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AND MANY MORE


“I was so excited when I looked over to the dugout. I was just thinking of those guys making it so relaxed for me to come here. And I appreciate every one of those guys. They’ve been very special to me.”

Mets outfielder Gary Sheffield, on reaching the 500 home-run milestone.


“Now I can say ‘I’m in the club.’ And it’s like your degree; no one can ever take that away from you.”

Sheffield


“I wasn’t thinking to pull the ball at all. He was throwing me off-speed inside, and I kept hooking it, so I said, ‘Just stay on the outside pitch.’ And when it got 3-2, I was just thinking of getting on base and trying to win this game.”

Sheffield (Brittany Ghiroli, MLB.com)


YE DOTH PROTEST TOO MUCH


“I heard the same [stuff] on April 20 [last year] about me. He’s got to say what he’s got to say. He was talking about people he’s only known for two weeks. That’s hard to make that statement when you only know people for two weeks, but that’s Nick.”

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen


“Never want to play for anybody else. There’s just something about him, man. He brings everybody together. Best manager I ever played for.”

-Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher


“I’m not pretending to be the best manager. I never will. But I guarantee that I will manage a lot longer than he will play. That’s all I can say. And I’ve got more friends in baseball than I have enemies. Some people can’t handle the way I manage. It’s not easy. When you manage, you have to deal with 25 to 50 people every year. To make [all of those] people happy, you can’t.”

Guillen


“I hope Girardi is a better manager than me, because he manages the New York Yankees. He manages one of the biggest sports teams on the earth. I hope [Swisher] gets along with him. Things didn’t work out here for him, but it seems that when somebody leaves this ballclub, they find a better manager.”

Guillen


“I never said I was a good manager. But do I get along with all my players? Yes. Some better than others? Yes. I didn’t come here to impress anyone, and I hope I do a good job. All of a sudden, he knows everyone on the ballclub. I was reading the article, and I just laughed. You only got one week, two weeks on the team, and everyone is nice?”

Guillen


“That’s part of the game. That’s the way it is. That’s the way Swisher is. Things work out for him good, everyone is great. That [stuff] doesn’t work out for him, it’s someone’s fault.”

Guillen (Joe Cowley, Chicago Sun-Times)


COORS EAST, YOU HAVE FINALLY COME TO US


“It seems to be playing somewhat short. You don’t see this many home runs usually. It’s too early to tell, but the early indications are the balls are carrying to right field.”

-Yankees manager Joe Girardi


“It definitely does fly [to right] here as compared to the old Stadium.”

Girardi


“No one cared how long the inning was. When you’re getting hits and scoring runs, you’ll stay at the park all day.”

Indians third baseman Mark DeRosa


“Some funny stuff goes on during an inning like that. I told Garko not to worry. I’ve made two outs in the same inning before.”

DeRosa (Paul Hoynes, Cleveland Plain Dealer)


WHEN YOU HAVE A STEAM TRAIN HEADED IN THE WRONG DIRECTION, YOU LOCK THE CONDUCTOR UP TO A MULTIYEAR DEAL


“We wanted to eliminate any confusion or lack of focus on the baseball team. Ed [Wade] and Tal [Smith] approached me several days ago, and I said, ‘Absolutely.'”

Astros owner Drayton McLane, on extending manager Cecil Cooper‘s contract.


“I went in his office one day and I said, ‘We want to get to your contract here at some point.’ And he said, ‘I’m not worried about it. I know when the club plays well, you get rewarded for it.'”

-Astros general manager Ed Wade


“It just never got to a point where Tal and Drayton were there [in Kissimmee, Florida] at the same time, although they were there at different times. We were playing lousy, and you try to hit the right opportunity to make an announcement like this. But to me, this was a foregone conclusion all along. There was no magic to it. [Saturday is a] home game, and we took advantage of everyone being here.”

Wade


“He’s done a terrific job for us. Anyone who has followed our club a year ago knows all about the ups and downs we encountered over the course of the season, and one of the reasons we were able to get ourselves righted and have the best record in the second half of the season is because of the leadership that Coop and the coaches exhibited on a daily basis.”

Wade (Alyson Footer, MLB.com)


THE REST


“I’ve always been lost when a reporter asks me what my most embarrassing moment was, because I never know what to say; now I have my most embarrassing moment. So to me that’s the silver lining, my positive spin on it.”

Rays outfielder Gabe Kapler, on striking out against Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher in the last inning of a blowout. (Marc Topkin, St. Petersburg Times)


“Looking around, this is pretty cool. This is as good as it gets.”

-Yankees reliever Anthony Claggert, making his major league debut by giving up a grand slam against the Indians on Saturday.


“I went to do a side lunge. I had 25-pound dumbbells in each hand. When I came back up, it just popped. I felt it [on my left leg] right up near the butt bone. I looked at [fellow pitcher Hunter Jones] and said, ‘Did you hear that?’ He said, ‘Yeah.'”

-Pawtucket Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz, on hurting himself in the weight room. (Paul Kenyon, Providence Journal)


“Probably the most relaxed I’ve been. I was on a lot of drugs during the game, [and] I don’t remember a whole lot.”

Orioles reliever Dennis Sarfate, on logging 3 1/3 scoreless innings after taking medication for an ear infection.


“We are going to change the culture here, regardless of how well a guy is playing. It was a bizarre situation, because he was doing something that we encourage our players to do. He was out in the community doing something for some Little League program, and he just showed up late for work. He was very remorseful about it. He felt bad, but we have to lay down the law. Regardless of who is out there, we are still losing ballgames. We have to change the culture somehow.”

Nationals manager Manny Acta, on fining outfielder Elijah Dukes when he was late because he attended a Little League function. (Bill Ladson, MLB.com)


“I wish I was still here.”

– former Mets manager Willie Randolph, visiting Citi Field for the first time. (Filip Bondy, New York Daily News)


“Well, I filled up a lot of columns. Got a batting average now, I got a run scored, a home run, an RBI. So, yeah, it’s definitely good.”

-Nationals outfielder Josh Willingham (Chico Harlan, Nationals Journal)


Alex Carnevale is a contributor to Baseball Prospectus.

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havybeaks
4/20
Regarding DeRosa's quote, has anyone made all three outs in the same inning? I recall a Lance Parrish interview where he said that he once struck out to leadoff an inning, the Tigers batted around, and he hit into a DP to end it.
QimingZou
4/21
Basically anyone who hit into a triple play.
But that's cheating I guess.
Oleoay
4/21
Josh Willingham, thy motto is Yahtzee.
eighteen
4/21
Gabe Kapler - ya gotta love a guy who embarrasses himself at his profession, and finds a way to turn it into someting positive.
natelee
4/21
Which manager was Nick Swisher talking about? I'd assume Guillen since all the other quotes are from him, but Guillen's quotes makes me think he and Swisher weren't the best of friends.
aquavator44
4/21
I like these quotes articles, but every week there is at least one quote where the context is nearly impossible to figure out. Please, Mr. Carnevale, more context!
madkinson
4/21
McLane's and Wade's comments are indicative of why there is no hope in Astroland for any improvement in the foreseeable future