October 1, 2001

The Week in Quotes

September 24-30

by Derek Zumsteg

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PROGRESSION

"I think the decisions we made to enhance this ballpark were good ones. It's going to make this ballpark stand the test of time. We did some things we probably didn't have to do. That's money we're not going to have. Next year, I know we're not going to have cost overruns."
--Kevin McClatchy, Pirates owner, on cost overruns at PNC Park

"It's just hard to judge him on how he's done given the injuries we've had. I think it's almost impossible. I think we need to give him a healthy team before we give him a report card."
--McClatchy, on manager Lloyd McClendon

"We need to be patient, allow him to get some innings under his belt. It's like left-handed power hitters. They're slow to come around sometimes for whatever reason. This young man has thrown flashes of being pretty good. Other times, he's shown a lot of inconsistency."
--McClendon, Pirates manager, on pitcher Jimmy Anderson

"We're not playing just to lose baseball games here. We're not playing to lose. We've had some unusual things happen ...unfortunate things as far as the disabled list."
--Syd Thrift, Orioles vice president of baseball operations

"If I could put all our players on the field who've been on the disabled list, we would have a much different take on the results this season. It would be the same as having an eight-cylinder engine running on three or four cylinders."
--Thrift

GETTING THERE

"Batting average might be the most overrated stat in baseball. Runs and RBIs win you games."
--Johnny Damon, Athletics outfielder, on Rickey Henderson

"It's more of a team record than an individual record, and I could never score as many runs as I have without my teammates."
--Rickey Henderson, Padres outfielder

"If you play as a team and win as a team and lose as a team, you score the runs as a team. Maybe I'm the one that gets the number that goes with the record, but the team is most important."
--Henderson

ERODING SUPPORT

"If we were winning and in first place. I would tell you that everyone has my support. Period. This year, you have to take all of the pieces and examine them. I didn't mean that only Tony Muser is a concern. I think Tony Muser has done a good job. I think Tony Muser is a good man. I may be the reason we're 58-92. Nothing has been decided, but we're going to meet and talk about it."
--David Glass, Royals owner

"The people of Kansas City will support the Royals when they believe we are doing everything we can to put a competitive team on the field. You just can't sit and wait for that to happen. You have to be proactive."
--Glass

"I really was comfortable with that. I thought we might achieve that. But we started off bad, and it has not gotten better."
--Glass, on his goal of winning 87 games this year

"He's not a happy camper. I'm the manager of this team, and he's not happy. He's the owner of this club, and he's my boss. What he says is what he feels."
--Tony Muser, Royals manager

THE REST

"Relief comes in which is no relief."
--Don Baylor, Cubs manager, on his team's woes

"I think [Jimmy Rollins is] going to walk even more next season. He's done a great job. The one thing he has to do--and he's even said something to me--is as a switch-hitter, he strikes out too much. But I think the more he plays, the more he'll understand the strike zone."
--Larry Bowa, Phillies manager

If you would like to submit a quote, please email Derek and be sure to include both the quote itself and a URL pointing to the quote.