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May 17, 2010

The Week in Quotes

Week of May 10-16

by Alex Carnevale

AND THE PLAN TO CLONE ZACK GREINKE HAD AN AUSPICIOUS BEGINNING

"Hopefully the cavalry is coming sooner or later for the people of Kansas City and the Royals."
—fired Royals manager Trey Hillman, who was replaced by Ned Yost.

"I'm not happy I'm leaving at all. It's the last thing I wanted. I want to keep fighting. There's 127 games left, there's a lot of season left, a lot of good things can happen for this club."
—Hillman

"There won’t be any second-guessing. I have the ultimate respect for the people I work for, but to put it into perspective, sometimes things in this business work and sometimes they don’t."
—Hillman

"Trey Hillman is an incredible leader -- a very, very special person who touched the lives of many people in the Kansas City community and throughout baseball. The recent struggles of our baseball team, however, require a change and we're making a change immediately."
—Royals general manager Dayton Moore

"As far as him losing the team or losing the clubhouse, it's probably the farthest thing from the truth. I think everyone respects him and likes him. Not only as a manager but the guy genuinely cares about you on and off the field. And in this business, it's tough to find somebody like that. And it's very unfortunate that he's not still here."
—Royals infielder Willie Bloomquist (Dick Kaegel, MLB.com)

HE WAS JUST CHECKING OUT CARLOS RUIZ' TATS OF COURSE

"As far as I'm concerned, it's out of line. It's one thing in my opinion to go out and play a club as tough as you can possibly play it within the framework of the way they've structured things to be done. And cheating, until you get caught, nobody says that you don't explore something like that. But if you're cheating and you get caught, you know what? Then you'd better do something about it. That's my reaction to that."
Rockies manager Jim Tracy after FSN cameras caught Phillies coach Mick Billmeyer using binoculars from the bullpen during the game.

"Keep crying. I'm sure if they could steal signs they would. And if we can, we will too. If we can get them legally. If you're dumb enough to let us get them it's your fault. It's been going on in the game a long time."
—Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, on Tracy's complaints.

"It's up to the pitchers to change things up. That would be our fault. But when they involved technology, that's different."
—Rockies starter Jeff Francis.

"We were for damn sure not stealing signs. We're not going to let somebody just stand out there in the bullpen with binoculars. I hope we're a little bit better than that.''
—Manuel

"You can come up with all kinds of different reasons as to why you had them or what you were doing with them. Are we to believe them all?"
—Tracy

THERE'S A RESTAURANT IN PHOENIX HE REALLY WANTS TO EAT AT

"Apparently all the people around and in minority communities think we're doing OK. That's the issue, and that's the answer. I told the clubs today: 'Be proud of what we've done.' They are. We should. And that's our answer. We control our own fate, and we've done very well."
—Commissioner Bud Selig, declining the suggestion of some groups that he move next year's All-Star Game out of Arizona.

"When outsiders come in, they give us an A as far as our diversity is concerned. We've lived up, and then some, to being a social institution. I'm very proud of it."
—Selig (Ronald Blum, Associated Press)

WHERE'S NANCY PELOSI WHEN YOU NEED HER?

"It's my intention to learn if [the shot] worked as soon as possible. If not, then we want to go right to the surgery. When healthy, we know what this guy can do, but he can't do anything for us right now."
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman on injured first baseman Nick Johnson.

"My opinion of him tweeting that he was misdiagnosed? Was not very happy with him... I talked to him. We got it all straightened out. Our doctors are here to help you and get you better, and they put in a lot effort and their time to do that, and they don’t deserve to be thrown underneath any kind of bus. If you have something to say, you should say it to me or to the doctors and not on Tweeter."
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire on Pat Neshek's Twittering.

"It's very similar to the other time, when I had to have the surgery. If I have to have surgery, I'm done for the year, and obviously that's not an option I want to explore unless absolutely necessary."
Athletics starter Justin Duchscherer, on the injury to his right hip.

TYLER COLVIN MUST BOW TO LOU ONCE MORE

"He needs to play? What we need to do is win. We keep talking about at-bats for people. We talk about people needing to play. We talk about everything but winning baseball games. That's what the hell I want to talk about ... period."
Cubs manager Lou Piniella asked whether outfielder Tyler Colvin should be sent to Triple-A for more playing time.

"They've had great seasons, and they're rewarded for that financially. But at the same time, you've got to continue to do it if you want to win. You can't stop the production."
—Piniella on the team's highly compensated veterans.

"It's just a question of being more consistent. Once we do that, we'll win more baseball games. And then everybody will be happy. The media will be happy. The manager will be happy. The players will be happy. The fans will be happy. And if not, we'll continue to be unhappy."
—Pinella (SI.com)

THE REST

"I’m always about effort and work. And this guy did that every day. He was the first guy showing up. He was always in the cage, always working on his defense even though he didn’t play out there."
Rays manager Joe Maddon, on releasing Pat Burrell.

“I feel like I’m going home to see my family. I’m going back to where I’m used to be hitting before. Hopefully, that will turn me around.”
Mets shortstop Jose Reyes on returning to the leadoff spot. (David Waldstein, The New York Times)

"I kept thinking, ‘He didn’t walk a guy. I was trying to remember if they had gotten a hit."
—Athletics general manager Billy Beane on Dallas Braden's perfect game. (Ken Rosenthal, FoxSports.com)

"Those people who know a lot about the game, they think they have everything figured out. —It’s not over after April. It’s over after October."
Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz

"Well, routinely now, hitters pop up a pitch they think they should deal with and they start making noises, and that really is disrespectful to the pitcher. Most of the pitchers just turn around and ignore it. Carp doesn't. I think Carp's right, and I think Carp's in the right. Respect should go both ways. If he gets you out, he gets you out. Zip it and go back to the plate. If he gives it up, you zip it and let the guy go around the bases -- or single, double, whatever it was. Most pitchers let the guy jabber. I don't think Carlos Lee is anything special as far as a guy who disrespects, but it's so common now. Carp will let you know."
Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, explaining why benches emptied after a dispute between Chris Carpenter and Carlos Lee. (David Wilhelm, The News Democrat)

"I'm still not where I want to be. I'm still hungry. I'm starting to smell it a little bit. Hopefully, I can get there soon. I don't want to be in Triple-A the rest of my career, you know?"
Nationals pitching prosect Stephen Strasburg (Adam Kilgore, Washington Post)

---

Alex Carnevale is a contributor to Baseball Prospectus.

Related Content:  Trey Hillman

9 comments have been left for this article.

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