The Week in Quotes: July 3-10, 2000

BRUISINGS

"I wasn’t nervous at all. I just couldn’t locate my fastball or make
adjustments on it."

— Ed Yarnall, Reds pitcher, on retiring just two of the ten
batters he faced July 6

"It was a rough start coming back. I couldn’t keep the ball down
and threw a few pitches I shouldn’t have. It wasn’t there for me."

— Ryan Rupe, Devil Rays pitcher, after 2 2/3 innings in which he
allowed six hits, walked four, hit two batters and issued a wild pitch

"There’s a certain amount of bruising a pitcher goes through when
he’s learning how to pitch. The good ones go through the process and learn
how to pitch in the major leagues. He’s coming along well."

— Tony Muser, Royals manager, on starter Mac Suzuki

"I’m trying to block it out. At times, I may have heard too much.
But, I haven’t given them much to cheer about. My kids were booing me early
in the season."

— Andy Ashby, Braves pitcher, on being booed at home while pitching in
Philadelphia

"It is inexcusable. You can’t ask your offense to go out and score
12 or 13 runs every day. You have to throw the ball over the plate. If it’s
not hit we can’t catch it."

— Will Clark, Orioles infielder, on Sidney Ponson walking
four batters in a row on his way to a loss

LITTLE LEAGUE

"That’s the worse game I’ve been associated with as a Florida Marlin. It
was a Little League game, throwing the ball all over the place, missing
signs, everything."

— John Boles, Marlins manager, on a 6-5 win over the Devil Rays

"It looked a lot like a Little League game out there. They tried to
give it to us, but we didn’t take it."

— Bubba Trammell, Devil Rays outfielder, on the same game

THE BEANING

"I don’t want to say he intentionally hit me in the head, but I think he
intentionally threw at my head."

— Mike Piazza, Mets catcher, on being hit in the head by a Roger
Clemens pitch

"I’m glad to hear he’s all right. It was supposed to be in. I wanted it to
be belt high."

— Clemens, Yankees pitcher

"There’s no place for that in baseball. I have no respect or appreciation
for his comments. Roger Clemens is a great pitcher, but I don’t have
respect for him now at all."

— Piazza

"We handed his lunch to him, so he threw at the first guy, threw at the
second guy and hit the third guy."

— Bobby Valentine, Mets manager

"My first time around the league, I was thrown at many times, just to see
how I’d respond to it. That was part of the game. It’s no longer part of
the game."

— Joe Torre, Yankees manager

SILLINESS

"He was knocked silly."

— Lou Piniella, Mariners manager, on Alex Rodriguez‘s
concussion after a collision with Alex Cora on a double play

"He was saying some funny things. He was talking about high school
football."

— Rick Griffin, Mariners trainer, on talking to Rodriguez while
he was laid out

"It is a slap in the face when [TV reporters] are doing stories
on guys who got snubbed, and I’m not even mentioned."

— Eric Karros, Dodgers infielder, on not being selected to replace
injured Mark McGwire on the All-Star team

"I don’t wear a Braves’ uniform."

— Karros, on why he wasn’t selected by Bobby Cox

STOP! … LIMA TIME

"I’m still here baby, it’s still Lima time."

— Jose Lima, Astros pitcher, after snapping a 13-game losing streak by
beating the Royals

"I thought we had a chance to beat him early. But I don’t know what
happened to us. I imagine the people who have beaten him pitched better
than we did."

— Tony Muser, Royals manager, on Lima’s win.

CONTEMPLATING THE BREAK

"We want to be no more than five or six games back at the break. That puts
us in striking distance and lets us do some things. We just have to
continue to play hard these next three games and see what happens."

— Mo Vaughn, Anaheim infielder, on July 6, before his team won three
straight to go into the break five games behind Seattle

"We’re gassed. We need a blow. The break comes at a perfect time for us."

— Buddy Bell, Rockies manager

"We’ve pitched well and we’ve played well defensively. That’s a pretty good
combination. Teams that can catch the ball and pitch are going to be in
games."

— Piniella, on the Mariners’ success in the first half

THE REST

"I don’t like to do that. But I thought it was important for us to win this
game and I thought he gave us the best shot to do that."

— Jim Fregosi, Blue Jays manager, on finally using closer Billy Koch
for more than one inning on July 6 (he used him again for two innings on July 8)

"For me to explain a play like that, it happened so quickly it was like an
infielder driving for the ball. It just ended up in my glove. You ask how
or why. It’s just reaction."

— Paul O’Neill, Yankees outfielder, on snagging a Derek Bell would-be
home run

"Every game, it seems the game is on the line with every pitch I throw. It
wears on you. I’d like to see a handful of runs every now and then. Maybe
next time I’ll get four or six. If not, I’ll try to win with two."

— Mike Mussina, Orioles pitcher, on his 2-1 win against Curt
Schilling

"Schill was outstanding, but unfortunately for us, so was Mussina."

— Terry Francona, Phillies manager

"The more I keep saying home runs aren’t what this club is built around,
they keep proving me wrong."

— Mike Scioscia, Angels manager, said on his team’s on two-homer, 6-2 win
over Colorado

"I’ve got to do a better job policing an inning. I use six-seven pitches to
get two outs, then 20 pitches to get the third out."

— Ken Hill, Angels starter, on getting out of bases-loaded jam in the fifth
inning July 8

"I was frustrated I wasn’t able to bunt. Then I decided to try and bunt on
my own with two strikes, but I took the pitch. Then Swindell threw me a
fastball and I found a hole."

— Jeremy Giambi, Athletics mascot, on his game-winning single July 8

"I was hoping the game would be rained out and we would win 9-5. But our
grounds crew is too good and we had to come out and finish the game. We’re
21-12 in one-run games. That’s a tribute to our bullpen."

— Boles, on the Marlins’ 10-9 win over Devil Rays

"I saw Snow run into Myers. Apparently it doesn’t matter where the runner
runs into the pitcher, it could be in left field, it could be in right
field, it would still be called obstruction."

— Bell, on J.T. Snow being awarded first base after
colliding with Mike Myers on his way to the bag

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