Under The Knife: Quiet... (09/09)
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September 12, 2005 The Week in QuotesSeptember 5-11THIS JUST IN...GO TO HELL!
"I don't see why you need to say hello to someone 365 days a year. Shouldn't once a week be enough?"
"Yeah, I pushed Milton Bradley. I've pushed lots of players."
"One of my regrets about Game Six of that World Series? Later, in the clubhouse, I should have started a fight with Barry Bonds, not because I wanted to fight him, but because we needed to stir things up."
"I would have fought Barry for no other reason than the fight would have taken everyone's mind off what just happened. And Barry would have known exactly what I was doing."
"I don't know if I ever really liked baseball. If I had my druthers, and could do something else, I'd probably be doing it."
"I may not like the game, but I respect it, and too many young kids don't."
"When Milton said that, it was the first time in my career that my wife Dana has read something and cried. That hurt. That really hurt."
"I always thought spring training was a time for a team to get closer, but when I first saw Jeff this year, he didn't even acknowledge me. I thought, that's really strange."
"He still doesn't talk to many people, but, you know something, he's taught us all a good lesson. We get paid to play and produce, not to kiss people's butts. Even though he's been slumping or tired or hurt, he's played and produced."
"IF YOU COULD KICK THE PERSON IN THE PANTS RESPONSIBLE FOR MOST OF YOUR TROUBLE, YOU WOULDN'T SIT FOR A MONTH."
"I was competing, and I received a negative comment from Gardy, someone whom I respect. The comment was confrontational, and it was made at the worst time."
"I wish I hadn't reacted the way I did, but it was my reaction and it was wrong."
"There's no division among the players. It's been a uphill battle, and we've been feeling the pressure and sometimes it's come out the wrong way, but I think everyone has handled it. There have not been any knock-down, drag-out fights."
"I can't complain about being here. We have been in the playoff hunt the last four years. I like playing here, and I think this other stuff can be resolved. I know little things have come up, but they have been resolved."
"It's about winning. If you don't understand that, take a hike out of the clubhouse, because we're going to try to win whether you've got somebody's back or not. Whatever that means."
CLUTCH IS GRACE UNDER PRESSURE
"I watched [David] Ortiz strike out. He came back and hit a ball I thought was going to hit Ted Williams' seat [in deep center field at Fenway Park]. He totally [demolished] the ball."
"I thought to myself, 'Yeah, that's what it's all about.' He struck out, he was upset, he was [ticked], he was mad. Then he walks right back up there, he gets another chance, and he don't do nothing but bust the hell out of one. The more it happens, the more that's what you get used to and know what you can do, and the more you expect something like that from yourself."
"That's what the game's all about. That's what stepping up is. People might look at you and say not everybody can do that. Well, on good teams, teams that win, it seems like there's a lot of guys who can do that."
"Right now, I'd say the good hitters on our team are Bobby Abreu and Chase Utley. Those are the two best hitters we've got right now. Pat Burrell's a power hitter. He's more consistent than he was last year, the fact he has a bad night and then bounces back and has a pretty good day. But in order to score runs, you have to hit the ball hard consistently each day."
"I can't figure whether we try too hard or we get too tight in situations. I can't determine which one. Baseball's not that hard. Hard to execute, maybe. But not hard thinking about a guy on third base and less than two outs. 'I gotta knock that run in; how am I going to do it?' Then the next thing is they have to go execute."
YOU CAN'T KEEP BLAMING YOURSELF. JUST BLAME YOURSELF ONCE AND MOVE ON.
"Back in November 2003, when I was 21 years old, I made an enormous mistake in my life: I took steroids while in the Minor Leagues. My thigh muscle, which I had previously torn, had never healed and I was scared that my career was over. I was desperate and made a terrible mistake, which I deeply regret."
"In May 2004, I was punished and suspended, which I deserved, for my mistake. I embarrassed myself, my family and my team. I am responsible for the mistake of taking steroids and the positive result was not due to some over-the-counter supplement, protein shake or tainted test."
"I promised never to make the same mistake again. The arbitration panel found that the evidence supports that I have not used steroids since the 2003 offseason."
"The thing is I am not lying, I am not hiding anything. I served my time and to do it again, again and again isn't fair. It's like committing a crime, admitting it, going to jail, coming out two years later and then getting a phone call saying, 'You have to come back and serve more time.'"
"I am for testing. I am for kicking out steroids. I made a mistake and we all make mistakes."
"I was shocked to learn that I tested positive for steroids. The results showed an extremely low level. As the panel's decision points out, the level was so low that it was 'undisputed' that it had 'no performance enhancing effect' on me."
I'LL BE BACK. PROBABLY.
"I don't know where my brain was. Somewhere it never was before. Well, I'm back from outer space."
"Now I've got to go out and give myself the best chance possible to live up to my intention. And I won't stand for being decent, for hearing a scout or someone saying, 'He's a nice player.'"
"I'm going to give this everything I've got, go at it full force. I expect to go out and have a great season. When I'm back next year and I don't have that feeling, I'll go home. And no one will have to tell me. I'll know. I'll go home."
"My idea is that if someone asks me, 'What are you going to do during the All-Star break?' my answer is, 'I'm going to play in the All-Star Game, man.'"
IF A BATTED BALL HITS A CATWALK IN AN EMPTY STADIUM, DOES IT MAKE A SOUND?
"For us to get a homefield advantage you've got have more home fans. You've got to start getting to the point where you play more meaningful games later on in the season."
"For this to take off, you can't keep selling the future. You've got to start showing people the present. Unfortunately that's the way it is in sports. It has nothing to do with Tampa Bay; it has to do with any franchise in pro sports."
"Sports is discretionary income. It's not essential like a bottle of milk in the refrigerator or some eggs. It's entertainment. Discretionary income. And people have got to get enthused."
"The amazing thing about it is that people do watch it, and people do listen to it. The ratings have been good. The problem is you've got to get them to come to the ballpark."
THE REST
"It's always good to get the bully back one day, the bully that takes your lunch money every day. I think it shows how good we are."
"It doesn't send me no message. It's his career. It ain't my career."
"You don't win ballgames with talent. You win ballgames with run-scoring and playing defense and playing good ball."
"I think we stink. We should feel embarrassed, the way we are playing and the way we are hitting. We suck."
"I kept the [lineup] card from my first loss [Tuesday night]. Now I've got this card. I like this one better."
"It doesn't matter what kind of haircut he has. It's not going to make him look any better."
"Palmeiro's was more factual. Barry's is accusational. It's Barry's word against the guys in BALCO. Until it's proven one way or another, Barry's in a different light."
"There's a difference between being a villain and villainized. When I was a kid, the heroes when we played in the backyard were Jesse James, Baby Face Nelson, Al Capone, Bugs Moran. Nobody wanted to be the sheriff. When I watched 'The Untouchables' every night, I didn't want Robert Stack to catch one of those dudes."
"The only thing better than being cheered in Fenway is being booed in Yankee Stadium. When you come in here and you get booed like they boo me, you better get your i's dotted and t's crossed, because they're waiting. This is an incredible environment to pitch in. The hostility, I've always enjoyed it, because I've never felt they boo players that [aren't good]. When you come in here, there's a different kind of adrenaline. It's always helped me focus."
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.
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