As owners of this great franchise, we understand our responsibility of giving back to the community, be it here locally, or any place in need throughout this nation, ... We are proud of the leadership that our players demonstrated with their donation, and are honored to match that generous amount. We take comfort in knowing that all of our efforts from this week, which combined fans, players, and front office, will have a positive impact on such a devastating situation. |
But for the most part, we have concluded when we looked at this profile that we needed to recognize that we are not baseball guys. We are baseball fans and we have a passion for the game. I've been one in my life that has wanted to become associated with people who were experts and then were given the responsibility and authority to act on their expertise. For the most part, that's what we're going to do. |
Each of us had our own themes. Mine was focused around talking to them about the importance of our fans and what the fans mean to the club and what we need to do to make sure that the fans are well-cared for. |
He understands our commitment to bringing a championship team back to our fans and we are confident that he has the skills and abilities to guide us there. |
I can't tell you how fortunate we are to have this guy on our club, and how fortunate the entire state is, really. He is such an ambassador for the game. |
I don't collect the stuff. I collect baseball cards. But I get calls all the time . . . It's a way to make a charitable donation in an unusual way. |
I know there’s the attitude that these guys have been around a long time and eventually they’ll perform the way they previously performed, but that hasn’t happened with some of these guys, and when that’s the case, you ought to be more willing to take risks and make changes. |
I'm a big believer that the manager ought to have his own people, because in the end, everybody looks to him. Whether success comes or doesn't come, it will be his responsibility, and that's why I feel he deserves to have the people he wants. |
If there's any one thing that I could say, it's play with enthusiasm. We have guys that we know will do that. And I think fans really appreciate that. They like the effort even if success isn't always there. |
If we can't make a deal that benefits us for 2005, then Randy will pitch for us next year. |
Just because Randy wants something doesn't mean it's going to happen. We want to respect his interests, but our greater responsibility is not to him but to our team. |
Of course it's a concern. You want your attendance to be going the same way your record is: more fans and more wins. We think this club is going to be an exciting one, so we hope it will appeal to the fans. We sure do want to do everything we can to encourage them to come out. Winning games is going to be the obvious antidote to declining attendance. |
Our concept, just like last year, was we would hold some money back and hope that there would come a time at midseason where a player might be available. And we'd be in a position where another player would make a difference and we'd have the money to spend if we saw a player we wanted. |
Our focus is to win the division. We think we have the talent where that could happen. |
Randy is obviously an icon for this city. We'd love to have Randy be with us and finish his career with us. I think he knows that. |