A lot of things are unexplainable. |
A lot of those years we didn't play well. But when you have a young team you don't have depth. If you have injuries, you're kind of [done for]. It was a grind. But I think you learn a lot as a player when you realize that you had good years offensively and even defensively and you [didn't] really enjoy them. You realize that [personal success] is not really important. It was frustrating. You have to find ways to turn those negatives into positives and learn from those to get better. |
And we really didn't have a closer. |
Believe me, there's no sense of complacency in here at all. We're going out and giving it everything we've got. Bottom line, we're not getting a lot of love in key situations. We've had some good at-bats and hit balls hard, but we're not getting any breaks. We're going to work our way out of it. |
Chemistry is important, but it can mean a lot of different things. |
Everybody's at the point now where they're getting mad, |
Everything about that year was special. When I left after that season, I felt like I left before I was supposed to. |
Exactly. You look at the guys who did get their feet wet and look at how they performed and then you look at how they go out there this [spring]. There is upside. Every guy I've seen in this clubhouse [is] not like starry-eyed, you know what I mean? They feel like they belong here, which is half the battle. |
Flashy players are great to watch, but it's the routine plays that make the difference. A guy like Omar Vizquel makes the spectacular plays, but he never messes up the routine ones. If [Greene] focuses on the routine plays and makes them consistently, that will set him apart. |
He takes pride in his defense, and that's what sets him above the rest. He's already as good as anybody I've played with at the position, and he has the potential to be the best. |
He's a very impressive player. I've told him that I'm only keeping the seat warm for him. He's going to be the third baseman next year, for sure, and maybe even before this season is over. He has a chance to be a really good player. |
I didn't get drafted my senior year, ... I got offered a contract by the Brewers for $1,500 from Sal Bando. I decided to go to college instead, and it worked out pretty well. |
I don't feel like we have a lot of pressure on us, but we feel like we need to finish the job. We keep letting everybody stay in this thing. |
I don't think we feel like we have a lot of pressure on us. But we feel like we need to finish the job. We keep letting everybody stay in this thing and we need to go home and take care of business. |
I got the sense that there was a feeling of shock. I think the fans were expecting things to be a lot different and were shocked. I think they were supportive, too, a lot more supportive than I thought they'd be with us coming in here 1-6. You know, I think the fans of Pittsburgh want to see good baseball, they want to see hustle, and they want to see wins. |