Thinking Way Outside t... (09/25)
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September 26, 2005 The Week in QuotesSeptember 19-25THE BEST WEAPON AGAINST AN ENEMY IS ANOTHER ENEMY
"We decided it's probably best that Raffy not dress with the club for the rest of the year. It was physically coming back and getting in shape and playing again, as well as the distraction of everything else."
"He wanted to come back and play. But I think in this instance we had to do what we felt was best for the rest of the players. It was never going to be, 'How do you feel today? How's your hamstring?' It was going to be, 'Have you heard from Raffy?' It gets old."
"I can't go there right now, but I think it would be very tough for him to come back in an Orioles uniform."
"I don't hate anybody. God up there is the one in charge of everybody. I'm not mad because I know I've done nothing wrong. I talked to Raffy and he said he didn't tell anybody I gave him steroids. Everything is fine."
"I didn't do anything wrong. I just gave a B-12 to one of my friends to help him out. I don't give any steroids. Right now they're not looking for B-12, they're looking for something else."
"We've been supporting him so much, and for him to come out and try to play it off on another teammate is something that's not right. It's going to be hard to forgive. I think it's a good idea that he stays away. It's kind of like a family in here. You have to take responsibility for your own actions. You are a grown man, and if you make a mistake, own up to it."
"We are a family here. Stuff like that shouldn't happen. We've all supported Raffy all year from whatever happened, and for this to come out, it was kind of a shock. It hurt a little bit."
"I'm sure stuff can get misconstrued. I find it hard to believe that Raffy would deliberately do something like that. And I just feel bad for Miggy and I hope it doesn't affect him performance-wise or worrying about his legacy. It's just a shame he has to deal with it."
THE SURVIVAL OF THIS ORGANIZATION DEPENDS ON JUST ONE THING: FINDING SOMEONE WHO CAN NOT ONLY WIN, BUT WHO DIDN'T HAVE FISH FOR DINNER
"When a guy of that stature comes to an organization, you want to really give him an opportunity to show what he can do with what you promised him. When promises aren't granted and promises aren't done, you would definitely be frustrated with it. I don't blame him for it."
"Yes, it's disappointing. I came over here to win. I asked Lou when I signed here, I said, 'Tell me what we're trying to do here.' He told me what he thought was going to happen, which is what they told him in the front office. It hasn't happened. We haven't spent the money."
"I don't know if Lou asked to leave or they forced him out. But if he asked out, then he needs to sit back and not say anything the rest of the year and let guys play because his time here is done."
"If he's the one who said, 'I want out,' then don't get on anybody's case anymore because he kind of lost some credibility. If it's not the case, manage it out for us. Grind it out just like we are. The guys would respect that."
"He's ready to move on and we've got to do the same. I just wish we had a better record for him and he could have gone out on a high note."
"It's going to be tough to lose Lou. He gave me a chance. I strike out a bunch and I've got some shenanigans on the field and he still runs me out there every day and lets me do what I do. We could have a manager next year who might not be feeling me at all."
"Things can change. The next (10) days, win, lose or draw, he's going to be here. He sees guys like myself, Cantu, Waechter, McClung, Orvella. We have some young talent here that can really compete. This might be the hot spot to be next year."
DON'T STAND IN THE WAY OF MY ACTUALIZATION AS A MANAGER
"Look. I've got goosebumps right now."
"That's baseball. I've had that feeling with a different ballclub, with a ballclub I didn't care about. To have that feeling with this ballclub? That would be the best feeling ever."
"Why? Because I want to leave with my head up and something nobody else did before. People say I'm going to quit. No. Give me a good chance to accomplish everything I want to in my career. ... I think to me winning the World Series with the White Sox is the biggest thing I have in my mind."
"Give me the opportunity to leave like Mike Ditka. Leave and then 20 years later still cashing in with a world championship."
"You know what's tough? When you're driving here and thinking about, 'God, I've got to be Ozzie today,' when you don't feel like it. When you've lost three games in a row, four games in a row, seven--and I've got to show up, open that door and put a smile on my face and pat those guys on the butt and play with them and joke around when I'm dying inside. That's not easy. That's tough."
"I want to let people know how I feel about this team. Nobody in Chicago can tell me, 'I'm the biggest fan of the White Sox, bigger than you.' Hell, no. Nobody."
"People tell me if you don't make the playoffs, you're going to be the biggest loser ever. Well, I'm not choking. This is baseball. My life is going to continue to move on, maybe here or somewhere else. As soon as the season is over, believe me, I'm going to turn the page."
"After games, I go home and watch Venezuelan soap operas. Before I'd watch 'Baseball Tonight.' Now I can't watch it anymore."
THE ANCIENT ORDER OF THE "NO HOMER'S"
"I'm walking around with a portable defibrillator. I told Ozzie [Guillen], 'You're killing me.'"
"I've never been involved in so many exciting games. I was with Boston in 1967, and we played in what might have been the greatest pennant race of all time. But that only was the last month of the year. This has been going on all season. It has been fantastic."
"To me, the greatest compliment is being called a homer. I don't want to be a cookie-cutter announcer. What am I going to do, be a cool breeze? That's not me. The announcer should have emotion. That's the way it should be."
CLASSY SENDOFFS
"Certainly I'd consider that. Rickey has never given anyone any indication that he's ready to retire, but if he was, depending on the circumstances, that could be possible."
"That's speaking as a GM and a former teammate, and someone who thinks Rickey is the greatest leadoff hitter of all time and probably the greatest Oakland A's player of all time. Obviously, I still have people I have to answer to."
"If Billy is willing to offer it and Rickey is ready to retire, I'd be happy to negotiate a one-day contract. But I don't know what Rickey's sentiments are on the topic."
"The last time I talked to Rickey, he said he'd like to be the leadoff hitter and starting outfielder for some team in the major leagues. I don't know if he's had a change of heart."
"The only people I've seen them do that for are people that have been pretty big with the Yankees. It's certainly an honor. It was very emotional. It was a far cry from when I came here for the first time in 1991, and I heard, 'Go back to Columbus!' Hearing them chant my name the whole game, it was very cool."
"I wanted to make sure I was within protocol with the team. I didn't want to disturb anybody, but they weren't going to stop. I looked at Joe and said, 'Can I do this?' and he said yes. It was a great moment, and I appreciate it a lot."
THE REST
"I like to power-shag. It's like my second workout. I'm fine."
"If we had been as healthy this year as last year, I would [be frustrated]. All teams have injuries, but when you lose the guy at the front of your rotation [Curt Schilling] and the back-of-your-rotation closer [Keith Foulke], it's not easy this day and age to fill those spots. Imagine if the Yankees lost [Randy] Johnson and [Mariano] Rivera or they had 6 ERAs. So, I can't be totally unhappy with having to fight to the finish. I was probably overly happy two weeks ago when we weren't."
"If he gets a couple of outs, they'll want to send him to Cooperstown. If he gives up a couple of runs, they'll want me to send him back to Double A."
"Where else do you get to approach your job and get to choose the music playing before you go ahead and do your work? If you go into an office meeting, no one's going to play music for you when you open that door up."
"It's hard to blow a 78 mile-per-hour fastball by a hitter of (Matt Holliday's) caliber. Next time, I'll probably throw more off-speed stuff to him."
"If you're batting third and all of a sudden you're batting sixth, you better look at yourself in the mirror and ask why. You don't go around behind people and say `why me' or whatever, because if you're swinging the bat good, I'm not stupid enough to [move] you in the lineup."
"What other combination would you want than Andino-Lowell going down the stretch?"
"I don't mind if they rebuild but, for goodness sake, don't do it every year."
"People tend to believe everything they read. even when it's not true. . . . You'd think I was so bad, I was playing for the Portland Trail Blazers or something, but trust me, I haven't done anything bad enough to play for them yet."
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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