When you have to tell someone they can't be here, it's not easy. |
When you play against a team, that's one thing. When you get to spend time around them in the clubhouse and in the dugout, that's another thing. |
Where I come from, I'm used to this stuff. This is normal. I guess I don't get the whole thing sometimes. This is great. This is how it should be. |
Whether it's a fastball, Trevor Hoffman changeup, whatever it is. |
Yeah, what the hell kind of goal is that? |
Yes, he'll start the second game of the season, and I really believe he's ready for that. He was very happy about it. |
Yes, it's good to see that. Until he says 'I'm 100 percent,' and he's letting the ball fly, he'll be doing this in small increments. |
You can just see that they're really into it. That's basically what I'm seeing right now. They're not quitting. They know if we get down a couple we can come back. It's a nice feeling in the dugout. |
You can only compare yourself to yourself. When you start getting involved and comparing yourself to someone else, that's always dangerous. I'm not going to be something I'm not. I don't believe in that. I don't want the players to do that. I really don't appreciate people who do that. This is what I am, this is how I am, this is what I have, this is what I believe in. |
You can see the look in his face. He's feeling better. |
You can't overestimate the effect some guys can have in the clubhouse or on teammates. |
You come over here, there's a pretty good crowd here, he's got the right lineup out there. I thought he did a nice job. He was ready for it. He was really prepared for it. You could see it in his face. |
You could see the look in his face - he's better. We'll try to get him active as soon as we can. But he is feeling better. I can tell just through conversation. |
You expect these things to happen during the course of the year. And I expect us to play well even when an injury does occur. It's very simple. I've talked about the importance of a good bench. When you have a good bench, you can play through some of those situations. Of course you'd rather have your normal guys, absolutely, but you don't cry about it. You just move forward. The guys that you have pick up the other guys who are gone. |
You get a guy who might be totally bitten all of a sudden, the guy who's known him the last 15 years might say something, he might say something you've also been saying for the last 14 days, but this validation, this reinforcement all of a sudden makes it OK. I'm OK with that. The egos aren't that big. If somebody can give us some good information, let's go with that. |