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HE’S BAAAAAAAACK



“Nobody’s a good manager. Nobody. With all due respect, people forgot Joe Torre, he was a losing manager all his life until he got to New York. What’s he got? Great players. Phil Jackson, it’s a funny thing, we go, ‘He’s great.’ You got Michael Jordan and you got Scottie Pippen … You’re not good. You got good players.”


–White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, on an HBO appearance on “Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel” (Chicago Tribune)



“I was hung over.”


–Guillen, on how he celebrated the Marlins World Series victory the night before his interview with Ken Williams



“I got A.J. Pierzynski. Everybody hates him. Carl Everett? Everybody hates him. Ozzie Guillen? Everybody hates him. But all of a sudden, those guys put their uniform on, it’s like one unit. I said, ‘I don’t care if you get along, but when you got the uniform on, you’ve got to take care of each other.'”


–Guillen



“I like trouble. Why not? A lot of people have their way to say stuff. I got my way. You know, all those little things about the game. People don’t face it. Attack. Attack. I never take the first punch, never. Believe me, you throw me rocks, I’m gonna F-16 and just try to kill you. That’s my style.”


–Guillen



“I like the smell of the ballpark. I like the sound of the bat. That’s the way I grew up, since I was a baby. How many people have the opportunity to do what I do? I’m going to die doing this. I’m going to die on the field. I hope the day I die, I just like, go to the field and am gone. Game’s over. Tomorrow’s the funeral.”


–Guillen

YOU KNOW WHAT I’M SAYIN’ / THAT MOLINA’S A MONSTER, Y’ALL.



“We handled it the way we usually handle these things–I deal with the agent and Mike deals with the player.We were up front. We weren’t hiding anything. I know Bengie wanted to come back, and obviously he was disappointed, but when we broke ties with him, there was not a lack of communication.”


–Angels GM Bill Stoneman, on Ben Molina’s claims that he was treated unfairly (Los Angeles Times)



“I think I built a good relationship with them. They never let me know. They just threw me [out] like a piece of trash…. I don’t think I did one thing to disrespect them all those years. If anything, I went out of my way for them. I even helped them get Bartolo Colon on that club. I gave him a call. I called a couple of guys for them. And now when I needed a call, they never called me.”


–New Blue Jays catcher Ben Molina



“Mike [Scoscia] had a conversation with Bengie, and it wasn’t just for a few minutes, it went on for a while. It wasn’t the information Bengie wanted to hear, but he wasn’t left without getting a call.”


–Stoneman



“All of what Stoneman said is 100% true. Bengie made it clear he was an Angel his whole career and wanted to remain an Angel. Bill was clear with me, he was honest, but he didn’t speak to Bengie directly. Mike called Bengie, but that didn’t make it any easier on Bengie.”


–Molina’s agent Alan Nero



“What happened with the Mets is very simple. People think I turned down big money for nothing. It didn’t happen that way. They offered me something and two days later we went back to them wanting to start negotiations. They said, ‘We’re dealing with [Carlos] Delgado.’ Then two days later they were dealing with Billy Wagner. Then they said call us on the weekend. We called [GM Omar Minaya] on the weekend and he was in the Dominican Republic. When he came back, he came back with the Paul Lo Duca trade [from Florida]. We never really had a chance to talk about anything. I don’t think people know this. That’s what really happened.”


–Molina, on reports that he turned down a three-year, $18 million offer from the Mets

“AS A MATTER IF PRINCIPLE, I NEVER ATTEND THE FIRST ANNUAL ANYTHING.”



“I’m disappointed. It’s a great honor to be invited to the White House. I don’t care who you are. Maybe you think you’re too important.”


–Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, on Ozzie Guillen (Chicago Sun-Times)



“Ozzie’s on vacation or something. That’s up to him. But you don’t realize how precious that is. Very few Americans have ever been in the White House. To me, that’s a privilege for anyone. . . . I could ask [any police officer]. If they ever get [an invitation] to the White House, they’d be walking down there. They’d get there some way.”


–Daley



“My dad cares about two things, his baseball team and his family. He’s not interested in pleasing other people. The White House had changed the date of this visit a couple of times. It was supposed to be right after SoxFest [at the end of January]. Mr. Daley probably doesn’t know that.”


Ozzie Guillen, Jr., on his father



“No way. Not at all. To Ozzie, his family is more important than getting attention for himself. You have to remember, Mr. Daley is a politician. My dad is not.”


–Guillen, Jr., on whether his father would reconsider and interrupt his vacation for a trip to the White House



“If I get invited to the White House, you’d better believe I’m on that plane down there. What a great privilege to go to the White House. Very few people have ever gone to the White House. How would you like to go to the Oval Office? That’s a great honor for anyone. I don’t care who the president is.”


–Daley



“Spending time with my wife and family [is] more important than a couple of hours with the president. I’m sure Mr. Bush would understand because I know how important his family is to him. I care about my family and my baseball players.”


–Guillen



“I really don’t understand what the big deal is because I don’t think any team has had 100 percent participation. I’m not disagreeing with the mayor. I think Ozzie should go. But it’s just not that big a deal. If he can’t make it, he can’t make it.”


–White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf



“Believe me, George Bush is not going to lose any sleep over it.”


–Reinsdorf



“It’s not a political statement. It’s a statement that I would rather spend time with my wife and family. It’s a family-values statement. If we had it during the season or if my family could come, I would go.”


–Guillen



“Basically, I’m non-partisan. I always vote for who the better guy is. But I like President Bush. I was always a fan of his. I’m a little biased maybe because he’s a baseball fan.”


–former White Sox center fielder Aaron Rowand, on making the trip to Washington (MLB.om)

YES, RICKEY’S A TUTOR NOW. TUTE ON, MAN! TUTE ON.



“What better guy can teach our players how to steal bases, and in the case of José Reyes, how to be a leadoff hitter?”


–Mets GM Omar Minaya, on hiring Rickey Henderson as a special instructor for Spring Training (New York Times)



“In my mind, I’m not really done playing. I love playing the game, but right now I haven’t had the opportunity to go out and play. I feel that I have a lot to give back to the game. I’m willing to do whatever I can if I can’t go out and do the things that I was capable of.”


Rickey Henderson, on his status in baseball



“I think I can still play the game of baseball.”


–Henderson

“I’LL BE FRANK WITH YOU, AND WHEN I SAY FRANK, I MEAN, YOU KNOW, DEVASTATING.”



“I lot of guys don’t want to hear the truth. Sometimes you need to hear, ‘You’re not very good right now.’ Sometimes you have to face that reality and get things fixed.”


–Braves reliever Mike Remlinger, on Leo Mazzone’s blunt style (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)



“You could compare him to Bobby Knight. Leo is definitely old school. He gets in your face and doesn’t care what words he uses.”


–Braves pitcher Horacio Ramirez, on ex-pitching coach Leo Mazzone



“There were times he rode me really, really hard. I tried not to let him intimidate me. But I won’t lie. At times he did.”


–Ramirez

I’VE GOT TO ADMIT IT’S GETTING BETTER / GETTING BETTER ALL THE TIME



“There is excitement in the streets of Toronto. There’s panic in the streets of Boston.”


–Blue Jays President and CEO Paul Godfrey, on the team’s chances in 2006 (Toronto Sun)



“I told Gibby that if he says a number, I’d fly to Texas and choke him.”


–Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi, on what he’d do if manager John Gibbons predicted the number of Blue Jay victories in 2006



“Because we didn’t want to give him six.”


–Ricciardi, on why he signed A.J. Burnett to a five-year deal



“Well, you don’t really want to go into a season striving to be average. But, if you’re going to win a championship, you’ve got to start somewhere, have something in mind. You’re not going to go from 67 wins to a World Series.”


–Pirates outfielder Jason Bay, on improving this year (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



“To hell with the number. That will take care of itself.”


–Pirates manager Jim Tracy, on how the Pirates haven’t had a winning season since 1992

THE REST



“If someone will give me a shirt to wear, I’ll be there. Why not?”


–Cubs pitcher Greg Maddux, on playing in 2007 (Arlington Heights Daily Herald)



“The dizziness is gone. Of course, I still have a tendency to forget people’s birthdays and anniversaries.”


–Indians DH Travis Hafner, on recovering from his concussion last year (Cleveland Plain-Dealer)



“I figured if I got hit on the right side of my head, I’d be back to normal.”


–Hafner, on how he thought about hitting right-handed to balance his concussion



“I don’t apologize one bit for this product. The run you’ve had as a season-ticket holder is unparalleled. There are fans all over the country that would trade places [with you].”


–Marlins President David Samson, at FanFest, on his team (Miami Herald)



“The last town-hall meeting, the three people who were combative did it to get attention and they did get attention in this . . . Jerry Springer world. When I’m walking down the street or in meetings, I don’t run into people like that. Those are really cartoon characters.”


–Samson, on fan antagonists



“Fear governed the entire workplace.”


–Devil Rays president Matt Silverman, on how the work environment used to be in Tampa (St. Petersburg Times)

If you have a quotation you’d like to submit, email John, and be sure to include the URL where you found it.

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