April 12, 2004

The Week in Quotes

March 29-April 11

by Ryan Wilkins

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"The fact is that without it, the Padres just couldn't generate enough revenue to stay in business."
--Bud Selig, MLB commissioner, on Petco Park (MLB.com)

"It did save baseball because the Padres couldn't continue to operate in [Qualcomm] Stadium... It not only saved baseball for now, but at least for two generations to come."
--Selig

"I know there has been some debate about new ballparks and they're not the panacea for all the ills... You look at what's happened particularly in Milwaukee, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. But just like San Diego, those teams couldn't continue to operate in their old stadiums."
--Selig

"I think we've made enormous strides to correct the [financial] ills in Major League Baseball. And we're going to make more progress in the next couple of years."
--Selig

"There are several distinctive things that set PETCO Park apart from other ballparks, just like Camden Yards... All of this has made a major contribution to what I call the renaissance of the game. And there's no question that we're undergoing one."
--Selig

MILESTONE FOR MUSSINA

"When you start getting to milestones like this, you hope it will be over with quickly. If it's not, you start pressing... I pitched some good games at the end of last year with a chance to win it, but it didn't happen. The first two games this year were terrible, so I was just pleased to be able to pitch into the seventh inning, give us a chance to win a ballgame."
--Mike Mussina, Yankees starter, after his 200th career win (MLB.com)

"To get to 200, you have to stay healthy and be consistent... Most people don't even play 10 years, so to play that long and win that long, it's pretty impressive. I'll be lucky to get anywhere near that."
--Javier Vazquez, Yankees starter, on Mussina (MLB.com)

"You'd better ask me that again in a couple of years... Once you get past 250, you can start talking about 300. Not at 200."
--Mussina, on whether he'd ever reach 300 wins

"It's meaningful... It's a big accomplishment. I'm pleased that I've been able to play this long, be consistent, be successful and stay healthy. To get to this point, it's a nice feeling."
--Mussina

"I certainly hope it's not my last one."
--Mussina

EARNING HIS KEEP

"We believed we can bring a championship organization to Tampa Bay and we still believe we're going to bring a championship organization to the Tampa Bay area."
--Chuck LaMar, Devil Rays general manager, after being signed to a two-year extension (ESPN.com)

"We've taken giant steps over the last several years."
--LaMar

"I think a lot of people would have made a change, even if just for changes sake."
--LaMar

BIG DEBUT FOR KAZ-MAT

"He had a lot of question marks... And he erased them all very quickly."
--Art Howe, Mets manager, after Matsui's 3-for-3 debut against the Braves (New York Times)

"We needed to be patient with him... Nobody could predict what he would do, but we could see good things were starting to happen."
--Denny Walling, Mets hitting coach, on Matsui (New York Times)

"You get 50,000 people in the stands and everything is going to change for him."
--Mike Cameron, Mets center fielder, on Matsui (New York Times)

THE REST

"If you're going to have success in this game, you better go up to the hundreds... [Nolan] Ryan, [Roger] Clemens, [Greg] Maddux, [Tom] Glavine, [Curt] Schilling, all those guys have success in this game, and go 115, 120 pitches."
--Ozzie Guillen, White Sox manager, after Mark Buehrle's 117-pitch outing on Saturday (Chicago Tribune)

"Watching him come out there was the longest 2 1/2 minutes of my life."
--Doug Mientkiewicz, Twins first baseman, on being pinch run for Matt LeCroy (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)

"I know crazy people always ask me for my jersey with my name on it... And they sold a lot of them in Atlanta with my name on it."
--Jung Bong, Reds pitcher (Cincinnati Post)

"I was running yesterday [Wednesday] and I felt like, when I stopped, that my midsection, my abs and both my groins were on fire... I thought it was all right but then it felt tight again tonight."
--Scott Kazmir, Mets minor league pitcher (MLB.com)