times, I think Josh and Russ were the first two newcomers here of the group that’s in there. For one thing they brought some toughness to us. The previous couple of years I didn’t think we had enough of that. And it’s kind of the reputation. I’d seen Josh from afar, playing in Oakland. Knew what he was about. And don’t get me wrong don’t miss conceive anything, but that’s just his style of baseball. We got him. It rubbed off on our guys. And I’d seen Russ a little bit, but his reputation is the same way, a hard-nosed guy. And Russ is the backbone of this team. And of course we added some similar type players. Trade deadline and the ones that are still here, Tulowitzki, the same type of guy. They made a big difference, because you can have a ton of talent, but if you don’t have some toughness, some gamers and some guys that are really motivated every day to win, you know, you come up empty.Q. I know around this time of year everybody’s banged up, but just going back to Josh, how hard has it been on him with the injuries, but just seeing what he’s doing, the defense, how aggressive he is running the bases?

JOHN GIBBONS: Well, I mean, he’s banged up. He plays every day. But there’s a few of them out there as well. He’s mentioned to me a couple of times the last couple of years late in the season I’m riding him into the ground. When you’re an MVP-caliber player you’re supposed to be out there, right? That’s a joke. But he makes things happen. You look at that game — you know, Matt Bush was dealing. What a job he did. And Josh comes up with the — not trying to hit a home run, just took that great swing, the double in the gap to set that all up. But for a guy that’s really a true slugger, I mean, he uses the whole field. He’s a smart player. He’ll …

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