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July 11, 2005 The Week in QuotesJuly 5-10HE'S LIKED, BUT HE'S NOT WELL-LIKED
"It certainly hasn't changed our thinking in terms of acknowledging the record should he return and eventually surpass the record. But any additional promotional sponsorships regarding that record chase would involve the player, the club, Major League Baseball and our corporate sponsors. And those would not go into the discussion phase until he was closer to the record."
"Baseball is going to have to promote him [while] holding their noses. Unless . . . they lead him away in handcuffs, they're going to have to fete him as if he really hit all those home runs -- which, of course, he did."
"If you promote the breaking of the record under the guise of innocent until proven guilty, but then 10 years down the road it's proven definitively that he used steroids, you can't un-ring the bell."
"He comes off as huggable as a cactus. I think that's more of a detriment than the steroid allegations. And I'm not sure Barry cares about [corporate sponsorships] anyway."
"People are beginning to say, 'What's going on with this guy? How long can a knee rehab take? Is there something else going on?' They're growing more and more sour on him, because his worst qualities are exacerbated by the off-field stuff, and his best quality -- turning on an inside fastball and blasting it out of the park -- we're not getting to see."
WHATEVER HE FEELS LIKE...GOSH!!!
"I think he should have been elected to the team and I don't think he should pitch in the game. I think it would embarrass Kenny. I think it would embarrass baseball. And I don't think Kenny Rogers will make the decision to show up next Tuesday night or Monday, just as importantly, at the press conference he'll almost have to attend."
"Should he pitch in the game and participate? My answer would be no. You try to find highlights for guys. Now here's Kenny Rogers. What highlight do you think we are going to run? You're almost bound to tell the story and back it up with video. It would seem to me to have to run that would be embarrassing incident not only for Kenny Rogers, but for baseball and the Texas Rangers on a night like that."
"I can totally understand why he was selected, but it would seem to me for a guy who hasn't talked to the media all year long, to go there and be surrounded, it would just be a swarm of people following him around. God only knows what else could happen. If somebody says the wrong thing to him; I'm not going to try and be like Dr. Phil and try and figure it out from a distance, but take a time out, just collect things, take the suspension and move on."
"People are going to do whatever they are going to do. I'm going because I was voted in by the players and I earned it. I want the players to know their vote means a lot to me. I know how the players feel and if I thought it would benefit them if I didn't go, I wouldn't go."
DEAR BERNIE; WELCOME TO DUMPSVILLE. POPULATION: YOU
"I ain't got nothing to say. I'm going home."
"That's me 14 years ago. If he can handle it and has the talent, he can have a great career. He can be here 14 years."
"Don't do what I've done out there."
"He's here because there's a belief he might be better than what we have right now up top. That's why we're trying it."
"Starting the season, there was no chance any of this was going to happen."
"I'm old news, man. I'm old news."
TEAMWORK IS A LOT OF PEOPLE DOING WHAT I SAY
"You've got a lot of upset people in here."
"He's never done it. He throws 60 pitches to get loose for a game. He needs to get loose. Two outs in the eighth, a home run is hit. Get ready, 10 pitches. He can't do it. Timlin could, Bronson could. I don't think it's a good move for us. We've always talked about all year he'd come back and be a starter, and be a good starter. He can't just walk in and be a good closer. He's not ready yet. He's not ready."
"We tried that in Kansas City. We tried that here. It didn't work. In Kansas City we blew 30 games, saved 28. It doesn't work."
"They're panicking. We're [four] games up and it feels like we're 10 down. They're panicking. They've been trying to get rid of [Kevin] Millar since the beginning of the season. Well, guess what? His numbers are the same as last year. Then he caught fire. Now he's definitely looking over his shoulder a little more because we've got a very good backup first baseman in [John] Olerud. [Mark] Bellhorn's helped us out winning. He has bad games here and there, but guess what? We're together, we're a team. What hid Bellhorn's mistakes earlier was I was coming up, picking him up. If I'm not doing it, it makes what he's doing look bad."
"We'll be all right . . . but I don't think his body is going to be able to bounce back and accomplish that feat. Schilling's a little too old and it takes too long to get loose to be in that closer role."
"We're in first place! What the [expletive] is going on in this clubhouse? Damn!"
"[Francona] just pretty much called me a dumbass and told me to keep my mouth zipped. Timlin is going to be a part-time closer and Schilling is going to get his work in. But our team is a much better team if Schilling is that ace pitcher. I'm not going to back down from that."
I'VE NEVER HAD A WAY WITH A BAT, BUT THE HILLS OF IOWA MAKE ME WISH THAT I COULD
"It's frustrating for him. If you think we're frustrated and the fans are frustrated, how do you think he must feel? Even though he doesn't show it, he's very frustrated because he knows he has the skills. When you're used to starring all your life and then you quit starring, that's a very humbling and devastating thing. He came through the system very quickly."
"We can't expect everybody to be the same. It would be a boring world if everybody was the same. Look at [Derrek] Lee. I remember there were a couple coaches in San Diego who thought he didn't care. … When he was in Miami, you couldn't really tell if he was going good or bad."
"That's the one bad thing about baseball. We thrust everybody into this fish bowl and we want them all to be the same. That's not how life is. There are some guys who are rah-rah, whoop-de-doo who are as fake as a counterfeit $100 bill. Other guys are quiet as heck and genuinely care on the inside."
LIFE IS JUST ONE CRUSHING DEFEAT AFTER ANOTHER UNTIL YOU JUST WISH THE GUY IN FRONT OF YOU ON THE DEPTH CHART WOULD DIE
"I was hoping maybe they could make a trade, either trade me or somebody who's in front of me. It's not doing anything for my career to sit on the bench."
"They really screwed up my [All-Star] break. I'll figure out when I can get there. That place is a mess and really doesn't deserve to be a Triple-A city at all. It's just a terrible place to be at. Terrible stadium, bad weather, bad fans, bad atmosphere, going through customs. Hopefully I can play in front of some other scouts and somebody will make a move and I'll get a chance to play again."
"I'm at the point right now that I don't feel like I'm a minor league player. Unfortunately I've got an option left, so hopefully I can burn it and see what happens. They say they believe in me and they like me. They say they feel one way and then they act different."
"All I can do is go out and play. If a ball is coming over the plate at Camden Yards, I've got to try to hit it. If it's coming over the plate in Ottawa, I've got to try to hit it. I've got to go down and make my money and provide for my family."
THE REST
"Never in my life have I played the outfield and it surprised me when they took me to the outfield to work out. It was not fun at all."
"I have not been told one thing. I haven't been told that I've been traded or they're trying to trade me. You can't trade me. Who's going to take care of Manny?"
"If you're going to get hit in the head, you'd rather be in the big leagues than anywhere else in the world. I know this is something I'll never forget."
"I have voted for myself a couple of times. I've thrown a couple in there."
"The bad thing is, whoever hits better wins the Gold Glove. They should start calling it the Bad Glove because it always happens. They don't go by who makes plays the most. It's who's more popular."
"Starting [tonight]. I'll bring in whatever reliever I feel like starting the game with, and I'll bring my starter in in the third inning and we'll play nine innings of baseball that way. I'm serious."
"Wipe it out. That's the way I feel about it. No numbers. It's like they didn't play."
John Erhardt is an editor of Baseball Prospectus. You can contact John by clicking here or click here to see John's other articles.
John Erhardt is an author of Baseball Prospectus. 0 comments have been left for this article.
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