The Week in Quotes: June 24 – July 2, 2000

STREAKS

“That was big. Hopefully, this gets him going.”

— Joe Torre, Yankees manager, on Tino Martinez
breaking his 0-15 slump

“We’ve been looking to put something together. Hopefully, this will start
us into a good streak.”

— Torre, on the Yankees’ 5-2 victory over the Devil Rays

“That’s why Cleveland got him, to stop losing streaks. He just shut us
down.”

— Tom Kelly, Twins manager, on Indians pitcher Chuck Finley

“During this little streak, I’ve had a lot of guys out there and I’ve been
able to take advantage of it. It’s nice when you’re able to do that.”

— Bret Boone, Padres infielder, on his recent RBI binge

“Even at the end, we had chances. Whatever it takes to lose
by one run.”

— Larry Dierker, Astros manager, after losing 10-9 to the Cards on July 1
to drop to 3-18 in one-run games

“I was just trying to think about the match.”

— Anna Kournikova, maintaining she didn’t look at the paunchy streaker who
interrupted her doubles match against Amy Frazier and Katie Schlukebir

MUSER, MUSER, MUSER

“I never blame umpires for losses. I don’t think he swung. But it doesn’t
matter what I think.”

— Tony Muser, Royals manager, on Jermaine Dye being called out on
a checked swing with two outs in the ninth

“It was a normal discussion between a manager and an umpire. I touched him
and I’m not allowed to touch him.”

— Muser, on being thrown out for touching the ump to demonstrate tag
location while arguing Johnny Damon was safe at second

TRADES DONE AND NOT DONE

“I feel really blessed to wear the uniform of all the greats — DiMaggio,
Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth. There are so many great people. Reggie Jackson to
Thurman Munson. I could be here all day naming them.”

— David Justice, Yankees outfielder, on becoming a Yankee

“I was sad when it happened, but I see this as an opportunity and I am ready.”

— Rickey Ledee, Indians outfielder, on becoming an Indian

“Looking at where we are and where we want to be, this deal is definitely a
positive. We still need a few more things, a starting pitcher, some help in
the bullpen and maybe another hitter, too.”

— Charlie Manuel, Indians manager

“I always say ‘Take care of me,’ I never say ‘Pay me or trade me.”’

— Sammy Sosa, Cubs outfielder

“I’m glad the storm has quieted some, but I imagine it could start up
again. Most things do. The deadline is still out there. I’d like for it to
go away, but it’s not.”

— Don Baylor, Cubs manager, after the Justice trade

“It kind of shocked everybody. The general consensus is that there is more
going on. To take the RBI leader out of your lineup, there has to be more
to it.”

— Dave Burba, Indians pitcher, on the Justice trade

PITCH COUNTS

“I understand why he took me out. My pitch counts affect my next start.
I’m sure that figured into it.”

— Curt Schilling, Phillies pitcher, causing spit-takes throughout
the sabermetric community

“I went and looked at the chart and I saw that I already had 102 pitches.
Buddy came up to me and said, ‘I’ll be honest with you. If you want to
finish this game, you’re going to have to do it quickly.’
“I threw a few too many pitches in the eighth, and they said, ‘Look, you’ve
only got a few more pitches.’ I knew if I put anybody else on base, I was
done. So I just tried to throw it right down the middle.”

— Brian Cooper, Angels pitcher, on his conversations with pitching
coach Bud Black during his 123 pitch outing vs Oakland

“Well, they’re not managing the club. I don’t blame them one bit for
booing. But 132 pitches, a lot of games left, and 22 years old–he had
pitched his heart out.”

— Muser, on being booed for pulling Chad Durbin after 8 2/3 innings

“We wanted to see a lot of innings from him, but he’s been throwing mostly
about five innings a game. There are a lot of strikeouts, sure,
but I want to see seven or eight or nine (innings) next to his name.
Pitching the last three innings is how you learn about pitching, what it
takes to win. When he does that, he’ll learn how to get through innings one
through six better.”

— Bryan Price, Mariners pitching coach, on the development of
Ryan Anderson

PATIENCE

“When I was with the Mets, they wanted me to be a free swinger. Now, I’m
doing what (the A’s) want, being more patient, seeing more pitches. I’m
getting a lot more hitter’s counts.”

— Terrence Long, Athletics outfielder and leading AL RoY candidate

“We are a team that doesn’t walk. When you don’t walk and you don’t get
runners on base, then the stats are going to catch up to you.”

— Phil Garner, Tigers manager

THE REST

“The third-place Florida Marlins–Holy cow, that sounds good!”

— John Boles, Marlins manager

“Do people really think I have some special affection for older players
who make $5 million a year if I could find a 21-year-old who could give us
the same production for $200,000?”

— Peter Angelos, Orioles owner

“That’s what we’ve been looking for. We used the hit-and-run, set things
up. We used to do that all the time and we need to start doing it again.”

— Omar Vizquel, Indians infielder, on playing small ball to
create 11 hits and 7 runs

“Guys are getting better by the week. We’ve got that total team thing.”

— Frank Thomas, White Sox infielder

“We just didn’t play very well today. But we’re still in first place, are
we not?”

— Jim Fregosi, Blue Jays manager, after an 8-3 loss to Baltimore

“The big innings do the trick for you. Anytime you can up a big, crooked
number on the scoreboard, it spells doom for the other team.”

— Will Clark, Orioles infielder, on the same game

“I expected to be this good. You don’t pay attention to the lead. This club
is all about what happens next.”

— Tony LaRussa, Cardinals manager

“I thought the fat lady had sung. She didn’t.”

— Davey Lopes, Brewers manager, on losing to the Cubs in 15 innings

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