The Week in Quotes: August 13-19

THE GOOD WITH THE BAD

"I was no good, but I was happy to get the win. On the other hand, I was
not very good."

— Tomo Ohka, Red Sox pitcher, through an interpreter, on his first
major-league win

"Fortunately, we got the three games in. But unfortunately, the results
weren’t good."

— Dusty Baker, Giants manager, on losing three rain-delayed games in bad
weather at Shea

"We played well enough to win. But we did just enough bad things to lose."

— Buddy Bell, Rockies manager, on losing to the Mets

"When you run around the bases, you think about your friends turning on
ESPN and seeing that, and it’s kind of nice. It was nice for the moment,
because it gave us the lead, but it didn’t really last too long so we
couldn’t really enjoy it."

— Milton Bradley, Expos outfielder, on getting his first home run in a 9-7
loss to the Giants

THE CATCH

"Posada smoked that ball. I’ve taken some pretty interesting routes on the
ball this season. But I took a good route on that one."

— Darin Erstad, Angels outfielder, on snagging a Jorge Posada drive to
left-center in the 11th inning to save two runs and allow himself to homer
for the win at the bottom of the inning

"I thought it split the gap when [Posada] hit it. All I can say is incredible."

— Mike Scioscia, Angels manager

"I thought the game was over. That was one of the top three catches I’ve
seen in my years in the game."

— Roger Clemens, Yankees pitcher

HANGING WITH ANDRES

"It was a hanging slider. I was trying to throw a normal pitch. I got
underneath it and it spun up there. There are mistakes thrown to every
hitter. The good ones don’t miss them."

— Woody Williams, Padres pitcher, on the pitch crushed 436-ft for a
three-run home run

"When I hit the ball I knew it was gone. I watched it a little bit. I tried
to enjoy it. I want to see how far it goes."

— Andres Galarraga, Braves infielder, on the home run off Williams that
provided all three of the runs in the victory

"I wish I could take back that pitch I threw to Galarraga. It was a hanger.
It was on the corner, and he had to extend to get it. It was a good pitch.
He one-handed it out."

— Adam Eaton,Padres pitcher, on giving up a home run to Galarraga, the only run
allowed in his win

TRIUMPHANT RETURN OF THE ROYALS

"Pretty much what I do is go up, and if I get a good pitch, I swing at it.
If not, hopefully I can take it. I was never really taught to walk a lot.
If it happens, it happens, but I’m going to go up swinging."

— Johnny Damon, Royals outfielder

"Nothing is accomplished by walks."

— Tony Muser, Royals manager, on Blake Stein’s complete-game, eight-hit,
no-walk win against the Orioles

"He’s a contact pitcher, and he doesn’t try to do more than he’s capable of
doing. He throws strikes, and the defense is usually on their toes because
they know the ball is coming."

— Muser on pitcher Brian Meadows

"My manager, Tony Muser, tells me he doesn’t care about batting average. He
cares about producing runs and scoring runs. I like to please my manager."

— Mike Sweeney, Royals infielder, on reaching 100 RBI

THE REST

"I’m not a ham like that. I always respect my opponents. It’s about winning
for me."

— Frank Thomas, White Sox infielder, on not taking a curtain call after
his 38th homer

"It was supposed to be a fastball and it ended being a changeup. There was
no way he was watching the ball. He had to be looking at me."

— Eric Milton, Twins pitcher, on striking out Royals outfielder Jermaine Dye
while falling off the mound

"It was hot today, kind of hard to get your breath. Don’t get me wrong, I
enjoyed it."

— Garret Stephenson, Cardinals pitcher, on picking up his 13th win on
a 91 degree, 97% humidity day in Chicago

"The key to the game was the first inning. Dempster had to get five outs
that inning, and he did it. That’s a real sign of a guy coming into his own
as a major league pitcher."

— John Boles, Marlins manager, on Ryan Dempster‘s win over the Dodgers

"I was thinking the call was wrong. On further review, the umpire was
right. I commend him for making a tough call, and I eat a little humble pie."

— Boles, watching a TV replay of a play he was
ejected on for arguing

"I’ve never hit that many guys in one game. I just lost control out there
today. The arm’s a little tired, but that’s no excuse. I got a little wild."

— James Baldwin, White Sox pitcher, on plunking four Orioles in one game

"It’s kind of tough when you’ve got the media on you and you come to the
ballpark and you have fans yelling things that are off the wall."

— Ken Griffey Jr., Red outfielder, on his troubles playing in Cincinnati

"Here we are in a pennant race, everybody is depending on me and I’m going
out there making mistake after mistake. When you try too hard and aim the
ball, that’s when all hell breaks loose. I was hot in the first half, and I
loved it, but now that I stink I just got to get through it. I haven’t been
doing my job."

— David Wells, Blue Jays pitcher, on struggling after the All-Star game

"There’s going to be days when there’s no light at the end of the tunnel."

— Johnny Oates, Rangers manager, on being shut out by Pedro Martinez for
their 10th loss in 12 games

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