It's been very exciting, with a little bit of mixed emotions at first. I've made my home in San Diego and feel pretty entrenched there. But from a baseball standpoint, I'm very excited to play here with this team that has this type of tradition and fan base. |
It's going to be key for Coco and I to get on base. (Ramirez and Ortiz) have shown throughout their careers that they hit well with men on base and men in scoring position. They drove in, what, 140 runs last year? That's a lot. |
It's smart to stay sharp. With tonight and Monday, we're getting two days off in a span of five days. That's ample. |
My strength has been consistency, playing the same way every day. If you don't, baseball can drive you nuts. You can make a fundamentally sound swing and get a negative return. Then, you can make a poor swing and get a positive return. It is a roller coaster that you can't ride. |
No conspiracy. I think it's more coincidence than anything. |
Obviously with Congress kind of stepping up their intensity in terms of legislation, that pushed both sides to get it done a little quicker. I don't know whether this will stop legislation. It remains to be seen if this is sufficient enough. It was our view that whatever we could negotiate together would be better than having the government legislate over us. |
Obviously, he's not Willie McGee or Vince Coleman , |
Obviously, he's not Willie McGee or Vince Coleman . The biggest thing is, he gets on base and he puts the ball in play. He doesn't strike out much. |
Oh man, I always thought he was one of the top three starters in the National League. Facing him down in Florida when the lights were on ... he's got all the stuff. He has the mental makeup. He's a top-of-the-line guy. |
Second is probably my most natural spot to hit in the order, ... [to] utilize making contact, possibly hit and run, that type of thing. |
Talking to Tito, he has kind of a National League mind-set. He likes to hit-and-run in the right situation. We don't want to make outs on the bases with David and Manny behind us. But still, they're not going to hit a home run every time. If we can get to third base with less than two outs, it only helps them. So you want to be aggressive and smart. |
That's baseball. They were able to capitalize on their good fortune. That's what good teams do. |
That's what perseverance and mental toughness are all about -- how you respond to negative times. |
There was some incentive to prove people wrong. We wanted to have a good showing and we really didn't. That was disappointing. |
They just look at the record. Casual observers probably have some idea with Bonds and maybe Gagne, but nothing probably about our team or anybody else. |