April 15, 2002

The Week in Quotes

April 8-14, 2002

by Derek Zumsteg

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TAKING SWINGS

"If he felt so anxious to have someone take a swing at me, why didn't he come and do it? It's not like it's all that easy to come up and pop one at me. If you want to pop me, go ahead and take his chances. He doesn't have to send [Shannon] Stewart to do it. He can always come himself and do it--and see what he's going to get."
--Pedro Martinez, Red Sox pitcher, on Blue Jays manager Buck Martinez

"I got to the major leagues last year and knew no idea about plate discipline, pitch recognition or anything like that. No one ever mentioned it to me in the minor leagues. Then I got to the majors, and it was obvious. I had a good first month, then pitchers began working on me and it was a struggle not to swing at almost everything."
--Shea Hillenbrand, Red Sox infielder, on his avowed more-patient approach

"He's not the walk-master that a typical leadoff hitter is. But we don't want him to be, because of how explosive he can be."
--Joe Torre, Yankees manager, on infielder Alfonso Soriano

"We had a plan to pitch to him, but stay out of the center of the plate. It didn't work out."
--Tony Muser, Royals manager, after a home run by Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez

LINEUPS

"If we had hitters throughout our lineup who did not have a track record, that would be one thing. But people like David Segui and Jeff Conine and Chris Singleton and Mike Bordick and Melvin Mora, these guys have track records."
--Mike Hargrove, Orioles manager, on whether he'd be shaking up the lineup

"And hitting eighth isn't easy. You never know when they're pitching around you. He's aggressive enough outside the zone that he makes them [opposing pitchers] really have to have a good plan. It's hard to pitch around him, but yet he's not chasing himself into outs right now."
--Doug Glanville, Phillies outfielder, on Marlon Anderson batting #8

"We're very comfortable with the team that we work with. We are fine with it for the time being and there are no thoughts of changing."
--Patty Paytas, Pirates vice president of communications, on her team's retaining of Arthur Anderson as their accounting firm

MANAGING

"He had to stay in until we got the lead. That's what you do on the road."
--Bobby Valentine, Mets manager, on leaving reliever Saturo Komiyama in to pitch with Benitez remaining in the bullpen

"Sometimes the less you do, the better off you are. And sometimes not."
--Jimy Williams, Astros manager

"With our lineup, with the kind of hitters we have, the only thing I want to see is to be disciplined at the plate and not help the pitcher. With their history, they're going to hit. But if there's anything at all I'm disappointed in, I think we've helped the opposing pitcher by trying to do too much, being a little too over-aggressive with the bat. I don't look at one person. I look at us collectively.I'd like to see us work deeper into counts."
--Jerry Narron, Rangers manager

THE REST

"I'm pretty sure the Secret Service was here to keep me under surveillance. There were no sudden moves."
--Steve Kline, Cardinals pitcher, on meeting President Bush for the third time

"Throwing things at our players is indefensible. There wasn't any security. That wouldn't have happened with us."
--Jeffrey Loria, Marlins owner, after the Expos home opener against his team

"Nobody wants anybody throwing anything on the field and hurting somebody. But I'm glad they're here and cared about us."
--Jeff Torborg, Marlins manager

"I told Buck, 'If not being able to throw strikes can be called an injury, then I'm injured.'"
--Luke Prokopec, Blue Jays pitcher, on a mound visit by manager Buck Martinez and the team trainer during a shelling

"Oh, great. There's nothing like eating at 'IHOP' and having peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches every day."
--Jim Parque, White Sox pitcher, on how he's doing at Triple-A Charlotte

"If you didn't want to play, you wouldn't accomplish what you've accomplished."
--Rickey Henderson, Red Sox outfielder

"The bases seem to get further and further apart every year."
--Edgar Martinez, Mariners DH, after being caught stealing

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.