Notice: Trying to get property 'display_name' of non-object in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-seo/src/generators/schema/article.php on line 52
keyboard_arrow_uptop


THE MOST CONFUSING STRUCTURE EVER BUILT


“You come into a ballpark like this and you see great things. You wish that Chicago’d build a new stadium for the Cubs.”

-Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano, on New Yankee Stadium.


“I think if anybody in any business had known where this economy was going to go, they would have done things differently. Look, there’s no doubt small amounts of our tickets might be overpriced.”

Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner


“Yankee Stadium is somewhat palatial-it certainly wants you to think so on the outside. It’s very grandiose. The architecture at Citi Field is much more casual to me, and relaxed. But again, there’s always been something much more relaxed and casual about the Mets.”

New Yorker architecture critic Paul Goldberger


“It looks like the inside of a pinball machine.”


-Blogger Alex Belth (Bronx Banter)


“They’re going to be playing in a grand stadium, and we’re going to be playing in a nice ballpark.”

Red Sox president Larry Lucchino


“At night it’s still going to look like the South Bronx.”

-Graffiti remover Anthony Robinson (Matt Warren, The New York Times)


BUY ONE STADIUM, GET ONE AT HALF PRICE


“Two different philosophies, two different ways of doing business-and they both work. I think the fans are going to love both different ballparks.”

-Mets COO Jeff Wilpon, on Citi Field and the new Yankee Stadium.


“I don’t really hit the ball to 415 anyway, so I don’t worry about that one.”

-Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell, on the spacious dimensions of the Mets’ new home park.


“Here, it might be more beneficial, regardless of the hitter, to bunch and move everybody closer to the gaps than you normally would. Once that ball hits in that gap, that’s an automatic triple for almost anybody.”

-Mets manager Jerry Manuel, speculating on how his new home park will play. (Ben Shpigel, The New York Times)


“It’s sort of like an airplane with first class, business class, and coach.”

Goldberger


THIS IS SURE TO END WELL


“This is not going to be Gary’s last year. He can’t prove to people he can still play if he isn’t playing regularly. The Mets gave him the best opportunity to play every day.”

Rufus Williams, Gary Sheffield‘s agent


“I’ve had Albert Belle. I’ve had Carl Everett, Frank Thomas, whatever. I think from what I’ve learned, is that those men dealt strictly in truth.”

-Mets manager Jerry Manuel, on his dealing with his share of controversial ballplayers.


“When I saw ‘D-Wright,’ I didn’t know who it was. Then I read the message all the way, and it was him saying, ‘Everybody’s pumped that you’re coming.’ He used the word pumped, and that put me at ease a little bit in my decision-making. It’s not too often that the face of the franchise says that to a new player coming in.”


Gary Sheffield, on receiving a text message from David Wright encouraging him to come to the Mets. (David Lennon, Newsday)


WHERE BABIP GOES TO DIE


“A lot of people say you can’t hit at our ballpark, but that’s a misnomer as far as I’m concerned. First of all, we struck out way too many times [last year]. Second, the long fly ball in our park is a graveyard. Obviously, number one is putting the ball in play. And the second thing is to stay away from nonproductive at-bats with strikeouts and lazy fly balls.”

Padres hitting coach Jim Lefebvre, on Petco Park.


“When we do hit line drives, we’re very consistent. If we’re going to play in our ballpark, when we hit the ball, work on line drives down. We’ve been working on that in our drills and batting practice-productive ball flight-and our guys have been very responsive to that.”

Lefebvre


“It’s hard to sustain any kind of offensive attack, because you get to a spot in our lineup where there are too many punchouts. We weren’t able to get any momentum going.”

-Padres general manager Kevin Towers (Dan Hayes, North County Times)


THE REST


“I would add nothing at all. Down the line, if there’s an injury, you can add something. Right now, we’re fine. You tell me what we need for this team. Big bats aren’t always the answer. If something is missing, please tell me, because we had the big bat last year, and we didn’t win it all. The chicks-dig-the-long-ball era is over. You want athletes, guys who can play and stay healthy, and that’s what we have.”


Angels center fielder Torii Hunter (Mike DiGiovanni, Los Angeles Times)


“The fact that Millwood is out there running with everyone else speaks volumes. There hasn’t been one person this year saying, ‘Millwood’s not doing. Why should I do it?’ We’ve had that in the past. I think that he’s a different man. Whether it’s the situation he’s in contractually or pride, he’s approaching everything differently and doing everything we’re asking him to do.”

Rangers strength and conditioning coach Jose Vazquez (Jeff Wilson, Fort-Worth Star Telegram)


“If there’s one thing I’m nervous about, it’s the pitching, and you can never have enough pitching. And we added insult to injury when we lost two of the best starting pitchers in the game. We didn’t get any first-round draft choices for that. We are getting a second-round pick for CC, and nothing for Ben. And that is ridiculous. Just ridiculous.”


Brewers owner Mark Attanasio, on the state of his team’s rotation. (Don Walker, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)


“If anything, it’ll be good for all of us. I doubt there was really any truth to Paul nixing deals. Sandy always gave me full autonomy. Did Paul have the authority to maybe squash a deal or maybe talk Sandy out of it? I doubt that ever happened. I think from a perception standpoint, it put all of us in an uncomfortable situation.”

-Padres GM Kevin Towers, on having special assistant Paul DePodesta now report to him. (Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune)


“I used to just crush McDonald’s, and I can’t do that anymore. I got that from A-Rod. The one thing you can say about [him] is that he’s really dedicated to his craft, and he always eats perfect. I saw him eating sweet potatoes one day and I tried it, and I wasn’t hungry after, but I didn’t feel too full. I was like, ‘Wow, it’s great to play like this.'”

-A’s first baseman Jason Giambi (Susan Slusser, San Francisco Chronicle)


Alex Carnevale is a contributor to Baseball Prospectus.

Thank you for reading

This is a free article. If you enjoyed it, consider subscribing to Baseball Prospectus. Subscriptions support ongoing public baseball research and analysis in an increasingly proprietary environment.

Subscribe now
You need to be logged in to comment. Login or Subscribe