His breaking ball was [off] as far as location and the strike zone. |
His role will be a utility player _ coming off the bench. A backup infielder. A right-handed bat off the bench. |
Hopefully [he can pitch] at least five innings and we are in the ball game. I don't want to be out of the ball game in five innings. |
Hopefully, he can reach five innings, and we're in the ballgame, ... I don't want to be out of the ballgame in five innings, but if he can gives us a good, solid five innings. ... |
Hopefully, he'll get three at-bats in a shorter period of time hitting at the top of the lineup. |
How did I handle it? If he hit me, I went to first base. If he didn't, I got up and was more determined that he wasn't going to get me out. And if I went to first base, there was a bull's-eye on the shortstop, there was a bull's-eye on the second baseman. |
I always tried to do the best. I knew I couldn't always be the best, but I tried to be. |
I am not going to sit here and say he should hit 25 home runs and drive in 90 runs or whatever. That's not fair. But what he is doing, I knew he had the abilities to do these things. |
I am perplexed about how we're not producing on offense. But I can't start panicking now. You have to be very careful this early in the season. We have to be patient to a certain extent. How much longer, I can't tell you. |
I can't believe that he said that, |
I can't do desperation things, because those guys will lose confidence in me. You have to be very careful this early in the season -- what you do and how you do it. |
I can't explain how badly we needed this. |
I can't remember a game called because of lights. It just wouldn't have been right to have those guys sitting around for 40 minutes, 50 minutes, an hour. |
I didn't argue balls and strikes. All I said to [Nelson] was, 'You should have been able to call the play.' That's not arguing balls and strikes. When the first-base umpire said [no swing], I couldn't believe that. |
I didn't even have time to say, 'Uh oh,' |