IN THE SHADOWS
“Because I’m pitching for a team that’s lost 100 games, I think the year that I’ve had is being overshadowed…Wins are out of my control, but the other people that are in line for the Cy Young, I’d like to see what their record would be here. Take their ERA and their opponents’ batting average and put them here.”
—Randy Johnson, Diamondbacks starter, on his chances of winning the NL Cy Young Award (Arizona Republic)
“They talk about it on national TV and they don’t even mention me…I feel that’s kind of insulting. Because yeah, my record’s not where it’s at, but I’m having as good a year as anybody in baseball.”
–Johnson, following a “Baseball Tonight” segment that failed to mention him as a contender for the Cy Young Award
“There was a lot of talk I was done because of my knee [injury in 2003] and what have you. But all I’ve been able to do is come back and do the best I can and have as good of a year if not better than any other year here, considering the circumstances. But my career has been overshadowed when it comes to a lot of things for whatever reason.”
–Johnson, on returning from 2003’s knee injury
FLICK THE SWITCH
“There’s a simple solution…switch leagues. Think about it. You have a good rivalry with the Phillies, you’d see the Dodgers, the Giants; you’d have a rivalry with Pittsburgh as well. That’s something you could think about. Milwaukee did it. Right?”
—Lee Mazzilli, Orioles manager, on what to do if the Expos move to Washington, D.C. (MLB.com)
“We’d have some good rivalries…. We could play interleague with the Yankees and Red Sox. I don’t know where we’re going to go with this, but I think it’s something to think about. It’d be very intriguing. I think it would be good baseball.”
–Mazzilli
PROTECTING YOUR ASSETS
“From our standpoint, pitching is just so valuable that you have to take the high road…you have to do the things that give that kid every opportunity to get over the hump.”
—Lloyd McClendon, Pirates manager, on monitoring his young pitchers with strict pitch counts (MLB.com)
“In a nutshell, it’s a much more physical game at this level in a lot of different ways…. It’s tough for young pitchers to learn how to deal with that grind to get themselves prepared every fifth day.”
–McClendon
“It’s easy to say, ‘Run them out there and let them throw 140 [pitches]. They’re going to get hurt or they’re not.’ [Those critics] don’t sit in my shoes.”
–McClendon
“The Maddux’s and Randy Johnson’s, those guys are unique…. That’s why they are Hall of Famers. That’s why they are No. 1 [starters]. That’s why you don’t have many of them.”
–McClendon
“I would say for every one Greg Maddux you are going to have 50 to 75 guys falling by the wayside who can’t deal with it.”
–McClendon
CHICAGO SONS
“Personally, I think getting to 200 innings means more than the wins because you really can’t control the wins and losses as much as you can showing up every fifth day.”
—Greg Maddux, Cubs starter, after winning his 15th game for the 17th consecutive year (Chicago Tribune)
“I’m going to worry about getting ready for my next start…I don’t think it’s too healthy to overlook one team. That’s 10 days away or whatever. If you don’t win your next start, that game might not even matter.”
–Maddux
“I’ve got about eight appeals [of fines] so far, so they’re going to have to listen to me…I even got a letter that says if I get thrown out again, I’m going to get suspended. So I guess they know that, and maybe they’re baiting me for that.”
—Moises Alou, Cubs outfielder, on his numerous ejections (Chicago Tribune)
“[The umpires] are definitely after me. I’m going to have to swing at everything, I guess. Some are after me; I’m not saying all. I don’t know if it’s a coincidence, but I’ve been getting a lot of bad calls. I’m going to have to do something about it.”
–Alou
“I’ve been getting so many bad calls in the last couple of months…I always argue for my rights. Everybody saw it. The guy had a terrible strike zone today. Terrible.”
–Alou
“I have been doing that a lot of years and I’m not changing now…. Why should I change, because of this happening one time? The ball just missed being a homer and it came off the wall just right for the outfielder. It shouldn’t have been that big a deal because we won the game.”
—Sammy Sosa, Cubs outfielder, on his post-homer ‘hop’ (Chicago Sun-Times)
“It didn’t look good… [but] Sammy was hopping before I got here.”
—Dusty Baker, Cubs mananger, on Sosa’s post-homer ‘hop’ (Chicago Sun-Times)
LOVE ME TENDER
“I don’t want to get blamed for that one…. If they left it up to me, it would be a lot worse than this.”
—Derek Jeter, Yankees shortstop, on making the rookies dress up like Elvis impersonators before signing autographs (MLB.com)
“I’m just glad I have all my body parts covered…I’ve heard some bad rumors about these things.”
—Scott Proctor, Yankees pitcher, on having to dress up like Elvis (MLB.com)
“I’m glad I was a rookie 10 years ago. This is pretty bad…. When I did it in Seattle, it wasn’t fun. We had these antique dresses on. The signing is the worst part.”
—Alex Rodriguez, Yankees third baseman (MLB.com)
THE REST
“I wish they would disappear and never come back.”
—Pedro Martinez, Red Sox starter, on the New York Yankees (MLB.com)
“I know what our record is, but I’m pleased with the progress we’ve shown in terms of pitching…. Did anybody expect us to be a game out of first in mid-July? After that, things got out of control with injuries. I’d like to have seen what this team could have done.”
—Rick Peterson, Mets pitching coach (Newsday)
“We’re two or three years ahead of where we were at the same point in Oakland…. We’re compiling so much information and data on the pitchers we have. It’s going to tell us a lot when we sit down at the end of the
season and examine it all.”
–Peterson
“He’s calling again on Monday, and I take that as a positive…. He didn’t say, ‘Don’t ever call me again,’ and then throw away my number. I would not regard that as a positive development. You try one thing, try another thing and try a variation on the thing, and you keep working it. You either get there or you don’t. I hope we get there.”
—Joe Garagiola Jr., Diamondbacks general manager, on his negotiations with Richie Sexson (Arizona Republic)
“My view is that any time you have a conversation, you learn things. Maybe either you think of some new things, or you give them some new things to talk about, which I think we did, in that respect.”
–Garagiola Jr.
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