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NEW KID ON THE BLOCK



“A philosophy is important so that everyone is on the same page and there’s a consistency of message… It’s important not only in terms of hitting and pitching, but in terms of building a team.”

Paul DePodesta, Dodgers general manager (L.A. Times)



“At the same time, it doesn’t work if I come in and try to impose a philosophy. It’s a creative process that I’ve been working on in discussions with the staff, and I think it’s going to take shape over months. I don’t expect to leave spring training with a book defining the Dodger philosophy, but I’m finding we have a lot more similarities than differences.”

–DePodesta



“I certainly think statistics are an important part of the overall equation… I don’t know what I’d answer if you asked me to rank statistics, scouting reports and contract status in order of importance [in evaluating a player].”

–DePodesta



“I think they’re all critical to making good decisions, but I still think baseball is more art than science. As I said [at the introductory news conference], the game isn’t played with computers and statistics. There’s a human element that statistics don’t always describe totally.”

–DePodesta



“Paul likes research and reasons, and I’m into statistics and analysis too… He’s open if you can prove to him what you’re saying is accurate. I’ll have information to show him.”

Logan White, Dodgers director of amateur scouting (Baseball America)



“Different circumstances call for different solutions… Certainly, what we’re trying to create here is a philosophy that suits the Los Angeles Dodgers. I don’t think there’s just one way to do things. I’m going to try to keep an open mind.”

–DePodesta (Baseball America)



“My sincere feelings are that we’ll hit it off real well. We’ve talked about how our philosophies mix. I think everyone is visualizing he’s going to tell me to take all college players. He’s been pretty open. We haven’t sat down to talk about all of the particulars, but we’re going to get along tremendously. We just may surprise the industry.”

–White

NO, THE OTHER JOE MCCARTHY…



“It’s like McCarthyism or something. They’re looking to see who looks like a communist.”

Dusty Baker, Cubs manager, on the steroid issue in baseball (Atlanta Journal Constitution)



“I’ll probably get in trouble for that, too, but that’s how I equate it.”

–Baker



“Who am I? The FBI? I ain’t the FBI. I’m not the DEA… Because I was the manager, does that mean I know what guys are doing when they get away from the field? Does that mean I’m supposed to know everything in every situation in every town about everything? Nobody knows that.”

–Baker



“I’ve never even seen steroids… I don’t even know how you take it. How am I supposed to know who’s doing this and who’s doing that?”

–Baker

BURDEN OF PROOF



“Can you tell me that those guys truthfully weren’t doing drugs then? … If you can, then it’s a shame (their records were broken). But if not, why bitch about it? Because you’re bitching about something you don’t know.”

Jeff Kent, Astros infielder, on whether great players from the past took steriods (Houston Chronicle)



“Babe Ruth didn’t do steroids? … How do you know? How do you (expletive) know? People are saying Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth. How do you know those guys didn’t do steroids? So all of a sudden, you’ve got guys doing steroids now in the 20th century, 21st century? Come on.”

–Kent



“Keep going backward. Pete Rose? Who knows? Who the (expletive) knows? The problem going on right now is the fact that we all sit here and argue and bitch and moan and say guys are breaking records now that were set a long time ago. How do we know those guys were clean? Did they test those guys?”

–Kent



“They were shooting horses with steroids in those days, and that’s the same kind of steroids they’re putting into human bodies right now… So we don’t know. Am I right? Babe Ruth was huge. He was fat, couldn’t even run around the bases. He had knee problems, the same problems that happen to guys taking steroids right now. He was an alcoholic.”

–Kent



“And now all of a sudden there are (jerks) in the game, and we’re bad guys?”

–Kent

POINTING FINGERS



“It is a pretty good coincidence that some of the names that are linked to them are the guys that are the big, massive, overmuscular-looking guys… I don’t know or remember what Jason Giambi looked like back in his early days, but I know he wasn’t as big as he is now.”

Denny Neagle, Rockies pitcher (Denver Post)



“I mean, what, because he’s Barry Bonds, no one’s going to say that? …I mean, obviously he did it. (His trainer) admitted to giving steroids to baseball players. He just doesn’t want to say his name. You don’t have to. It’s clear just seeing his body.”

Turk Wendell, Rockies pitcher, on Barry Bonds (Denver Post)



“I’m not worried about him. I’m not worried about anyone. I have a lot of respect for Turk Wendell. I have a lot of respect for every baseball player in this game. You got something to say, you come to my face and say it and we’ll deal with each other. Don’t talk through the media like you’re some tough guy.”

Barry Bonds, Giants outfielder, on Turk Wendell (ESPN.com)



“People are going to develop their own opinion regardless of what the truth is… When I read the newspaper like everybody else, I just kind of laugh. People don’t want to accept that guys probably just work hard. They always want to say, ‘He’s doing this or he’s doing that.’ It’s just good old-fashioned hard work if you ask me.”

Dustan Mohr, Giants outfielder (San Jose Mercury News)

THE REST



“The Brewers are obligated to use revenue sharing to improve the team on the field… We’re using it in our minor league system to improve our team, just as the Athletics did it, just as Minnesota did it and just as the Kansas City Royals are doing it.”

Rick Schlesinger, Brewers executive vice president of business operations (ESPN.com)



“There is a huge difference between the eighth inning and the ninth. The ninth is the toughest inning. I don’t believe Bill James and the stat guys who say you don’t need a closer. It’s a special guy who pitches in the ninth. Eddie is a special guy.”

Bob Melvin, Mariners manager (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)



“The team can play great for eight innings, so if you come in and blow it, you feel the loss is yours. There are guys like Eddie and Rod Beck (San Diego) who don’t have the best stuff. But they have big hearts, and that’s what it takes to pitch in the ninth.”

–Melvin



“It’s unheard of. It’s unbelievable. I had 80 RBIs last year and I took a $200,000 pay cut. How did that happen? … I wasn’t that surprised because of what happened the year before, but something’s fishy. You know what I mean. … There’s a lot of good players out there that were having trouble finding jobs this year. It was worse this year than last year. Not too many teams were knocking on my door.”

Robert Fick, Devil Rays infielder (St. Petersburg Times)



“Usually, horse—- ballclubs are Mickey Mouse organizations, and maybe in previous years it’s been like that, but, man, it’s pretty cool here. Everything. It’s big-league here… There’s a bunch of names in here now, quality baseball players. A lot of times, the Devil Rays were getting guys released from different teams that were trying to stay in the big leagues and came here, but that’s not the case anymore. It’s a privilege to play for this team.”

–Fick, on his new team

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