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May 27, 2014 The Week in QuotesMay 19-26BECKETT NO-HITS THE PHILLIES “I didn’t think I had no-hit stuff. I really just kept them guessing.” “Josh has been throwing the ball good all year. For him to be able to do that today is nice, for everything he’s been through with us. The surgery last year, missing the whole season. Changing himself as a pitcher. Using the breaking ball more and everything else...It was fun to watch.” "I wasn't coming out of the game. I don't care if I had 200 pitches.” “You’re thinking about it the whole time. I don’t know why there’s that unwritten rule not to talk about it and stuff. I was joking about it from the fourth inning on, but like I said, I was waiting for them to get a hit, too.” CUBS HIRE MANNY RAMIREZ AS TRIPLE-A PLAYER-MANAGER “You never know in this world, but I think there’s potential high impact here. If he can influence one player, make him a little bit calmer in the box, give him a little bit better mental approach to hitting, teach him something about how to approach the right-handed breaking ball the right way — if he can convince one player not to do [performance-enhancing drugs], if he can just influence one player in a positive way, then it was worthwhile… This is not a PR move at all, this is purely a baseball move. Specifically, a player-development move.” “I know when (Manny) was over there with the Dodgers, it seemed like he was a little bit more open and a little bit more suppressed in the sense of not trying to have so much attention (or) do some crazy stuff like he did in Boston. But if a person gives you enough reasons and is honest and tells you his story and says he wants to help people, I think you got to give him that shot. Because I think he’s one of those very few guys in the game that can really influence and help younger people that are trying to find their way and make their careers. There were moments in that locker room where he would actually sit down and be a little bit more candid and open and honest and reveal himself. I think he always wanted to reveal a different picture so people underestimated him and he could have that advantage at some point in the ballgame.” BENCHES CLEAR IN TAMPA “I think that was a little more egregious than their interpretation tonight. I didn’t take (exception) because our goal is to not permit them scoring runs. Their goal is to score runs. The whole game… You have to keep your personal vendettas, your personal prejudice, your personal judgmental components in your back pocket. So before you start screaming regarding any of that, just understand what happened just last year and also understand that in this ballpark, 5-0 leads can evaporate quickly.” “There were some words exchanged. We’re down five in the seventh, so it’s somewhat a gray area when you shut down the running game… Yunel is going to do some things that might be a little unpredictable, so that’s what precipitated it,” “They took offense to what we thought was fine. They called him out and he talked back to them and the next thing you know, benches cleared.” “I’m not concerned about the bag at all. Yelling at my dugout, pointing at my dugout and taking your helmet off and basically challenging our dugout, I have a problem with that.”
—Prior to his first game at Citi Field since being traded, Ike Davis joked with reporters about what the best thing about being a Pirate is. “I’m a little bit disappointed because I think a lot of the fans were looking for me to keep on winning. Next time out, I’ll try to get a win again and keep it going again.” “I don’t think I have been more excited to give up a hit in my life,” Sale said. “I knew I was done after that sixth, and Robin said the same thing. He goes, ‘You really picked a bad night to do something like that.’” “It doesn’t matter what count, whether he was ahead or whether he was behind, he was on the corners the whole night. He executed every pitch. I can’t remember a pitch really where I felt like I could do damage with it. I felt it right away — that he had some special stuff.” “I think that was a little more egregious than their interpretation tonight. I didn’t take (exception) because our goal is to not permit them scoring runs. Their goal is to score runs. The whole game… You have to keep your personal vendettas, your personal prejudice, your personal judgmental components in your back pocket. So before you start screaming regarding any of that, just understand what happened just last year and also understand that in this ballpark, 5-0 leads can evaporate quickly.” “He is one of the best pitchers in the game. Of course he was a draw. Obviously, Jose is a big part of our team. At the same time I think the fans realize that we're a team that's fun to watch playing in a ballpark that is fun to come to. We just have to keep being competitive.” “I didn't know where I was going, but if there was one place I wanted to be, it was here. When I heard I was going to Baltimore, I was really, really excited — just the winning atmosphere, a great tradition. … unbelievable ballpark, the fans, the city.” “You never enjoy losing, but I’ve been through enough losing streaks to know it’s part of the game. think the part that kind of nags at you a little bit was we were in all those games — there’s one that went 10 innings, we’re right there. One we went 13, we’re right there, had the lead a couple times. That kind of is a little bit irritating… I guess it’s better than being blown out four straight games.” “Kip will get here Tuesday. He’s not going to start. We could activate him depending on how he feels. He will start Wednesday, barring anything unforeseen. He really wanted to play today. So he's raring to go.” “Over the year I've seen him, his defense has been, in my opinion, the most overlooked part of his game. You'll see some error totals, but the improvement on the whole has been amazing. I'm pretty sure it'll continue. He looks confident and he's moving good and throwing the ball great and taking control in the middle of the field -- those are things everybody looks for. That's been exciting.” “I'm not even running 100 percent and I make it there before him. If you look at the replay, you're going to find some answers to this. I run the bases like I do every time. I think he's supposed to score. I think it's a good play (by Yelich) because I saw him flat-footed and put his head down and hesitated. That's a tough throw because most of the time that throw hits the runner. That's why I make the decision to go to third. That's how you make things happen. They got me this time. If it happened again, I'd go again.” “He's been a very pleasant surprise, and a much different pitcher than even what we saw scouting him before he came in. He was a guy we kind of anticipated would be a Randy Choate-style, get him in for a hitter, maybe two, then we're going to have to bump him out, and that would take a toll on our bullpen. But the way he's thrown, he's been able to show versatility. Those are huge benefits to our club, to where he can come in and be a late-inning pitcher for us.” “I look at the body of work for the whole season. He’s had a couple of tough ones the last couple of times out, but I think his stuff is still intact. I think some of his pitches have been elevated, and that’s got him in trouble. But his velocity is the same. The action is the same. Location is what it usually comes down to.” “The only off-speed (pitch) that wasn’t working was his change-up. He threw the curveball exactly where he wanted to throw it. His cutter was exactly where we wanted, and then he has that good, live two-seam fastball and a four-seam fastball. As soon as he got that change-up going, it was a done deal.” “We’re looking at everything right now, and will throughout this offseason, as far as opportunities to get better ourselves: the decision making process, different checks along the way, whether or not what we’re doing for our physicals is the right policy, the wrong policy, et cetera. We have a pretty good track record, but you always gotta review everything and try to make it better. With that being said…we did a physical during Spring Training, and [Prince] passed…he really didn’t have any symptoms that anyone was aware of. He said he had periods of a stiff neck, he told us about that recently, we didn’t know that at the time. He never got a treatment in Detroit, never had any issues, never had any doctor visits. Obviously never any missed time, so there was no reason, even if we had brought him in, to do anything other than have a standard physical, which never includes a cervical MRI.” “All of us play through stuff. It's very common for guys to play through stuff. It's all about what you can stand and how far you can take it and whether or not you end up getting over the hump. In this case, it continually stayed with me. I couldn't get over the hump. Ultimately, I needed to take some time off. That was the group decision. What I'm going through is very common for a lot of players. I just haven't been able to get over it.” “I try not to be too attached to things, even though I have a bobblehead with it. I felt it was an extension of me.” “Don’t try to kill yourself in the cage because you're 0-for-five or 0-for-10. I’ve been around this game long enough. I know what I’m capable of doing. Today, I didn’t pick up a bat until 12:15 p.m. to get ready for the game. Sometimes you need more of a mental break. Sometimes when you’re struggling, you need to back off a little bit.”
Nick Bacarella is an author of Baseball Prospectus.
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