May 20, 2002

The Week in Quotes

May 13-19, 2002

by Derek Zumsteg

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THE WEEK IN RICKEY

"He's got a good eye, that's for sure. I threw him some good sliders and he spit on them." 
--Tim Hudson, Athletics pitcher, on Red Sox outfielder Rickey Henderson

"Rickey Henderson is a confident young man." 
--Grady Little, Red Sox manager

GUNNERY SERGEANT TO DISC JOCKEY

"In my eyes, we already have a manager. The team loves this guy as manager. He's lifted us from a state of bondage to a state of freedom, and that's why we've played so well. We can play free." 
--Mike Sweeney, Royals infielder, on interim manager John Mizerock

"It has nothing to do with Tony Pena, but I thought Rock deserved to get the job." 
--Sweeney

"I am the new DJ. I play the music. You are to dance. If you don't know how to dance, get off of the dance floor." 
--Tony Pena, Royals manager, replying with a smile to reporters who asked what his first statement to his team would be

"That's really what he said to us. We really got a kick out of it. We've known him for 20 minutes and we can see he's got a great personality. I think the transition is going to be fine." 
--A.J. Hinch, Royals catcher

"But after meeting Tony Pena today and seeing the way he runs a game...well, I thought it would be a matter of weeks. But now I think it will be a matter of days before he has 25 fans in this clubhouse." 
--Sweeney

THE WEEK IN LIES

"I'm always an optimist." 
--Bud Selig, nominal commissioner of baseball

"I would say six to eight can't exist another year, another year and a half. We're talking about the immediate future. There's a lot of clubs that simply can't survive the status quo." 
--Selig, during a luncheon with Los Angeles Times staff

"Contraction was about cities and markets that weren't producing revenue and didn't have a hope of producing revenue. It doesn't have to do with how people are playing on the field." 
--Selig

ON A ROLL

"I definitely want out." 
--Shane Halter, Tigers infielder, learning the team called up infielder Ramon Santiago

"This blindsided me. I thought we'd have changes, but I didn't think they would come at shortstop." 
--Halter, batting .232

"They don't have a category for good plays, and I feel I had a lot of those. A few of my errors came on do-or-die plays. I felt I played well." 
--Halter, who has nine errors as a shortstop

"I wouldn't mind being a utility player on another team. I don't think I should be a utility player on the Tigers, with the personnel we have here." 
--Halter, who has a 655 OPS

OBVIOUS CONCLUSIONS UNDRAWN

"Every pitcher who throws against us is like an All-Star. It seems like it's that way every single night." 
--Don Baylor, Cubs manager

"Honestly, we were trying to pitch to him. That's another thing about him. He's got too good of an eye. He should swing at some bad balls." 
--Bobby Cox, Braves manager, after a series spent walking Giants outfielder Barry Bonds

THE WEEK IN MIKE HARGROVE QUOTES

"They say you're better for it when you go through adversity, so we should be very good." 
--Mike Hargrove, Orioles manager

"I honestly don't know of a tougher loss--maybe the seventh game of the World Series in '97." 
--Hargrove, on a 6-5 loss to the Indians

"You keep getting hit on the head with a hammer, after a while you start looking for the hammer whether it's there or not. And I didn't want him to get to that point." 
--Hargrove, on pitcher Jorge Julio

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.