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“YOUR EYES CAN DECEIVE YOU. DON’T TRUST THEM.”



“He swung at the ball, and it was strike three. I caught the ball, so I thought it was an out.”


–Angels catcher Josh Paul, on the controversial dropped third strike in Game Two (Chicago Sun-Times)



“I didn’t see any of that, but I caught the ball, so I thought it was an out. When you catch the ball, you walk off the field.”


–Paul, on umpire Doug Eddings’ gesture



“I was a little confused because I caught the ball. If there’s a ball in the dirt, usually the umpire will say ‘no catch’ to us. But he didn’t say that.”


–Paul



“It was a swing, our catcher caught it. Doug Eddings called him out, and somewhere along the line, because the guy [Pierzynski] ran to first base, he altered the call. He called him out, and that’s what is disappointing. When an umpire calls a guy out and you’re the catcher, and I’ve caught my share of them, he’s out. He didn’t call swing — he ran up with his fist and said ‘you’re out.'”


–Angels manager Mike Scoscia



“You’re taught that if the third strike is in the dirt you run, and Josh didn’t tag me. I think he thought he caught it. I just ran, and luckily it worked out.”


–White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski, on the play



“It was probably one of the best games of my career. We found my changeup in the middle innings, and in the seventh and eighth innings I made a couple of key pitches and had a ground ball and a couple of outs. But it was one of the best games of my career.”


–White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle, reminding us that there was an entire baseball game played before The Call



“It’s not my fault. I take no responsibility for that whatsoever.”


–Paul (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)



“Cheating would have to do with another team cheating you out of it. This was just a bad call.”


–Paul, when asked if the Angels were cheated



“Generally, if there’s any question, I would either tag the guy or throw the ball to first or turn around and look at the umpire and show him the ball and get a definitive out call. I see both sides of the issue. I think in Josh Paul’s mind, there was no question, and the replay seems to show he caught the ball. I understand why he assumed the batter was out, but by the same token he did reach down toward the ground.”


–Astros catcher Brad Ausmus, on the controversial call (Houston Chronicle)



“It was a horrible way to lose a game. In the catcher’s mind, it was a full catch. Most umpires, if the catcher throws it out to the mound, they go by that. But the hitter, who’s a catcher, sold it better. Take the doubt out of it. Don’t assume anything.”


–former catcher Jim Sundberg, on the play (Rocky Mountain News)



“If we win, it’s going to be here forever. If we lose, then we’ll forget about it.”


–White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen

WE HAVE NO TIME FOR SORROWS



“I laughed when I saw that. My first thought was ‘What about Joe?'”


–Yankees pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre, after hearing the message of congratulations owner George Steinbrenner relayed to the Angels and their manager (New York Daily News)



“I’ve been here with Joe for 10 years. This is by far the best job he’s done. This year the job he’s done was very special because he had a lot of things to battle through.”


–Stottlemyre, on Joe Torre



“It’s been real difficult this last month because I’ve really enjoyed being here, seeing the guys bust their tails. But I guess I didn’t forget very easily what went on during the course of the year, and I never wavered over the decision.”


–Stottlemyre (New York Newsday)



“Sometimes you have to satisfy two groups of people and it shouldn’t be that way. You should have to satisfy one group.”


–Stottlemyre, when asked for advice he’d give his successor



“It ate at me for a while, but I laugh at that, too.”


–Stottlemyre, on how Steinbrenner would indirectly jab at him by praising his friend Billy Connors



“They’re obviously going to want to make some changes anyway. I’ll help them out a bit. This is one change they don’t have to make. I’ll make it for them.”


–Stottlemyre, on not returning next year



“You want to be appreciated wherever you go, and I don’t think we were. I never heard anything to that effect. There is a lot of tugging and pulling and a lot of stuff I don’t understand. But now, I don’t have to worry about processing it anymore.”


–recently fired Dodgers pitching coach Jim Colborn (Los Angeles Daily News)



“You just never got the feeling you were part of the process. You were part of it, but a dispensable part of it. But that’s all right. Maybe they had their own point of view, and they probably figured (we) weren’t going to carry out what they wanted done. They have the right to bring in their own people. But I don’t really look at it is I did a bad job or that I failed any kind of test. But whatever I had to offer, they didn’t think it was valuable.”


–Colborn, on his time in L.A.



“I would just say exactly what I said (when Tracy’s departure was announced), and that is that anybody who wears or has worn the Dodger uniform will absolutely get my public support. I have repeatedly said during the course of the past year that our manager and coaches have done everything they could to get the most out of all our players.”


–Dodgers GM Paul DePodesta, on Colborn’s remarks

PERHAPS I CAN FIND NEW WAYS TO MOTIVATE THEM



“I still haven’t figured out how you do this job. I see guys like [Atlanta Braves GM] John Schuerholz sitting there, watching a game with his legs crossed, chatting calmly. How do you do that? That was my problem as a player. I treated everything like a football game. I still do. Watching like crazy, picking apart every little thing that happens.”


–White Sox GM Ken Williams, on how he can’t relax when watching his team (Chicago Sun-Times)



“I could never be a manager. I would set the record for getting tossed. Whatever Lou Piniella’s total is, I would crush it.”


–Williams



“There are a lot of little things that you definitely have to understand–not only as an individual but as a group–to get it done. The personnel is here. It’s [learning] the importance of the intangibles and the little things that is the difference in winning and losing”


–new Pirates manager Jim Tracy (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)



“You get 27 outs, and every single one of them is precious. The point is to maximize the efficiency of each and every out. That’s vital.”


–Tracy



“Do I advocate that you go up to the plate looking to walk? No.”


–Tracy



“But do I advocate going to the plate and strongly suggesting to me that you understand the situation and are having a good at-bat.”


–Tracy



“When you take good at-bats, you put pressure on the other side of the field–especially when it’s not just one a night. If you get four at-bats, you have four good at-bats.”


–Tracy



“It’s so intriguing to watch how [the Cardinals] go about their business. It’s baseball the way it’s supposed to be played. It’s such a methodical beatdown if you allow it to happen.”


–Tracy, on how he wants to instill the Cardinals’ style of play in Pittsburgh



“There’s one [point] I’ve made since I started to manage and I say it every spring. Effort is not an option. Everything else we can talk about.”


–Tracy

DIFFICULT TO SEE. ALWAYS IN MOTION IS FUTURE.



“I not campaigning for anything. I have the upmost respect for Joe Torre… I heard about the story in the New York Post today and, quite frankly, I was asked by Fox to talk to that particular writer who was a broadcast analyst. How that got on the sports page I don’t know.”


–former manager Lou Piniella, on the rumor that he was campaigning for Joe Torre’s job (New York Daily News)



“There’s nothing there, nothing to talk about. They have a good manager. I’m not going to stoke anything.”


–Piniella



“I’d like to manage again, but outside that, there’s no timetable or anything like that. There’s nothing going on, absolutely not. The guy that I talked to yesterday was a reporter that Fox wanted me to call to talk about my broadcasting time.”


–Piniella



“I’m unemployed, okay? I’d like to manage again. I don’t want to end my career with three 90-plus loss years. I don’t want to end it that way. But if it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. That’s basically it. Believe me, there’s nothing going on.”


–Piniella

“SIR, I DON’T KNOW WHERE YOUR MANAGER LEARNED TO COMMUNICATE, BUT IT HAS THE MOST PECULIAR DIALECT.”



“You cannot buy a World Series ring on the streets. Ask Alex Rodriguez, he’s got millions of dollars and no rings. That’s why I say, ‘God bless Derek Jeter. He’s got a lot of money and a lot of rings.'”


–White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen (Los Angeles Times)



“I could be with my family for the rest of my life or be with my players for the rest of my life. I’d rather be with the players.”


–Guillen



“Oh, I got a lot of jobs. Maybe not analyst on ESPN, because my English is not that good. I would sit next to Jerry [Reinsdorf] and criticize the players. That’s an easy job.”


–Guillen, on what his next job may be



“In the minor leagues, you got three good players. Why do I have to send a report on the other 22?”


–Guillen, on why he would only write a few scouting reports while looking at minor leaguers



“Jerry has, I don’t know, six NBA [championship] rings? I guarantee he would throw those things away just to have one in baseball. Just one. And I guarantee you, if we win this thing, Jerry would never wear a Bulls ring again.”


–Guillen (Chicago Sun-Times)



“I want to win it for him. I do. A lot of people think I’m kissing his [butt] but I don’t. I just want to win it for him. He deserves that. He earned that. I want to win it for Jerry and for [GM] Kenny [Williams], the fans, for myself, for the players, whoever it is. But more important, I want to win it for Jerry. I think this guy took a lot of time in his life to bring a winning team to Chicago.”


–Guillen, on wanting to win for owner Jerry Reinsdorf



“Michael Jackson, everybody wants to see how he looks in a uniform. With Michael Jordan, we tried that and that don’t work either. It’s true. If you don’t win, you’re not going to bring anybody to the ballpark, I don’t care who you [sign].”


–Guillen, on…Michael Jackson for some reason



“With the White Sox, in other seasons, every time they made the playoffs they said, ‘Wow, that made our year. Not me. If we went to the playoffs and lose, it would be disappointing. That’s not my goal. My goal is not to go to the first round, it’s to win everything. We might not make it, but that’s my goal.”


–Guillen



“I’m not going to be happy unless we go all the way. A lot of people say, ‘Gosh, thank God we made the playoffs. That was a good year.’ That’s losers.”


–Guillen



“If I win it, I have to sit down and think about it. I will ask for more money. No, I’m not here for the money. I love it.”


–Guillen (Chicago Tribune)

THE REST



“They are the best. They are a great escape, just incredible. I get so involved that it’s almost like I am going to cry with those characters.”


–White Sox pitcher Jose Contreras, on his love for Spanish telenovellas, which he plans his workouts around (MLB.com)



“There would have to be a lot of talking to convince me to come back. Joe [Torre] had mentioned a few days ago, joking that, ‘I think you’ve found a niche’ or that I have a niche if this is something I want to do as far as coming in and flipping a few curveballs and getting a couple of lefties out.”


–Yankees pitcher Al Leiter, on possibly retiring



“Joe-Joe, sometimes it looks like he doesn’t have a pulse out there. That comes up big in big situations, because he doesn’t get amped up, he doesn’t try to overdo anything. He just stays within himself, and I’m just so happy for the guy.”


–White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko, on teammate Joe Crede and his timely hitting Chicago Tribune)



“The doctor described it as a train wreck. It’s serious. He bumped his back, hit his head, and he has some sore spots all over his body. I don’t think he broke anything, but he’s bruised quite a bit all over.”


–Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, on Reggie Sanders, who injured himself diving after a ball in Game Two (Houston Chronicle)



“I just don’t like the Houston lineup. There’s too many weak spots, too many guys you can pitch to and get out. You get the feeling their pitcher could throw a shutout and not win.”


–former Cardinal manager Whitey Herzog, on the Astros’ chances in the NLCS



“I think that’s ridiculous. Look what they’ve done. Look at the consistent improvement they’ve made. We can still force a playoff game.
“You guys have written us off 25 times this year. I don’t think you have the right to ask that question when game No. 162 is still meaningful.”


–Indians manager Eric Wedge, when asked if the Indians choked down the stretch (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

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

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