October 11, 2004

The Week in Quotes

October 4-10

by Ryan Wilkins

Printer-friendly

"I wasn't really thinking about hitting a home run...I wanted to at least get on base."
--David Ortiz, Red Sox designated hitter, following Friday's 10th-inning home run that won the Division Series (Bloomberg News)

"We felt at that point we wanted to get Washburn in there. He was ready to go, but he just didn't get the pitch where he wanted."
--Mike Scioscia, Angels manager, on the decision to replace Francisco Rodriguez with Game One starter Jarrod Washburn (Bloomberg News)

"I guess Mike went through the book and was like, 'If I have a lefty ready in the bullpen and a left-handed hitter coming to the plate, definitely you've got to go lefty-lefty.' I think he made the right move."
--Ortiz, on Sciocia's decision to bring in Washburn (The New York Times)

"I have pitched out of the bullpen before...I wasn't very good at it then, either."
--Jarrod Washburn, Angels pitcher, after giving up the home run to Ortiz (The New York Times)

"I was begging for that home run.... It was huge for us in a lot of ways."
--Terry Francona, Red Sox manager, on Ortiz's home run (Ashbury Park Press)

"This is the greatest.... As a baseball player, this is what you want. This team makes it fun."
--Ortiz (Ashbury Park Press)

"As great as Manny has been, D.O. has been just as good.... Nobody has two guys in the middle of order like we do, with all due respect to the Cardinals and Yankees."
--Kevin Millar, Red Sox first baseman (Ashbury Park Press)

"He has a knack for big hits...I'd like to tell you we saw that in him but we didn't. It's more a matter of having the right player with the right team at the right time. You can't measure those kinds of things."
--Theo Epstein, Red Sox general manager, on Ortiz (Ashbury Park Press)

RABBIT, COME OUT

"It doesn't get any better than this right here...I knew I was having a great game, but I didn't want to be too excited and get away from my game. I kept telling myself every batter, 'Jose, if you get this guy out, you will win the game.'"
--Jose Lima, Dodgers pitcher, after his 4-0 shutout of the Cardinals (International Herald Tribune)

"I tried to keep at least one of those guys off base...I tried to stay away from big innings."
--Lima, on the middle of the Cardinals' powerful lineup

"I don't know that you can do it much better.... That's not bad for someone who came to spring training not guaranteed a job."
--Jim Tracy, Dodgers manager, on Lima (International Herald Tribune)

THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH

"This is the way everybody drew it up in spring training.... Now everybody gets to see what it's all about. When Schilling went to the Red Sox and A-Rod came here, this is what everyone wanted to see. Now we're giving it to them."
--Gary Sheffield, Yankees outfielder, on facing the Red Sox in the ALCS (Newsday)

"We know Boston and they know us as well as any other team.... It's going to be a great challenge and I've had a great appetite for this over the summer."
--Alex Rodriguez, Yankees third baseman (Newsday)

"This is what everyone wanted aside from the people here in Minnesota.... It doesn't get any better than going to Game Seven. It's pretty exciting. People really wanted to see it again. I think that's what people expected and now we have it."
--Derek Jeter, Yankees shortstop (Newsday)

UNDER PRESSURE

"What has happened last year or 100 years ago really doesn't concern me...I just wanna win now...I'm not a math major, but I don't think any of them were around [in 1918]."
--Francona, on The Curse (New York Post)

"We're playing for fun, and we're going out there to kick some ass.... This team don't put any pressure on themselves."
--Millar (New York Post)

"I can't speak for the Yankees. I know we're a bunch of idiots, and we're going to have some fun and see what we can do."
--Millar

"I'm pretty sure we're five outs better than last year."
--Millar, on his team's chances against the Yankees (ESPN.com)

"[Friday] when I walked to the food room, I had a good feeling.... Most teams, they're watching Hoosiers. I walk in the food room and there's John Belushi smashing the guitar over somebody's head in "Animal House". They're right where they need to be."
--Francona, on his team's ability to handle the pressure (Boston Herald)

"It's a carefree atmosphere...I think in situations like these, that's why we're so successful. There's not a lot of pressure on each other. I hate the word pressure. There's no pressure in the game of baseball. It's just fun. This is what the game is supposed to be like. The only pressure out there is the pressure you put on yourself."
--Doug Mientkiewicz, Red Sox infielder (Boston Herald)

ALREADY IN THE PAST

"I knew it was a double and saw Matsui kick it, and I was trying to take advantage and make something happen.... But that was not a bone-headed play. That was an aggressive play. Anybody says 'bone-headed,' they don't know how to play the game."
--Torii Hunter, Twins center fielder, after being thrown out at third with no outs despite trailing the Yankees 7-1 (N.Y. Daily News)

"Man, I felt like Ray Lewis hit me.... But I guess I can't ever be a (wide) receiver, because I couldn't hold on to the ball...But that's how I play. I'm not going to give you a hit; I'm not going to just give you a run. I don't care if the score's 7-1. I'm selfish that way."
--Hunter

"We've got to come with everything we've got.... The Yankees don't have no mystique. Those guys can hit...Their mystique is their money."
--Hunter (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)

LATER...

"That is so bogus it makes me sick. That part is bogus. There are a couple of writers who are happy with what happened...I know I wasn't too tough. I know that for a fact. I was told to tone it down a little bit, which [was] for my own good. That was pretty good advice. But they weren't overdisciplined because I basically let them handle their own clubhouse. I didn't have any meetings. I didn't berate them. You've seen me the last two or three years. I haven't ripped anyone in the paper at all."
--Bowa, on whether he was tough on his players (Philadelphia Inquirer)

"If they want to make a change and think they can get where they want to go, that's fine. That happens in baseball all the time. The only thing I say is if you're going to make a change, you better win the division next year because we came in second. We came in second, and if you are going to make a change, you better take the next step and win the division."
--Bowa

"The philosophy here is, 'Don't sell the farm for two or three months.' My philosophy is, and I might have a different take if I was a general manager or farm director, my philosophy was, 'If you have a shot, roll the dice and go for it.'...I think the Phillies are conservative. You have to roll the dice and let the chips fall where they may. One player can mean the difference."
--Bowa, on the Phillies at the trading deadline

"Yeah, I'm not going to lie to you. Yeah, I think there are. My sense of urgency to win was probably wearing them down. If you've never won before, you don't know what you're missing. You don't know what it's like playing on an October night when it's chilly. You don't know if you've never been there. And there are some guys in that clubhouse who have never been there. So they don't know what they're missing. And they are missing a lot by not playing in October."
--Bowa, on whether some players were happy to see him fired