SAN FRANCISCO — When Doug Fister first takes the field at AT&T Park on Monday, he will step off the mound and take a minute to soak it all in.
He’ll look around at the 40,000 fans in the seats, all of them waiting for him to make a mistake and give the San Francisco Giants a pitch to hit. He’ll think of the tens of thousands more watching from his nearby hometown of Merced, California, or Washington D.C., or other towns and cities across the country. He’ll take a deep breath.
“Then let it go,” he said, “and get back to business.”Â
The Washington Nationals acquired Fister from the Detroit Tigers in the offseason in part because of his postseason experience and success, which he said Sunday is predicated on blocking out the noise. So in Game 3 of the National League Division Series, with the team’s season in the balance, Fister’s mind will not be on the circumstances, the fans or anything else beyond the mound.
“For me, I need to focus on that first pitch,” he said Sunday. “And after that first one, I need to go to the second one. And I can’t look at anything bigger than that. It’s something that I have to make sure that I fine tune and stay focused on that fine‑tuned, one‑pitch‑at‑a‑time mentality.”
Monday will mark Fister’s most important moment in a Nationals jersey. With ace Madison Bumgarner starting for the Giants, a rough start by Fister would all but doom Washington’s hopes of avoiding a sweep. And he knows it.
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“I have to go out there and set the tone,” Fister said. “I have to go out there and start throwing strikes and get our defense involved.”
Fister won a team-high 16 games this season and finished fourth in the National League with a 2.41 earned-run average. He has made seven career postseason starts and his team has won six of them, with Fister posting a 2.06 ERA during that span.
“It never changes with him,” Nationals manager Matt Williams said. “Certainly experience within the playoffs and World Series helps everybody [who] has a chance to experience it, but he’s unfazed.”
Fister hasn’t made a start in 10 days because of the four-day layoff between the team’s regular-season finale and Game 1 of the NLDS. He pitched in an intrasquad scrimmage at Nationals Park on Wednesday and said he has otherwise maintained the same routine.Â
On Monday, Fister will try to do what he has done all season: work fast, attack the bottom of the strike zone with his sinking fastball and induce groundballs.
“You know he’s going to throw strikes. You know he’s going to pound the zone, pitch to contact,” center fielder Denard Span. “But defensively, as a fielder, you like that, because you know it keeps you on your toes. You know there’s going to be action and he’s going to throw strikes. You’re ready to go. You never get flat-footed.”
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Despite the do-or-die nature of Monday’s game, the heightened attention to and importance of every pitch, Fister said he won’t change his mind-set. In order to be consistent on the mound, he says, you also must be consistent in your approach.
“You can’t all of a sudden change your plan or your routine or anything else,” Fister said. “I try and go about my day the same as I have for the last six months.”
• Tom Schad can be reached at tschad@washingtontimes.com.
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