The Week in Quotes: September 28-October 4

Steven Carter is taking a break from quotes. Andres Phippard
will be filling in until he returns.

ADVANCING

"They said we couldn’t beat Johnson twice in a five-game series.
Well, we beat him twice in a four-game series."

—Sterling Hitchcock, Padres pitcher, after beating Astros
pitcher
Randy Johnson to advance to the NLCS

"I believe good pitching beats good
hitting."

—Greg Maddux, Braves pitcher, after the Braves swept the
Cubs
in the division series

"It’s hard to forget they beat us last year."

—Paul O’Neill, Yankees outfielder, on advancing to face the
Indians
in the ALCS

"We knew that the way the Yankees were playing all year that
we would
have to go through them if we wanted to get back to the World Series.
And
now they’ve got to go through us."

—Mike Jackson, Indians pitcher, on the rematch

"Everyone knew coming into the playoffs that all roads lead to
Atlanta."

—Tony Gwynn, Padres outfielder, on baseball’s latest dynasty

AND NOT

"I didn’t have my best stuff, but you give up three earned
runs in
14 innings (in two starts), you don’t feel like you’re going to lose
too
many ballgames."

—Johnson, after losing his second game of the Division
Series
and the fifth consecutive of his post-season career

"Not that I didn’t expect low-scoring ballgames, but I
expected more
than 13 hits. We’ve had that many in one inning before."

—Johnny Oates, Rangers manager, after the Yankees stifled
the
Rangers offense in a sweep

"I feel like if I could give my life to make it to the World
Series,
I would do that."

—Sammy Sosa, Cubs outfielder, on the Cubs’ quick exit from
the
playoffs

"We had a great season. Nobody is hanging their
head."

—Mo Vaughn, Red Sox infielder, after losing to the Indians
in
round one of the playoffs

"They’re a damned good team. So are we. That’s what’s
incredibly
difficult. We had a flat-out awesome team. And we’re going
home."

—Craig Biggio, Astros infielder, after getting knocked out
of
the playoffs

DARRYL

"I have a really strong feeling inside that this is just
another
hill that I have to climb."

—Darryl Strawberry, Yankees outfielder, on being diagnosed
with
colon cancer

"We know Darryl would want us to go out and wear his heart and
determination
on our sleeves."

—Joe Girardi, Yankees infielder

"Baseball is very, very, very important to all of us, but the
bottom
line is sometimes we have to step aside and think about human
beings."

—Johnny Oates, Rangers manager

THE JOB MARKET

"I had to determine whether I was willing to go at the pace
that
new ownership’s going to set. I decided that I don’t want to do
that."

–Former Marlins manager Jim Leyland, on on excercising a
$500,000
contract buyout to end his tenure with the team

"Any time you have an opening and someone with Jim Leyland’s
credentials
becomes available, you owe it to yourself as an organization to see if
there’s a fit there."

—Randy Smith, Tigers general manager, on wooing Leyland

"There comes a time in a man’s life when he wants to find out
what
he’s worth."

—Felipe Alou, Expos manager, on talking to other teams

"If I’m a free agent and Mo Vaughn leaves, then why do I want
to
go to a team that’s going to lose?"

—John Valentin, Red Sox infielder, on the possibility that
free
agent Vaughn will not be re-signed

"To me, it’s all been good times. Even the bad times have been
good
times."

—Vaughn, after what may have been his last game in a Red Sox
uniform.

THE REST

"It was better than I could ever possibly
imagine."

—Kerry Wood, Cubs pitcher, on being in the major leagues in 1998