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AND THE PLAN TO CLONE ZACK GREINKE HAD AN AUSPICIOUS BEGINNING

"Hopefully the cavalry is coming sooner or later for the people of Kansas City and the Royals."
—fired Royals manager Trey Hillman, who was replaced by Ned Yost.

"I'm not happy I'm leaving at all. It's the last thing I wanted. I want to keep fighting. There's 127 games left, there's a lot of season left, a lot of good things can happen for this club."
—Hillman

"There won’t be any second-guessing. I have the ultimate respect for the people I work for, but to put it into perspective, sometimes things in this business work and sometimes they don’t."
—Hillman

"Trey Hillman is an incredible leader — a very, very special person who touched the lives of many people in the Kansas City community and throughout baseball. The recent struggles of our baseball team, however, require a change and we're making a change immediately."
—Royals general manager Dayton Moore

"As far as him losing the team or losing the clubhouse, it's probably the farthest thing from the truth. I think everyone respects him and likes him. Not only as a manager but the guy genuinely cares about you on and off the field. And in this business, it's tough to find somebody like that. And it's very unfortunate that he's not still here."
—Royals infielder Willie Bloomquist (Dick Kaegel, MLB.com)

HE WAS JUST CHECKING OUT CARLOS RUIZ' TATS OF COURSE

"As far as I'm concerned, it's out of line. It's one thing in my opinion to go out and play a club as tough as you can possibly play it within the framework of the way they've structured things to be done. And cheating, until you get caught, nobody says that you don't explore something like that. But if you're cheating and you get caught, you know what? Then you'd better do something about it. That's my reaction to that."
Rockies manager Jim Tracy after FSN cameras caught Phillies coach Mick Billmeyer using binoculars from the bullpen during the game.

"Keep crying. I'm sure if they could steal signs they would. And if we can, we will too. If we can get them legally. If you're dumb enough to let us get them it's your fault. It's been going on in the game a long time."
—Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, on Tracy's complaints.

"It's up to the pitchers to change things up. That would be our fault. But when they involved technology, that's different."
—Rockies starter Jeff Francis.

"We were for damn sure not stealing signs. We're not going to let somebody just stand out there in the bullpen with binoculars. I hope we're a little bit better than that.''
—Manuel

"You can come up with all kinds of different reasons as to why you had them or what you were doing with them. Are we to believe them all?"
—Tracy

THERE'S A RESTAURANT IN PHOENIX HE REALLY WANTS TO EAT AT

"Apparently all the people around and in minority communities think we're doing OK. That's the issue, and that's the answer. I told the clubs today: 'Be proud of what we've done.' They are. We should. And that's our answer. We control our own fate, and we've done very well."
—Commissioner Bud Selig, declining the suggestion of some groups that he move next year's All-Star Game out of Arizona.

"When outsiders come in, they give us an A as far as our diversity is concerned. We've lived up, and then some, to being a social institution. I'm very proud of it."
—Selig (Ronald Blum, Associated Press)

WHERE'S NANCY PELOSI WHEN YOU NEED HER?

"It's my intention to learn if [the shot] worked as soon as possible. If not, then we want to go right to the surgery. When healthy, we know what this guy can do, but he can't do anything for us right now."
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman on injured first baseman Nick Johnson.

"My opinion of him tweeting that he was misdiagnosed? Was not very happy with him… I talked to him. We got it all straightened out. Our doctors are here to help you and get you better, and they put in a lot effort and their time to do that, and they don’t deserve to be thrown underneath any kind of bus. If you have something to say, you should say it to me or to the doctors and not on Tweeter."
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire on Pat Neshek's Twittering.

"It's very similar to the other time, when I had to have the surgery. If I have to have surgery, I'm done for the year, and obviously that's not an option I want to explore unless absolutely necessary."
Athletics starter Justin Duchscherer, on the injury to his right hip.

TYLER COLVIN MUST BOW TO LOU ONCE MORE

"He needs to play? What we need to do is win. We keep talking about at-bats for people. We talk about people needing to play. We talk about everything but winning baseball games. That's what the hell I want to talk about … period."
Cubs manager Lou Piniella asked whether outfielder Tyler Colvin should be sent to Triple-A for more playing time.

"They've had great seasons, and they're rewarded for that financially. But at the same time, you've got to continue to do it if you want to win. You can't stop the production."
—Piniella on the team's highly compensated veterans.

"It's just a question of being more consistent. Once we do that, we'll win more baseball games. And then everybody will be happy. The media will be happy. The manager will be happy. The players will be happy. The fans will be happy. And if not, we'll continue to be unhappy."
—Pinella (SI.com)

THE REST

"I’m always about effort and work. And this guy did that every day. He was the first guy showing up. He was always in the cage, always working on his defense even though he didn’t play out there."
Rays manager Joe Maddon, on releasing Pat Burrell.

“I feel like I’m going home to see my family. I’m going back to where I’m used to be hitting before. Hopefully, that will turn me around.”
Mets shortstop Jose Reyes on returning to the leadoff spot. (David Waldstein, The New York Times)

"I kept thinking, ‘He didn’t walk a guy. I was trying to remember if they had gotten a hit."
—Athletics general manager Billy Beane on Dallas Braden's perfect game. (Ken Rosenthal, FoxSports.com)

"Those people who know a lot about the game, they think they have everything figured out. —It’s not over after April. It’s over after October."
Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz

"Well, routinely now, hitters pop up a pitch they think they should deal with and they start making noises, and that really is disrespectful to the pitcher. Most of the pitchers just turn around and ignore it. Carp doesn't. I think Carp's right, and I think Carp's in the right. Respect should go both ways. If he gets you out, he gets you out. Zip it and go back to the plate. If he gives it up, you zip it and let the guy go around the bases — or single, double, whatever it was. Most pitchers let the guy jabber. I don't think Carlos Lee is anything special as far as a guy who disrespects, but it's so common now. Carp will let you know."
Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, explaining why benches emptied after a dispute between Chris Carpenter and Carlos Lee. (David Wilhelm, The News Democrat)

"I'm still not where I want to be. I'm still hungry. I'm starting to smell it a little bit. Hopefully, I can get there soon. I don't want to be in Triple-A the rest of my career, you know?"
Nationals pitching prosect Stephen Strasburg (Adam Kilgore, Washington Post)

Alex Carnevale is a contributor to Baseball Prospectus.

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crperry13
5/17
It pains me to say this, but good for Bud. Baseball and Politics should be kept separate.
pmatthews
5/17
Given how teams basically suck at the public teat (i.e., rely on the massive subsidy represented in a tax-payer-funded stadium), how exactly does one go about separating baseball and politics?

It's not just a political matter, either. A significant fraction of MLB's on-field talent feels strongly about this, so this is a labor relations issue, and to the extent that MLB's fan base is concerned, it is most certainly a primary business issue.

I'm not saying MLB should definitely move the All Star Game, but I'm not saying they shouldn't, either.
crperry13
5/17
I think it's less about political ideology and more about self-interest. Remember, taxpayers vote on construction of a new stadium (at least they did here in Houston). Tax money was not force-fed into MLB, so why SHOULD they take a stance on political matters? As a voting body, we elected to give MLB that money, and entrusted them to spend it as they will. As a voter, I would not be happy about MLB using their influence to strong-arm a state government on matters of policy, regardless of whether I agreed with the policy or not - because I contributed to the new park in Houston.

The backlash against some major cities for the stance they have taken against AZ has already been noted. Polls show that over 60% of Americans support the law or at least AZ's right to enact it, and the tourism industry in those cities is suffering as AZ residents pull out in droves. [note: a "conservative" site link and a "liberal" site link should show I'm trying to play fair here.]

Selig is being business-smart about this. Less customers will boycott MLB for NOT moving the game than customers would boycott MLB for bending to media pressure and relocating. Evidence: no drop in attendance that can be attributed to MLB's stance on the law has occurred since the law was passed. Chosen at random, Friday May 14th had over 30,000 attendees at Chase Field, while Friday April 9th had a little over 21,000, so this decision has not seemed to affect attendance (SAMPLE SIZE, I KNOW!).

This is not even to mention the long-term impact such a decision would have on the Diamondbacks franchise. Moving the ASG out of AZ would have been a "fend for yourself, because we won't support you" message that would have hung the franchise out to dry--an unloved stepchild with a rapidly dwindling allowance and more chores.

Politically, relocating the ASG is a complete non-issue in my opinion. Business-wise, it would have created huge problems for MLB, and Selig & Co. seem to realize that by making (in my opinion) their decision out of self-interest instead of ideology.
LlarryA
5/17
The thing that gets me is that the game will not even be played for another 14 months. Given that the law has already been modified once, and given the degree of protest and litigation already launched, doesn't it seem reasonable that some more acceptable conclusion will be reached before then?

I'm an Arizona resident. I understand the ostensible intent of the law, but it seems that the implementation is flawed and subject to abuse (and the cynic in me wonders how much of that might have been deliberate), abuse of a type that we already have a fair amount of around here. Racial profiling by law enforcement is something that, rightly or wrongly, is brought up constantly in these parts. Many a hard-working, honest cop has been affected due to increased sensitivity caused by some bad apples.

Hurting the team and the common Arizonan by a boycott isn't going to help anything. We've got a governor that we didn't vote for (though, in the past that has usually turned out for the better...) and, as a state, don't particularly like, and IMO, doesn't particularly care too much about the will of the people...
crperry13
5/18
Re: your first paragraph - great point. In 14 months a meteor could hit the stadium and solve the problem. Silly to be discussing the 2011 All-Star game.
xenolith
5/18
yeah, I have to say I agree with Selig's approach here. There's no reason to grandstand about this with more then a year to go until the game is to be played. If come next June this law is still around and crappy, then address it. until then it's just taking away press for the baseball season.
benharris
5/17
The Cubs need to find some consistency? If there's one thing the Cubs are, it's consistent.
krissbeth
5/17
I'm trying to imagine what the national reaction would have been if Bill Belichick and Eric Mangini had been the ones giving those quotes in the spy vs. spy period between the Jets and Pats.
arfdolph
5/18
The plain and simple truth is that Arizona's law is a mirror of the Federal law. Congress passed the Alien Registration Act in 1940 that requires every non-citizen to carry documents proving their status.

It has been a federal crime for aliens to fail to keep certain registration documents on their person. Aren't laws passed by Congress supposed to be enforced?

The Arizona law simply makes it illegal in Arizona to violate that federal law. The law also expressly prohibits racial profiling.

So these groups who are so hell bent to harangue and disparage the state of Arizona are really advocating lawlessness. Idiots.

Bud deserves a pat on the back.