October 7, 2002

The Week in Quotes

September 30-October 6

by Derek Zumsteg

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YEAR OF THE DOG (TWINS)

"In the offseason when (the contraction) happened, we were kind of down about it, but we stayed strong and it's a strong baseball team. We don't really think about that."
--Brad Radke, Twins pitcher, after getting the decisive win their ALDS series over the A's

"So much for pitching and defense."
--Ron Gardenhire, Twins manager, mid-series

"I can't tell you what they said because it would get bleeped out,"
--AJ Pierzynski, Twins catcher, on a pre-game pep talk by Kirby Puckett and Dan Gladden

"I was following Ortiz, and I think he was following Guzman. Now that I think about it, that wasn't such a good idea."
--Radke, on getting lost on public transit near Oakland

We've had guys go to the Astrodome, where they don't even play games anymore. We've had guys go to Shea Stadium when we were playing at Yankee Stadium. You realize we haven't got the smartest group of guys."
--Doug Mientkiewicz, Twins infielder

"I don't feel guilty about anything. Why should I? If you had to pay the bills and they were $15 million to $20 million a year, you would make the same decision, too."
--Carl Pohlad, Twins owner, asked about his attempts to take money from MLB to disband his franchise in the off-season

"I want to say something but I can't. Now you've made me mad."
--Torii Hunter, Twins outfielder, on Pohlad

YEAR OF THE DOG (ANGELS)

"Nobody wanted to make the last out. Next thing you knew, it was eight runs later."
--Shawn Wooten, Angels infielder, on his team's eight-run inning against the Yankees to advance them to the ALCS

"If they play like that. I don't see anyone beating them... No team has ever played better against us than that team has."
--Derek Jeter, Yankees infielder, asked if the Angels could win the World Series

"I can't see a damn thing. Wow, I cannot see. Wow, this hurts. I mean, I can't see anything."
--Scott Spiezio, Angels infielder, after getting champagne in his eyes

YEAR OF THE DOG (CARDINALS)

"We really wanted to try to win it and get some rest before the next round. We didn't want to face Randy and Curt, we wanted to get it over with."
--Fernando Vina, Cardinals infielder, after the Cardinals swept the Diamondbacks

"The history of the game has shown that we can't always count on offense. I don't care how good guys have been during the regular season, how dangerous they are and highly thought of they are. In the postseason, because of the tremendous amount of advance scouting, picking a guy or two in the lineup that you're not going to let beat you, if you can nullify some of that offense, the key is the plays defensively."
--Bob Brenly, Diamondbacks manager

"If there was a matchup that screamed for getting Erubiel out there, along with (Mark) Grace, it's something we'd look at again."
--Brenly

"The Cardinals just had a great approach. Most pitchers will tell you they rely on the hitters' aggressiveness, but they stayed disciplined and used short, contact swings."
--Brenly

LAST WEEK OF REGULAR SEASON

"The plan if he was under .300 was to walk him, and I didn't follow through. I'm catching hell from everybody. [...] It was just a great piece of hitting, and Eric Byrnes was playing 'no-singles.' But that's OK."
--Billy Koch, Athletics pitcher, on giving up a single to Rangers shortstop Alex Rodriguez to put Rodriguez over .300 for the season

"It shows what kind of player he is, all about himself. I guarantee you if Pedro hadn't won his 20th game, he would have made his last start. That shows his true colors coming through. "
--Koch, on Red Sox starter Pedro Martinez skipping his last start

"Barry goes out and gets the job done. Hands down, he should be the Cy Young winner. Barry's doing what he's paid to do. It's his job, race or no race. This doesn't say a lot for Pedro's character."
--Koch, on teammate Barry Zito versus Martinez for the Cy Young

THE REST

"That may been the best thing that we did all year. Having him away from the club allowed everybody else to grow."
--J.P. Ricciardi, Blue Jays general manager, on trading outfielder Raul Mondesi to the Yankees

"When people rip the Yankees, I say 'Thank God they are there.'"
--Ricciardi

"You can spend a lot of time talking about offense - it kind of captures the headlines - but look at Atlanta. Their offense is in the middle of the pack, but when you see those playoff games, the difference is not in the offense, it's in the pitching."
--Bob Boone, Reds manager

"Fred said he hadn't told anyone about this decision. So I said, 'Then how did everyone know not to attend this staff meeting?' He didn't answer me."
--Bobby Valentine, former Mets manager, on being fired by Fred Wilpon

"I think the compatibility of what Jeff Pentland brings and what we want--running deep counts, getting in good offensive counts, getting walks--his record speaks for itself."
--Allard Baird, Royals general manager, on his new hitting coach