He looks great. You see him hitting in the cage? He looks like he'll be ready [for Opening Day]. I can't wait to get back on the field with him because we feed off each other on the field and we know what each other can do. We complement each other well. |
He stayed in there and worked hard and finally got his shot, that's what inspired me. I was impressed with the way he handled his whole situation. Never complaining about stuff, never saying if this would have went this way, this would have happened. He said this is the way it is. |
He's been telling me little things about staying low and keeping a nice little base when I'm ready to throw. We're kind of doing the basics right now, and hopefully we can work our way up to where I can be just as fundamentally sound as he was. |
He's got the same kind of passion I have. We're kind of similar in a lot of ways. That's why I think that's what brought us together, the demeanor that we have to get better, the competitive edge. |
He's in one of those situations where you just have to go through it, man. You just have to go through the punishment and move on. |
He's stressing the little things this year. It's fine with me because I needed to put that into my game. Joe's the kind of guy that he's cool enough that if he suggests something, then you listen and roll with it because you know it's best for the team. |
I called it a step (in the right direction). When I was hitting. and the coaches were pitching, I was feeling no pain. |
I don't get it. I don't know why it's like that. It's almost like we're being punished for having the worst record. |
I don't know. I was in the clubhouse. I would have liked to been there. |
I just came out wanting to battle and do what I normally do and play hard until the last inning. |
I just think the second half came. Guys were trying to put up numbers, to be honest with you. Guys trying to get jobs for next year and play well so they can try to solidify their place in the lineup for next year, pretty much. That's what had a big thing to do with the way we started playing. |
I just want to come in and be myself, you know. And that means go out and play hard every day. Try to help the team win games. When you say a leader, you usually think about somebody whose standing in the middle of the room telling everybody stuff. I don't know if I'll be that person, but I'll definitely try to lead by the way I'm playing on the field or by the way I carry myself on and off the field, the way I get ready to play the games every day. |
I just wanted to get it ready for the real season and I didn't want to chance aggravating it even more [in the World Classic]. I know my trainers here will take extra care watching out for it, and I didn't want to go somewhere where they probably wouldn't watch it as carefully as they should. |
I like the 4,000 hits. That's the one that gets me. That's a lot of hits. That's the most eye-popping record to me besides the home run record. You ask anybody who plays the game, that's a nice record to have. The most hits ever? |
I saw the team we had Lou's first year and his second year. They put together a nice team. The year after that, you should be getting better, ... When I saw that we went backwards, I said: `I don't think Lou is going to be around here too much longer.' |