The Week in Quotes

August 22-29

by Ryan Wilkins

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"...SO WE TELL STORIES. IT'S EASIER THAT WAY."

"He deserves an Oscar."
--Dusty Baker, Cubs manager, on Lance Berkman's reaction to nearly, but ultimately not, getting beaned by a Mike Remlinger fastball on Sunday (Chicago Tribune)

"It didn't catch me flush."
--Lance Berkman, Astros outfielder, after being told that video of the pitch confirmed that he was not struck in the head at all (Chicago Tribune)

"I'd like to play them again tomorrow...I'd like to play them from here on out, the way they [expletive] acted."
--Mike Remlinger, Cubs reliever, on Berkman (Chicago Tribune)

"I know he wasn't hit...I heard it and I saw it. That ball was too high to hit him in the head. I heard it hit his bat. There's a distinctive sound between the bat and the helmet."
--Baker, on Berkman

"You hit someone, and then it turns out...Berkman didn't even get hit, pretending he got hit in the face.... You're thinking maybe you put someone in the hospital and then you find out he's faking. That speaks for itself. Pretty poor."
--Remlinger

"Whenever you see a ball coming right at your neck at 90 miles an hour, you just try to get out of the way as fast as you can.... To be honest, I wasn't sure what was going on."
--Berkman, on not being hit, after writhing on the ground for more than a minute as if he had been hit

"It didn't hit me square. I saw the ball coming right at my face. As soon as I hit the ground, I was kind of stunned for a minute."
--Berkman

THAT'S THE CHICAGO WAY, APPARENTLY

"I don't know what his intentions are, but the truth of the matter is that Wood has hit something like 11 Astros, and Roy has [hit] only three [Cubs].... I don't know what elementary school teaches you that kind of math, but it sure doesn't add up in my viewpoint. We're not trying to say we need to equate what Wood's doing, but I would say that if you're going to talk about squaring off or settling scores, they better take a look at those numbers before they start talking."
--Phil Garner, Astros manager (Chicago Sun-Times)

"The thing to do is play the game. If they feel like somehow they're slighted in this deal, add the numbers up. They don't work.... Kerry's hit 11 of our guys, and I think he broke [former Astros infielder Julio] Lugo's arm, didn't he?"
--Garner

STICKING

"I don't mind and I don't care because I am not going to the Giants...I already made up my mind a long time ago. I'm not going nowhere. If they trade me, whatever team picks me up is in trouble because I'll go home."
--Jose Mesa, Pirates reliever, on the rumor that he'll be traded to Giants (MLB.com)

"Nobody wanted me in the winter...so why should they want me now? Nobody gave me a chance in the winter, just Baltimore and here. That was it. Now they want me. I'll stay here [with Pittsburgh] or I'll go home. It's plain and simple. I've already talked to my wife and my kids. They know about it. It's cool."
--Mesa

JUSTIFY YOUR LOVE

"This is not a three-week trade...It's a deal that can't be evaluated for three years."
--Rick Peterson, Mets pitching coach, on former Met farmhand Scott Kazmir (N.Y. Post)

"You have to look at at the marketplace.... We needed rotation guys for next year. Where we feel the time it would take (for Kazmir), especially in this market the fans would not be patient."
--Peterson

"This is no different from that trade."
--Peterson, referring to the A's trading Jeremy Bonderman for Ted Lilly in 2002

"The real reality of it is that nobody would care (about the deal) if we were close to first or in first like we all expected to be. Within an organization, (Kazmir) won't be the first super prospect to be traded and he won't be the last."
--Al Leiter, Mets pitcher (N.Y. Post)

LET THE DISTANCING BEGIN...

"What you have to weigh is, where is he now?... There hasn't been a lot of improvement in his condition, so that complicates things and where will we be payroll-wise as it relates to putting together the whole team."
--Kenny Williams, White Sox general manager, on soon-to-be free agent Magglio Ordonez (Chicago Sun-Times)

"If you allocate so much money to one player, and as you see that one player go down and you haven't fortified your team in other areas, then you haven't done it justice. You're taking the easy way out."
--Williams

"He hasn't been able to do much...If it doesn't start to improve, he may have to have some sort of surgical procedure, from what I understand. But it's just sketchy stuff now."
--Williams

"It certainly has exposed a couple other areas that we may need to upgrade on or adjust, get a little different spin on things.... It [could] be a different kind of balance or sacrificing a little power for a little more on-base percentage or a little more speed."
--Williams

"We looked for baseball players at the end of last season...that's why Ross Gload is here, that's why Timo Perez is here, that's why Juan Uribe is here. We're not on a different page, we're on the same page."
--Williams, on the prospect of replacing Ordonez

THE REST

"I am not going to play for the Rockies for $3 million next season.... My reason? I would want financial incentive to give up the opportunity to become a free agent and explore the opportunity of playing closer to my [San Diego-area] home."
--Jeromy Burnitz, Rockies outfielder (Denver Post)

"I am approaching next year just like I approached this year.... We would like to have Vinny [Castilla] and Burnitz back, but if it's not within our budget, we will go out and find replacements or give opportunities to deserving young players."
--Dan O'Dowd, Rockies general manager (Denver Post)

"If we are going to get something done here it's going to be with a nucleus of young players. We won't be finding six and seven free agents and pay them market value."
--Clint Hurdle, Rockies manager (Denver Post)