October 13, 2003

The Week in Quotes

September 23-October 12

by Ryan Wilkins

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"I'm embarrassed for what happened last night... I'm embarrassed for the Yankees, the Red Sox, the fans, the umpires and my family."
--Don Zimmer, Yankees bench coach, after the benches-clearing scuffle in Game Three against the Red Sox (AP)

"Was anybody right at any point yesterday? Probably not. Was anybody wrong, who knows?"
--Jason Varitek, Red Sox catcher (AP)

"I think when this series began everyone knew it was going to be a battle, it was going to be emotional, a lot of intensity... I think we've upgraded it from a battle to a war."
--Grady Little, Red Sox manager (AP)

"Great theater, whatever you want to call it. I think it's great baseball."
--Roger Clemens, Yankees pitcher (AP)

"I think Zim is a little bit old for that."
--Little, on Zimmer's charge of Pedro Martinez (AP)

"I could never hit him. I would never do it... I was just trying to dodge him and push him away, and too bad his body fell. I hope he's fine."
--Pedro Martinez, Red Sox pitcher, on Zimmer (AP)

"Maybe it knocked some sense into him... It's pretty hard to grab a bowling ball by the ears."
--Bill Lee, former Red Sox pitcher, on Zimmer (AP)

"What amazes me is that he didn't bounce... I would have been sure he was full of helium."
--Lee

"I was very proud of my team... They certainly acted like a team."
--Joe Torre, Yankees manager (AP)

THE SCIENCE OF THINGS

"They have a pretty good team, but you got to think about the fact that they are a team that recruited players from different teams during the season. It's not like this team that has been together since Day 1. There's no way they can beat us as united as we are. Our chemistry is totally different than theirs. There's no doubt they have a great team. Their pitching speaks for itself. But it's all about teamwork."
--Javy Lopez, Braves catcher, on the Chicago Cubs (Chicago Sun-Times)

"I think character is important, but you still have to score runs. You still have to pitch and you still have to make plays... You can have all the character you want, but if you don't do those things you're not going to win."
--Larry Bowa, Phillies manager (Philadelphia Inquirer)

"I was listening to David Justice on TV last night... and he said the key to pinch hitting is being ready to swing early in the count. I put that thought in my head."
--Trot Nixon, Red Sox outfielder (AP)

WALK THIS WAY

"We're not going to let him beat us."
--Jack McKeon, Marlins manager, on Barry Bonds (AP)

"We'll pitch to him if we're way ahead... We might even pitch to him the first time up in a 0-0 game. Might."
--McKeon

"With people not pitching to Barry, we won it by how many games? ...Fifteen and a half. So I believe people should change their strategy-next year."
--Felipe Alou, Giants manager (AP)

"I believe that all teams fell into a pattern, or sort of a compromising written rule, that they were not going to pitch to him. I know a lot of times it hurt because the majority of the time he wound up scoring, which is the same thing as if he hit a home run."
--Alou

STAND PAT STEPS DOWN

"We wanted Pat to stay on board as our general manager, but we respect his decision to step back and serve as a consultant... We are pleased he will still be connected with the organization."
--Howard Lincoln, Mariners CEO, on former-GM Pat Gillick (AP)

"After much thought I've decided to step away from my current role with the Mariners... I've had four chances at the brass ring here and think maybe it's time for someone else to take a shot at taking this team to a higher level."
--Pat Gillick, former Mariners general manager (AP)

"It's difficult year after year to watch this team never make moves to better themselves... I have never seen an impact player come to this team nor have I ever seen them try to go out and get one. Every year it's 'we tried to make moves,' but other teams seem to do it. It's disappointing."
--Jeff Nelson, former Mariners reliever (AP)

AVOIDING INFAMY

"We're not the worst team in baseball, no matter what... We're going to have a better winning percentage than the Mets, and we won't beat their record. You've got to compare apples with apples, not apples with oranges, OK? They played 160 games and we'll play 162."
--Carlos Pena, Tigers first baseman (AP)

"We're not going to worry about what people say about our record... We got it together down the stretch and played some top-notch baseball. I'm leaving here happy. The only sad thing is we finally got rolling as a team and now we are breaking up for the winter."
--Dmitri Young, Tigers outfielder (AP)

"Believe it or not, I can look back on this year with a smile on my face because of how this season ended."
--Mike Maroth, Tigers pitcher (AP)

"Not too long ago, everybody thought we were going to break the record, but we showed what we were made of as people and players."
--Maroth

THE REST

"He overreacted a lot. I don't know if he was trying to pull a Boston Red Sox-Yankee thing... It was pretty ignorant. I'm not trying to hit him."
--Josh Beckett, Marlins pitcher, after coming close to hitting Cubs outfielder Sammy Sosa on Sunday (Chicago Sun-Times)

"I'm excited about where we finished... This was a team that was in question when we began the season. Both St. Louis and Chicago spent a lot of money in this offseason, and we'll finish ahead of St. Louis and just behind the Cubs."
--Drayton McLane, Astros owner (Houston Chronicle)

"Baseball is littered with the carcasses of managers who are too intense or too hands-on or who micromanage too much, and Grady has a real good touch to manage over the course of 162 games."
--Theo Epstein, Red Sox general manager, on manager Grady Little (AP)

"Look, everyone has a history... The last thing on our minds out there was history. We have a history. They have a history. It doesn't make a difference. We played hard. We never rolled up and gave up. We just came up short and came up short again, and just couldn't pull it out."
--Scott Hatteberg, A's first baseman, on losing to the Red Sox in the ALDS (AP)