RIVALS "We are going to start taking it to them a little more from now on. By no means do we think they are a better team than we are." —Keith Foulke, White Sox pitcher, on the Minnesota Twins, against whom the Sox had managed only one win in twelve meetings "You feel that sometimes…
OUCH "We got our brains kicked in for two games but we avoided the sweep and that’s what counts. I don’t put any credence on this series. It’s another game. If we’re talking in the month of September obviously it’s more important." —Larry Bowa, Phillies manager, on going 1-2 in a series against the Marlins…
RICKEY ON RICKEY "Let’s see, for breakfast Rickey will have bacon and eggs, and grits if I can get ’em." —Rickey Henderson, Padres outfielder, on the Rickey Henderson Diet "Then I’ll have a good meal after the game, either the clubhouse buffet or at a restaurant someplace. I’ll eat a steak sometimes, sure. But not…
BYE BYE BONIFAY "When we are ready to make the announcement, we’ll announce it." — Cam Bonifay, Pirates GM, on Derek Bell’s return from the DL "To Derek’s credit, he’s given us every effort. He works hard. He does everything he’s asked to do. He just needs to get healthy. People will say the Derek…
ALL THE COOL KIDS ARE DOING IT "Teams not hitting are the teams not walking. All great hitters wait for their pitch to come to them–Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, [Barry] Larkin. That’s why Larkin always hits .300 and why he always hits well in the clutch." — Bob Boone, Reds manager "I think the main…
PEDRO VS. YANKEES "I don’t believe in curses. Wake up the Bambino and I’ll face him. Maybe I’ll drill him in the ass. Pardon the bad word." —Pedro Martinez, Red Sox pitcher, on the Curse "I’m starting to hate talking about the Yankees. The questions are so stupid. They’re wasting my time. It’s getting kind…
BARRY "To talk about it on May 21 is ridiculous. I could be hit by a truck tomorrow, then what? ‘He was on his way, but, damn, he got hit by a truck.’" — Barry Bonds, Giants outfielder, on his chances of breaking the single-season home-run record "We held Bonds to two home runs. That’s…
TUESDAYS WITH RICKEY "I accept it as respect. You’re trying to boo Rickey to get his attention. You’re paying attention to me. You’re talking to me." —Rickey Henderson, Padres outfielder, on hearing boos from Mets fans in his return to New York "I didn’t know what to expect, but a lot of the fans were…
HE’S JUST A FRIEND "I think I kissed Omar once before, maybe in ’98 or ’99. He just smiled. I think he was as happy as I was." —Dave Burba, Indians pitcher, after kissing infielder Omar Vizquel, who helped Burba win his 100th game "I think that’s the second teammate I’ve kissed in my career."…
Ichiro Suzuki is and should be a Rookie of the Year candidate, and anyone who tells you otherwise is wrong. You may have already read that Ichiro should not be considered, an opinion held by baseball’s most prominent analyst, for a number of polite reasons that do little to make the thought palatable. Ichiro won…
FIRST WALKS "When I go to the plate I’m only thinking about hitting and putting the ball in play. I go to the plate thinking aggressive. If it happens, I’ll take it, but I’m not going to change my game." —Alfonso Soriano, Yankees infielder, on drawing his first walk of the year "Now that the…
KNOWING THE STRIKE ZONE "To be in a class with Babe Ruth, you can’t ask for anything more. Walks have been underappreciated. It’s lost in the stats sheets. It lost its appeal somewhere. Another thing lost in the stats is on-base percentage. That’s the most important thing in baseball. If nobody’s on base, nobody scores."…
ANOTHER WEEK WITH THE BEST PLAYERS OF OUR TIME "When I hit it, I couldn’t believe I hit it. Everything was in slow motion. It looked like it was stopped in midair. Then I saw it went past those people and I thought, ‘Wow! I did it!’ " —Barry Bonds, Giants outfielder, on hitting his…
DIGGING A HOLE "Nobody got injured." —Tony Muser, Royals manager, on the positives of losing four straight to the Yankees "Right now we’re like a dog that is down. When you get a dog down, you kick it. When you’re being kicked, you don’t like it." —Russ Johnson, Devil Rays infielder "Every time we play…
IMPRESSIVE DEBUTS "I felt pretty good throughout the game. As I was going into the ninth inning, I was not nervous." —Hideo Nomo, Red Sox pitcher, on throwing a no-hitter in his first Red Sox start "I wasn’t looking for anything. I was just trying to see the ball and hit it." —Manny Ramirez, Red…
[I’d like to note that the April 1 Week In Quotes was an April Fool’s joke and entirely made up. We now return to actual quotes, already in progress] CAREER EXTENSIONS "This is Rickey calling on behalf of Rickey." —Rickey Henderson, Padres outfielder, in a message left on the answering machine of Padres general manager…