May 8, 2000

The Week in Quotes

April 24-May 7

by Dennis Cleary

LOSING WAYS

``I come to the ballpark every day thinking we're going to win. I don't know what to say or how I feel. It's hard. We're here to win and we're not doing a very good job of it.''

-- Terry Francona, Phillies manager

``When you have a tough losing streak, I don't know what you call it, but it's heavy.''

-- Tony Muser, Royals manager

``I'm so angry I could spit nails. It's not good enough to come close.''

-- John Boles, Marlins manager

``I don't know. When you find out what to do when the team is in a slump, bottle it up and sell it.''

-- Davey Lopes, Brewers manager

``You hate to score 10 runs, not make any errors and still not win the ballgame. That's not supposed to happen.''

-- Mike Hargrove, Indians manager

BRAWL AFTERMATH

``Altercations like the one that took place in Chicago last week show a lack of sportsmanship. It sends the wrong message to our fans, particularly young people. Fighting is not an acceptable part of the game.''

-- Frank Robinson, MLB vice president of field operations

``I was shocked. It's all completely out of whack. There's no explanation that [Robinson] can give for my suspension. What it says to me is that they're accusing me of ordering my pitcher to throw at hitters. I take exception to that.''

-- Phil Garner, Tigers manager

``This is clearly a shot at Detroit. It's just a case of Major League Baseball out to get the Detroit Tigers. They couldn't do it with the fine in the offseason, so they do it this way in the regular season. It's obvious they don't care if the Tigers are competitive or not.''

-- Phil Garner

PEDRO'S SUSPENSION

``I think he definitely threw at [Einar] Diaz's head. I think he was trying to hit him. That's my opinion.''

-- Charlie Manuel, Indians manager, on pitcher Pedro Martinez

``It makes you lose respect for arguably the best pitcher in the game. They have a whole bunch of cool people on their team. We have a bunch of cool people on our team. But they've got one guy who thinks he's God.''

-- David Justice, Indians outfielder

``He's the best pitcher in the game. We know he's going to pitch inside. But the other stuff, he went too far.''

-- Roberto Alomar, Indians infielder

``I'm just going to do my job, and if that's going to cost people liking me, that's fine with me. What? I'm not allowed to pitch inside?''

-- Pedro Martinez, Red Sox pitcher

``I thought everyone in the stadium saw how much guts he has by throwing at a guy's head and then staying in the dugout. I don't see how his teammates can respect him. Everyone respects his ability -- he's the best pitcher in baseball. But this isn't the same.''

-- Scott Kamieniecki, Indians pitcher

FIRSTS

``It's been so long. I wanted to give this team a lift. To go out and not do my job, it's frustrating. I had the stuff to get the job done. I just didn't do it.''

-- Curt Schilling, Phillies pitcher, on pitching his first game of the season

``I'm glad it's over. I don't have that little bit of doubt back there that said, `Hey, I haven't made it there yet.' I knew when I was doing the rehab starts I was going to be fine, but I wasn't here yet. Now, I've got the first one out of the way.''

-- Kerry Wood, Cubs pitcher, on pitching his first game of the season

``That was fun, getting the first one out of the way. It was a load off my shoulders. I'd been wondering when it was going to come.''

-- Todd Hundley, Dodgers catcher, on throwing out his first baserunner of the season

``I think it's great. I'm glad I'm in the books for something.''

-- Bobby Estalella, Giants catcher, on hitting the first grand slam at Pac Bell Park

THE REST

``If he wants to get hit so badly, I'm sure somebody else out there will accommodate him. As long as major league baseball lets people stand up there guarded like tanks, what can you do about it?''

-- Scott Karl, Rockies pitcher, on catcher Eli Marrero

``We're really playing good. The pitching is good. The defense is good. We're hitting. We're hitting for power. The bullpen is doing good. It's hard to beat that.''

-- Andres Galarraga, Braves infielder

``Damn his curveball.''

-- Marquis Grissom, Brewers outfielder, on pitcher Rick Ankiel

``I'm glad to see Frank [Thomas] back at first, enjoying the ballgame, where he should be. Frank is an outstanding defensive player. He has great hands for a big man.''

-- Jerry Manuel, White Sox manager

``This place is a lot better for hitters than the Astrodome. All you have to do here is get the ball in the air down the lines and it's a home run. The ball just flies out of here. I love this place.''

-- Henry Rodriguez, Cubs outfielder, on Enron Field

``I thought it was one of the funniest things I've seen in my life. I was laughing my butt off. I think we all were. I think John was, too.''

-- Chipper Jones, Braves infielder, on a fan's mooning of pitcher John Rocker

``I haven't found anything to do here, but the ballpark is beautiful.''

-- Kazu Sasaki, Mariners pitcher, on Kansas City

``Fernando has proven to be everything that we thought we were getting. He's a heady ballplayer who likes to compete and will do whatever it takes to win.''

-- Walt Jocketty, Cardinals GM, on signing Fernando Vina to a three-year extension

``I just didn't want to get beat by Bonds. Jeff Kent, I can live with that. Barry Bonds? No way. I tried to battle the best I could.''

-- Turk Wendell, Mets pitcher

``I don't consider myself hot yet. It's a nice thing to have the nine-game streak. I don't really care about that. My job is to get on base and score runs. That wins games. Hitting streaks don't and batting average doesn't.''

-- Johnny Damon, Royals outfielder

``It's still going to be my goal to pitch nine innings again someday, but other than that, I don't care about my personal numbers so much at this point in my career. I'm just trying to win a world championship.''

-- Todd Stottlemyre, Diamondbacks pitcher

``I like walking. I enjoy that part of the game. And I have a lot of trust and belief in the guys behind me.''

-- Alex Rodriguez, Mariners infielder

``I don't think I've ever known of a player to have a setback because a team was too conservative and too slow to bring him up, but I've seen numerous incidents of players whose careers have been set back because they are brought up too soon.''

-- Benny Looper, Mariners director of player development, on the decision not to promote Ryan Anderson just yet

If you would like to submit a quote, please email Steven and be sure to include both the quote itself and a URL pointing to the quote.