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TONIGHT ON FOX: “WHEN SURGERY GOES WRONG”

“There should be a medical wing in the Hall of Fame, and Dr. [Frank] Jobe should be the first inductee. Tommy John surgery has produced more All-Stars and Hall of Famers than the greatest scout who ever lived.”

–Rangers pitching coach Orel Hershiser (Dallas Morning News)

“I’ve had GMs who’ll tell me to do it with normal elbow soreness just because they’ll get back quicker.”

–Reds physician Dr. Timothy Kremchek

“I had mine in L.A. at 11 and was back in my hotel room eating a hamburger by 3:30.”

–Astros reliever John Franco, on the day he had his Tommy John surgery

“Every June, teams restock their farm systems through the draft, and that means dozens of guys who want your spot. You’re sitting around rehabbing while they’re passing you by. It’s important for you to remember, though, that you’re not just getting ready for the next year. You’re rehabbing to have a good career.”

–Royals pitcher Kyle Snyder

“They’ve just paid attention to their bodies. It’s like the catapult of the Middle Ages. If you take one of the links out, then you won’t throw the ball as far. But if everything is working correctly, then the ball will soar.”

Dr. Frank Jobe

“[Dr. James Andrews] said `You’re putting pressure on your elbow by throwing too hard. You need to pitch a little bit.’ I said ‘Sorry Doc, I thought that was a good thing.’ I said if that’s the case, make an appointment for June. I’ll be back in here next week.”

–Marlins pitcher A.J. Burnett, on how he won’t stop throwing hard to alleviate the elbow pain he’s been having (Miami Herald)

A PATRIOT MUST ALWAYS BE READY TO DEFEND HIS BALLCLUB AGAINST HIS GOVERNMENT

“I didn’t like what they did to that young pitcher, whatshisname, sending him up against Texas. That was stupid. That was terrible.”

–Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley, on the White Sox starting prospect Brandon McCarthy against Texas (Chicago Sun-Times)

“I wouldn’t touch that with a 10-foot pole.”

A spokeswoman for the White Sox, when asked for a comment on Daley’s remarks

“Well, everybody has their own opinion. I think I’ve been criticized by so many people it doesn’t shock me.”

–White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, on Daley’s comments

“Well there is a thing I would say to the mayor. I would say I’ve been in this country for 25 years and I don’t have American citizenship. He should help me do that. I’ll criticize him because they don’t give me American citizenship.”

–Guillen

A PLAYER WITH THE UNLIKELY NAME OF “WHO” IS ON FIRST

“I know it’s a hot topic, or a point of focus. When somebody’s yelling at me through the [expletive] window when I’m trying to get a pair of glasses, it’s a [expletive] topic.”

–Red Sox manager Terry Francona, on Kevin Millar (Boston Globe)

“Some players get off to a rough start. I wish I was a fast starter. But you look around at Mike Lowell and Eric Chavez and Vernon Wells. They’re all starting slow. Do you give up on those players? If there’s no track record, maybe you would.”

–Red Sox first baseman Kevin Millar

“I’ve been a fan of John Olerud since college. I wasn’t going to sit behind Doug Mientkiewicz. I’ll sit behind John Olerud. There’s a track record there. Last year, I didn’t think that [Mientkiewicz] was an upgrade.”

–Millar

“There’s no right or wrong here. There’s no ‘who’s better?’ From Day One I’ve given everything I have to the Red Sox. None of this is for lack of effort. Ever. And there are other things you can bring to a team beside what shows up on the back of a baseball card. It’s nice to have people backing you when things are not going so well.”

–Millar

A ROD, BUT NOT AN INANIMATE CARBON ROD

“He’s the one with the best chance to pass Aaron. I could see him hitting 800 homers. He’s durable, strong, he’s in his prime, and players these days have a way of extending their primes moreso than when I was playing, because they work out so hard. And he’s very diligent in his workouts. And he wants to be the best.”

–Yankees announcer Ken Singleton (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)

“When you reach a milestone, the mathematicians come out of the woods. I have five years left on this contract, and that’s a lot of baseball. I take the game so serious. I commit myself so much, that if it’s not front and center in my life, I’m not going to play.”

–Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, on his fast-approaching 400th career home run

“You know, therapy can be a conversation. It can be you and I here talking for 30 minutes, and you let me know how you feel, and I let you know how I feel, and, ‘Boom,’ it’s been a constructive conversation. A lot of people think you go and get hypnotized in a doctor’s office, and it’s not actually like that.”

–Rodriguez, on how therapy has helped him in his personal and professional life

“I don’t know if I’ll play after this contract. I’ll be 33 or 34 when this one’s up. I’m going to take it one day at a time.”

–Rodriguez, doing a Nook LaLoosh impression

“I’ve never said that publicly before. You can have that.”

–Rodriguez

IT IS THE SUPERFLUOUS THINGS FOR WHICH MEN SWEAT

“Absolutely not. Remember last year everybody wanted to bury us at the All-Star break? We made one change. We changed our manager and brought in Phil Garner. That gave a lift to the team.”

–Astros owner Drayton McLane, on whether the Astros are done (Houston Chronicle)

“It’s tough to bury us now. I know people want to, [but] people in the organization, when times are tough, they rally. Whether it’s scouts or even people like Nolan [Ryan], we’re trying to find answers.”

–Astros GM Tim Purpura

“We can be equally as devastating for another third of the season and then play decent ball another third and be where we need to be. When you have good pitching, you can get hot. But all the talk in the world won’t get it done. We have to get it done. Truly, we have to start getting our offense clicking.”

–Astros manager Phil Garner

“I won’t ask to be traded. Even if the Astros want to trade me, they’re going to have to sell it to me.”

–Astros pitcher Roger Clemens

“I can’t foresee any circumstances under which we’d trade Roger.”

–McLane

“I’m here until Drayton or Tim [Purpura] come to me and say, ‘Listen, we’re not going to win, and we can get two, three or four stud prospects for you. We know you’re going to come back and work for the organization. What do you think?’ I’d have to sit down and consider that. But even that would be hard because of what we did last year. We came back and made the playoffs when everyone thought we were dead. Who says lightning can’t strike twice?”

–Clemens

I REJECT YOUR REALITY AND SUBSTITUTE MY OWN

“For the world champion Boston Red Sox to have five or six picks between our eighth pick and 58th, something is not right. And that’s not blaming the Boston Red Sox, it has nothing to do with them. It has to do with the system that I think has needed to be changed for years.”

–Tampa Bay Devil Rays GM Chuck LaMar (St. Petersburg Times)

“It’s not just us; there are other teams like us that live and die on signing players. We can’t beat them at the major-league level financially, so we have to do it through scouting and player development. So for them to have five or six picks, it just sticks out that this year because Boston, as the world champs, with their money, has those kind of picks. I have never figured it out.”

–LaMar

“We’re the only game where we’re drafting guys that don’t even play with the same equipment. So we just try to take the best [athlete]. If we’ve got an all-star shortstop we’ve just signed for four years but we think this [draft pick] is a shortstop, you can’t have too many good shortstops. If nothing else, some of the higher draft [picks] have created trade opportunities to get us the pieces that are needed to win the World Series.”

–Marlins director of scouting Stan Meek, on drafting college hitters who use aluminum bats (Miami Herald)

“No small-revenue team can compete without getting players out of the draft. If you can’t buy players on the free-agent market, you have to develop your own.”

–Tigers president Dave Dombrowski (New York Times)

“I don’t see how any organization, the Cardinals included, can turn its back on half the draft pool. It defies logic to me.”

–Baseball America’s Jim Callis, on the Cardinals’ 2004 college-heavy draft (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

“We’re looking for a mix in our portfolio in terms of high-risk picks and those who might be considered more certain. At the same time, some of those high-risk [picks] could be college picks. There are quite a few college players who fit the description of high risk, high return. And there are high school kids who might be considered medium risk but with a lower projected return.”

–Cardinals Vice President for Baseball Development Jeff Luhnow

THE REST

“Trying to win a 2-1 game here is like eating spaghetti in a white shirt. When you’re done, you look down and say, ‘My God, I didn’t get any on me.'”

–Rockies manager Clint Hurdle, on playing close games at Coors Field (Dayton Daily News)

“I might run out there to my position anyway. What are they going to do, run me off the field, come and get me?”

–Reds center fielder Ken Griffey, Jr. who, along with Adam Dunn, was held out of the starting lineup against Colorado’s Jeff Francis

“At first I was thinking it would be a good idea and then next thing I know I’m lugging around patio furniture, moving it around the yard. Take orders from the boss here or at home.”

–White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko, on how he spent his day off last week (Chicago Sun-Times)

“We sent [Terry] Tiffee down to get some work in. I hope he got some swings in the hotel.”

–Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, on Terry Tiffee, who was sent down to the minors, then recalled the next day (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)

“First major league hit and first major league error, against Lou Piniella’s Royals.”

A nearly illegible message scribbled on a gum-covered ball and presented to Mariners rookie Michael Morse after his first big-league hit (Tacoma News Tribune)

“I wish we wouldn’t wait until the last inning to win, but a win is a win, especially against California or … the Angels. They change their name every two weeks.”

–White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, on winning in the ninth inning against the Angels

“We didn’t score enough runs to win.”

–Mariners catcher Pat Borders, on why the Mariners lost to the Devil Rays (Tacoma News Tribune)

“A child that was just born today.”

–Red Sox DH David Ortiz, after hitting a walk-off three-run home run, on whether there are people who don’t know of him (Boston Globe)

John Erhardt is an editorial assistant at Baseball Prospectus. You can contact John by clicking here or click here to see John’s other articles.

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