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RICKEY ALWAYS WELCOME TO LEAD OFF WIQ

"It's not in my hands. If I could do something about it, I would, because I don't think I got a fair shot at playing on this ball team."
Rickey Henderson, Red Sox outfielder, on his diminished role

"I thought I proved what I was capable of doing, but I didn't get the opportunity. So I guess I wasn't in their plans."
–Henderson

"I don't know, but I know I'm playing baseball next year because I know I can play the game."
–Henderson, asked if he'd accept the team's invitation to spring training next year

BLOW UPS

"I think it was the right time for it. In September sometimes a lot of people think the season is over."
Sammy Sosa, Cubs outfielder, on manager Bruce Kimm's reportedly profanity-heavy speech to the team after a loss to the Cardinals

"I don't regret anything I said. I guess the one thing I regret is that when I get hot, the profanity I use. When a team struggles, you can't just sit back, you got to do something. I felt it was something that I needed to, both for the club and also myself."
–Kimm

"No question they got to clean the house, including myself. If I got to go, if somebody has got to go, no matter. They got to bring in some new people next year, people who want to go out there and give it the effort we are looking for."
–Sosa

"I don't want next year to be the same in September and then go home. Hopefully, next year they clean up the mess they need to clean and, you know, we go to the playoffs."
–Sosa

"I don't think Sammy is saying anything that we all don't feel or that he and I haven't already talked about. Nobody is happy with the way we played. Everyone thought we were going to have a better club, including Sammy. In the winter he was very pleased with the team going into the season. It just hasn't worked out."
Jim Hendry, Cubs general manager

"I told him, 'No, Tony, I'm not going to play shortstop.' But I was just playing. When Tony Pena turned around and said, `OK, you're not going to play? That's fine.' When he turned around, I pulled on his shoulder and I told him, 'You know I'm going to play shortstop because I respect this game. You know I'm going to play shortstop.'"
Neifi Perez, Royals infielder, explaining that his refusal to enter a game Monday was a joke

"It's not ideal, it's not an everyday occurrence. But everything's handled. It's far from the Bronx Zoo."
Joe Torre, Yankees manager, on a fight between pitcher Orlando Hernandez and catcher Jorge Posada

"We're good, we're friends. We took care of it."
–Posada

"You talk it out, you move on. You're not going to get along all the time."
–Torre

TROUBLE BREWING

"I don't think you can be satisfied hitting .240 or playing a corner position with 10 or 11 home runs."
Larry Bowa, Phillies manager, hinting that some of his players might lose their jobs

"Nothing he says motivates me. It motivates himself. I don't look at the newspapers. Whatever he says, I have no clue about it. He could be talking to himself."
Travis Lee, Phillies corner infielder with 11 home runs at the time of Bowa's comments

"I started off really slow. You take away the first month and I've hit pretty well. But that's pretty much everybody here."
–Lee

"I have no idea. I don't talk to him. I'm not hard to understand. Like I always say, the game has changed since 1980. I go out there and play. I try my hardest and whatever happens, happens. That's my personality. He has his personality. I don't think you should get on someone's personality or attack their character, but everybody has their own philosophy about things."
–Lee

"We can't undo what happened, but after lying awake all night and thinking about it all day, I made a mistake by not taking him out of the game right there. That's been eating me alive all day. In the minor leagues, I would have."
Grady Little, Red Sox manager, on deciding to fine outfielder Manny Ramirez for not running out a ground ball

"My shoulder was a little bit open. My body was in front and my arm was in back. I don't know why. I feel good."
Willis Roberts, Orioles pitcher, on plunking Yankee Jason Giambi

"[Giambi] told me something bad, but I don't listen, I don't care. It's my job. If he wants to come to the mound, I'm not afraid."
–Roberts, on Giambi's reaction

"Let me hit you with a 95-mph fastball and see how you react."
–Giambi

"I was trying to throw the ball inside and down. It's not my fault. I don't know what he was thinking. I don't want to hit nobody."
–Roberts

THE REST

"I understand the importance of Choi getting some at-bats. But I'd like McGriff to get to 30 home runs. Once he does that, then I'll do some evaluating."
Bruce Kimm, Cubs manager, on potentially playing Hee Seop Choi at first

"The Oakland A's are the measuring stick of the American League. We didn't measure up very well. That's a good thing. It shows us where we have to get to."
Denny Hocking, Twins infielder

"When they won 20 in a row, there was nothing we could do about it. Now, we have something to say about it."
Troy Glaus, Angels infielder

"It's hard for fans to be patient when in the past ownership brought in free agents to plug in all the holes."
David Segui, Orioles infielder

"It's been a long time since we've had a chance to smile. If you get hit in the head with a hammer often enough you start looking for that hammer."
Mike Hargrove, Orioles manager

"It's my fault. I was on the moon. I don't know what I was thinking."
Melvin Mora, Orioles outfielder, on turning a fly ball into a double for the Yankees

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