(Blanton's) record doesn't indicate that he's Cy Young, but we made him look like that. |
(We're) facing a hot team that's got everything going for them. And we're not really locating the ball as good as we can. That's what it comes down to. |
[Mauer] can hit, we all know that. He has a great swing. |
[Then he faced Minnesota on Aug. 9, giving up five hits and no runs in a 1-0 victory.] I don't think we're talking about poise here, ... I think we're talking about a 97-miles-per-hour fastball and a curveball from hell. |
A lot of people thought we were going to the World Series last year. They just didn't realize how young our lineup was. And when we got a few guys hurt, it really hurt us. |
A lot of things got straightened out. It was a good conversation, ... Both parties learned a little bit about what each other is thinking and what's going on. It helped me. I'm sure it helped J.C. I learned a lot from him. |
A lot of younger players didn't have as many ties, or any ties, with Puck, like some of us have. But they all still need to understand what he was all about and why we talk about him. He played the game the way we want to play the game. |
A presence like his can only help. He's a pretty classy man. He told me he's ready to do whatever it takes to help. If I need him to help some young kids, he'll do that. |
A presence like his can only help. He's a pretty classy man. We've always watched him and enjoyed the way he has played the game. We would expect him to come over and get some hits off the bench for us and do some spot playing. |
A regular, everyday guy, yeah, were going to have one. But I don't have to make that decision until Opening Day. |
Absolutely fine. We let them know [Puckett] played the game the right way, and that's how we expect everyone to play it. You should be very proud to be a Minnesota Twin and learn from a lot of our past players. |
All he can do is go out and throw the baseball, ... You have to think of where Radke is at. He has been our No. 1 starter for how many years? When you're the No. 1 starter, who are you facing? You're facing the other teams' No. 1, No. 2 starter pretty much the whole year. |
All of a sudden, I said, 'Boy, I don't want to pass out in the dugout.' So I came up here. [I was] over-amped down there. I got all flustered. My face was on fire. I started getting real light-headed. My heart rate was up real high. I don't know if it was our offense or the flu. So I had to come here and lay down and put an ice pack on my head. |
All of the guys are excited to see one another and to realize that the start of Spring Training is right around the corner. |
All we are hoping is he doesn't hurt himself, because it's not the normal progression for him. |