August 28, 2000

The Week in Quotes

August 20-26

by Derek Zumsteg

PITCHING DEBUTS

"I was just lobbing it up there, like throwing it to a little kid. I was floating it up there."

-- Derek Bell, Mets outfielder, on giving up five runs pitching mop-up in the Mets' 16-1 loss to San Diego

"He didn't have his good stuff today. He looks like he needs a little work."

-- Bruce Bochy, Padres manager, joking about Bell's inning

"He's a better hitter than I am a pitcher. That's for sure."

-- Brent Mayne, Rockies catcher, on pitching to pinch-hitting pitcher Tom Glavine first on his way to become the first position player in 32 years to get a win

"I shook him off a couple of times. I didn't feel real comfortable against Andruw Jones -- not because he was going to get a hit or something, that was either going to happen or not. I didn't want him to hit one back at me again and get me killed."

-- Mayne, on being on the other side of the battery with Ben Petrick

LONG TOUGH STARTS

"Johnny Oates showed a lot of confidence in me after throwing 125 pitches through eight innings to let me go and finish the game in the ninth."

-- Doug Davis, Rangers starter, on throwing 144 pitches in a complete game

"He's the one guy I've been excited about since the start of spring training. The guy is a big-league pitcher. He wants to start, and he may have furthered his cause tonight."

-- Johnny Oates, Rangers manager

"It felt like I was running into a 30-mph wind with a parachute on. I had a lot of things go the right way in this game or it could have been a different story. My command wasn't exactly there."

-- Randy Wolf, Phillies pitcher, on his 135 pitch win over the Giants

"It was a tremendously gutsy performance."

-- Terry Francona, Phillies manager, on Wolf

MANAGERS ON PLAYERS

"Michael is an RBI addict. When he doesn't get them, he gets upset with himself. He challenges himself to drive in runs. He's had a heck of a year doing that."

-- Tony Muser, Royals manager, on first baseman Mike Sweeney

"We'd held Chipper in check pretty well until today. We were hoping they'd get out of town before he found his stroke."

-- Dusty Baker, Giants manager, on losing to the Braves 5-4 after Chipper Jones hit two home runs

"He outpitched our guy. It's hard to say how good his stuff was. Evidently, it was good enough to shut us out."

-- Davey Lopes, Brewers manager, on being shut out by ex-Brewer prospect Brian Tollberg

"Before the year is out, I'm probably going to run out of superlatives."

-- Lopes on Richie Sexson

"I had a $50 and three $20s. I gave him an extra $10 for the RBI. I went to shake his hand and he had his hand out. I said, 'That's a funny way to shake hands.' "

-- Tony LaRussa, Cardinals manager, on paying out to Garret Stephenson for hitting an opposite-field single, as challenged

TERRIBLE

"It's been a bad year for us, but we're not as bad as statistics say we are."

-- Lopes, Brewers manager

"I was like throwing softballs up there. I was so off."

-- Omar Olivares, Athletics pitcher, on his part in losing 14-6 to the Indians

"I put some Off on. They should call that stuff 'On' because they liked that stuff even more. It was brutal. I just hope it doesn't happen again."

-- Bobby Higginson, Tigers outfielder, on insect swarms at Comerica park

THE REST

"I thought the baseball gods were against us then. When he got hit, I was about to blow my brains out. I thought somebody doesn't want us to win this game."

-- Lopes, Brewers manager, on Charlie Hayes being called out by contact with the ball just before his team rallied in the ninth to beat the Astros

"They're like sharks. You give them a taste of blood, they come after you."

-- Oates, Rangers manager, after losing 12-3 win to the Yankees.

"I think when you face guys who are some of the better guys in the league, you should get motivated. You know when you face an Atlanta staff, you have to execute. If you don't execute, you're going to go home not only with a lot of 0-fers but losses."

-- Will Clark, Cardinals infielder, on getting ready to face Braves pitching

"Over 50 percent. Easy."

-- Moises Alou, Astros outfielder, on how many players use steroids or amphetamines

"The man is hot. Don't touch him, you might burn yourself. He's one of our best players."

-- Barry Bonds, Giants outfielder, on Ellis Burks

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