October 22, 2007

The Week In Quotes

October 15-21

by Alex Carnevale

RED SOX NOT BEING THE RED SOX ANYMORE

"We're not going to give up. It doesn't happen, so who cares? There's always next year. It's not like it's the end of the world."
--Red Sox left fielder Manny Ramirez, after falling behind Cleveland 3-1 in the ALCS before coming back to win three straight to take the series.

"It doesn't matter. It won't have any difference on the outcome."
--Red Sox manager Terry Francona, on Manny's behavior in the series.

"He was here yesterday, hitting and taking grounders and fly balls. That speaks louder volumes."
--Francona

"Whatever, just hit a couple of home runs and he can say whatever he wants."
--Francona

"I'm just trying to go have fun, there's no hard feelings."
--Ramirez (Gordon Edes, Boston Globe)

THE BLOGGER WON GAME SIX

"Knowing your guy is not going to walk people, he's not going to balk, he'll field his position, that is comforting, that part is terrific. I think we all know that and have come to respect that."
--Terry Francona, on what might have been Curt Schilling's last game in a Red Sox uniform.

"It's probably unfair. Even dating back to the (bloody) sock (in 2004). I remember the soap opera watching him throw in the bullpen and having the doctors and the trainers out there, and he really shouldn't have pitched. And I can't remember one moment ever thinking he wouldn't pitch and not only that, but that he wouldn't win. And that probably wasn't fair, but that kind of sums up how I feel about Schill."
--Francona (Sean McAdam, Providence Journal)

"People are never going to forget about that. Hopefully, he keeps it like that. Now he knows how big it is to have him doing his thing."
--Red Sox DH David Ortiz, on J.D. Drew's Game Six grand slam.

"In that situation there, you couldn't have asked for anything better. Worked out great."
--Red Sox right fielder J.D. Drew

HE HAS THE HARDEST JOB, DOESN'T HE?

"Theo and I have talked about this a lot lately. Because of the money that's spent and all the passion...things have gotten a little bit skewed around here. Sometimes the big fight for me and Theo...is not losing sight of what's important, what's meaningful to you."
--Red Sox manager Terry Francona

"Being part of what we're doing, I absolutely love, and I really love who I'm doing it with. But it is a fight sometimes to keep the perspective. I mean, we're sitting at 101 wins and people don't seem to be very happy much of the time. That is a little perplexing, but that's the way it is, so you deal with it the best you can."
--Francona (Sean McAdam, Providence Journal)

"That's the nature of Boston. It seems like our fans like to pick on the guys that make the money, but we're also an organization that's developing a top-tier farm system, a couple of Rookie of the Year [candidates] on the field and hopefully going to operate at a very high level for years to come in the process. It's gratifying. It's not really about the criticism. It's about the people in that clubhouse who believe in one another regardless of what anyone else thinks. It's hard for anyone to quibble with the results. We've been there twice now in four years, three ALCS in five years, won two of them."
--Red Sox GM Theo Epstein

SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVILS

"Where was Joe's career in '95 when my dad hired him? My dad was crucified for hiring him. Let's not forget what my dad did in giving him that opportunity--and the great team he was handed."
--George Steinbrenner's son Hank Steinbrenner, after offering Joe Torre a one-year deal worth $5 million with incentive clauses that would bring it to $8 million.

"You can't take credit for success when you're going good, and then not take at least some of the blame when things change. I'm sorry he feels insulted, but that was not the intent."
--Hank Steinbrenner

"If somebody wanted me to manage here, I'd be managing here."
--former Yankees manager Joe Torre

"One of the proud feelings I had is the fact the Yankees were approachable."
--Torre (Ian O'Connor, NorthJersey.com)

WE REALLY WANTED HIM TO COME BACK. WE CAN'T SAY THAT ENOUGH

"I sincerely wanted Joe to accept that offer. We all wanted him to accept it, probably me more than anybody else... You don't make an offer bluffing. What if he says yes? I was hoping he'd say yes."
--Hank Steinbrenner

"Everybody in that room wanted him back; I have to disagree with him there. Joe knows I'm an ally because there's a bond there. But I've got to speak for everybody else in the room, and they did want him back, too."
--Yankees manager Brian Cashman

"Every single one of us made that offer with the hope that he would return. We were all disappointed that he did not accept it. Reasonable people can differ."
--Yankees president Randy Levine

THE BIGGEST FISH IN HISTORY TO FRY

"I can reaffirm that if Alex Rodriguez opts out of his contract, that we will not participate in his free agency. That is accurate and that is definitive."
--Yankees GM Brian Cashman

"I think you have to look at what each party has the right to do, and certainly, an employer has the right to choose or not to choose to bid on an employee. In Alex's case, when he was acquired from Texas, his contract had four years to run, and the Yankees were fully aware that he had the right to opt out. Alex enjoys playing in New York and has said so, and I think both parties are fully aware of the rights of one another."
--Scott Boras, agent to the stars. (Mark Feinsand, New York Daily News)

"People call me from the outside world all the time-they want me to negotiate everything. I'm not the person who will go out and negotiate anything, at any time, for anyone who happens to wear some sort of uniform."
--Boras

"He made me feel like Ty Cobb."
--Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon, on Scott Boras. (Ben McGrath, The New Yorker)

FOR THE SAKE OF THE QUOTES, HOPE HE DOESN'T SIGN UNTIL FEBRUARY

"Hopefully we can keep him. If not, we can't. Our position does not change."
--Brian Cashman, on A-Rod.

"Looking at the decisions the Yankees have to make is important to Alex. He wants to know who is on the team and who is managing the team."
--Boras

"I didn't say anything about a deadline; I said Alex wants to know about the decisions that are forthcoming for the Yankees in all areas. There was no discussion about a deadline, because for our purposes, there is no deadline."
--Cashman

"I'm not going to even give any credibility to Reggie's comments by speaking to them."
--Brian Cashman, on Reggie Jackson saying that A-Rod will sign a deal in excess of $300 million.

BASICALLY IT'S ALL RANDOM CHANCE, SO LET'S NOT POINT FINGERS

"That same team that looked so good against us [in the NLDS], they turned around and in the next four games, got swept. I thought the Phillies were the best team in the league in September--that's what our scouts were telling us. When we played the Phillies, it was a tough match for us. And they were three and out [against Colorado]. It's baseball. If Cleveland beats Boston, it doesn't mean Boston wasn't the best team in the American League over 162 games."
--Cubs GM Jim Hendry

"I don't know. It's too early to tell. One thing we've been good at in the offseason is with new acquisitions and the free agent signings, which were very good last year, but you can't predict outside help. You can't predict somebody wants to come to your place. We've had a good track record--people want to play here. Trade-wise, we tried to make a trade or two that would've been as significant or more last year than probably any of our free agent signings except [Alfonso] Soriano, and sometimes they don't work out. The other team isn't obligated to trade you their better players."
--Hendry

That's OK. We haven't made a lot of bad trades over time. You try to look at ways to help your club. If you want to make a trade, you have to go into the offseason thinking you have to have something that's going to help them, as much as the guy you're going to get is going to help you."
--Hendry

"You probably get a hundred suggestions [from the fans]--'Why don't they trade this guy and that guy and get so and so?' Those guys, they're talking about the other team might not want to trade. I think a great majority of the GMs feel the same way I do, that if you're going to make a good trade in the modern day now, it's going to have to be talent for talent."
--Jim Hendry (Carrie Muskat, MLB.com)

BOB NEXT TIME TRY TO READ MORE OF IN TOUCH MAGAZINE, MMKAY?

"It's an incredible coincidence. Honestly."
--Indians spokesman Bob DiBiasio, on having Josh Beckett's ex-girlfriend Daniela Peck sign the national anthem before Game Five.

"She's from Ohio. Her entire family are Indians fans. We did not know anything about her connections to Beckett. The next day, we find out the rest of the story."
--DiBiasio

"How are we supposed to know who Josh Beckett dates?"
--DiBiasio (ESPN.com)

NOW THAT THEY'VE FIRED ONE OF THE BEST COACHES IN BASEBALL, SUCCESS SHOULD BE MERE MINUTES AWAY

"Leo was a good pitching coach, but I believe for what we're going to do and the direction were going, Rick Kranitz is the right guy for the Baltimore Orioles. What he brings to us is a level of expertise in mechanics [and] the ability to adapt to a whole lot of different styles of pitching. He's a real good communicator, which is something I think is going to be real important. We basically have a real young pitching staff."
--Orioles manager Dave Trembley, after the Orioles organization fired Leo Mazzone and hired Kranitz.

"My first priority was to fill the pitching coach slot. I thought that was key and most crucial. Mr. MacPhail has been tremendous with me. He's allowed me to give him names I'm interested in, and he'll either say 'Yes' or 'No' to me. He hasn't said 'No' yet."
--Trembley

"The next two slots we have, we'll fill with the best available guys that we can. I'll get input from Mr. MacPhail and we'll go from there."
--Trembley (Spencer Fordin, MLB.com)

THE REST

"I know people are thinking we're taking a ridiculous amount of time on this. But I think there's more anxiety externally than internally. I just want to get it right."
--New Pirates GM Neal Huntington, on hiring the team's new manager. (Paul Meyer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

"I always talk to my wife about being interested in playing in front of the African-American fans and trying to get the African Americans back to playing the game. If I go to Atlanta or D.C. and make a difference that way, I would love it. Trust me--D.C. is very interesting to me as well as Atlanta."
--Free agent center fielder Torii Hunter (Bill Ladson, MLB.com)

"There is, but I'm a busy man, and I don't have time to look it up."
--Agent Adam Katz, on whether or not there is a deadline to terminate the team option on Jose Guillen's contract with the Mariners. (Jim Street, MLB.com)

"I don't want to sound like Manny Ramirez, but it wasn't the end of the world."
--Mavericks forward Jerry Stackhouse, on the Mavericks' first-round playoff exit. (Eddie Sefko, Dallas Morning News)

"It's numbing more than anything else. You're almost aesthetically going around the bases."
--Fox analyst Tim McCarver, on hitting a walk-off home run. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

"I liked the improvement he made after he was sent down. He's good in the clutch. I think he can be a big RBI man. He's going to be a good third baseman after he works with the infield guy I bring in."
--new Reds manager Dusty Baker, on Edwin Encarnacion. (John Fay, Cincinnati Enquirer)

"I was so glad when Yom Kippur came around. I'd always ask when his days off were because I knew I'd get some hits if he wasn't pitching."
--Willie Mays on Sandy Koufax. (Stefan Stevenson, Fort-Worth Star Telegram)

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Alex Carnevale is a contributor to Baseball Prospectus.