I've seen guys hit .900 in Spring Training and when the lights go on, they struggle. The challenge is when opposing pitchers start turning it up a notch. But there is not a guy in this room that doesn't believe he can't handle the challenge. |
It took him away from playing the game he loved. The guy lived for that. He lived for Spring Training, he lived for the game of baseball. That was a dark day. When he couldn't play the game the way he wanted, it was really frustrating for him. There is no telling how many more years he could have played and how many more good years he could have had. It was hard on him. |
It's not as bad as people think it is. Offensively, you need a little luck. And we just haven't had any. |
Maybe we should just have a plane fly us around overhead for a few hours so we can stay on this schedule. |
Our team is based on guys feeding off each other and it is fun to watch. Right now we're swinging the bats well. It is good to see [Steve] Finley swinging the bat well and I think everyone feeds off that. |
The guy who was frustrated more than anybody was Vlad. But I've seen teams win the World Series, and it takes nine guys. I've told him, 'Hey, you battled the best you could.' They didn't make any mistakes on him. Those series go fast when you never get going. |
The one thing you have to do is always play the game hard and people will love you. And every day, whether it was practice or on the field, he set the tone for the organization. When every young kid came up, they could see him playing hard and I think it was really an inspiration for that organization. He got them two championships. He was a great leader. |
The pitch Moyer threw had to be a foot-and-a-half off the plate. |
There's nobody like him. He has one plan, and that's to go up with the idea of getting a hit. |
These are big games. You can't just sit back on a call like that. It's crucial. |
This, to me, was the most amazing. |
We've moved on as a team. This is a good umpiring crew ? even the umpire that's gone through all of this. He's done a great job. I just hope all this doesn't become nasty today. |
We've moved on as a team. What's really sad about it, and I think everybody will agree, is that this umpiring crew is a great crew. We like this umpire crew. I've been listening to the radios and everything, and I haven't heard any really positive things about what's going on. ... He's done a great job. I just hope all this doesn't become nasty today. |
When a team gets on a roll, it just seems like all the breaks go your way. We've got to turn it around and start making the breaks go our way. |
When he is healthy, he is dangerous. We want to keep him healthy so he can be dangerous all the time. |