The Week in Quotes: September 13-19

THE SAME OLD VOICE IS AVAILABLE FOR $10 MILLION

"I just felt this ballclub needed a different voice. A younger voice."
—Dodgers manager Joe Torre, on giving way to bench coach Don Mattingly after the season.

"Joe Torre the manager is already enshrined in history with us. The marriage with him and the Yankees will go on forever. There's been no divorce on that. Just because he didn't re-sign a new contract doesn't change the fact that he was as successful and great a manager as he was with us. He's going to be a Hall of Famer, and he'll go in with a Yankee cap and he's welcome any time."
—Yankees general manager Brian Cashman.

"My only thought, I actually sent him a note last night, was that whatever he’s doing, I hope he’s doing on his own terms. I think he deserves that. He’s been doing it for a long time, and there’s a lot of respect from a lot of people about how he conducts himself. So I hope he’s happy with the decision he made. That’s what I care about."
—Red Sox manager Terry Francona.

"I just hope people feel they got their money's worth."
—Torre. (Nick Cafardo, Boston Globe)

MINKA KELLY HAS NIGHTMARES ABOUT THIS ON A REGULAR BASIS

"I had nothing to do with the call. The umpire called it from the get-go. I didn't do it. I didn't tell myself to go to first base. I didn't make the call. He didn't ask me did it hit you and I said, 'Yeah, it hit me please let me go to first base.' It's comical to me that this is really getting this much attention."
—Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter on pretending he had been hit by a pitch that actually struck the end of his bat.

"It seems like people think I turned around and told him that the ball hit me. What am I supposed to do? Say, ‘I’m sorry, sir, but it didn’t hit me. Please let me continue to hit?’"
—Jeter.

"If our guys had done it. I would have applauded that performance. If our guy does it, I’m very happy if we end up getting the call.’’
—Rays manager Joe Maddon.

"Next time somebody steals a base and a guy doesn’t tag you, and the umpire calls you out, do you want the fielder to say, ‘No, sir, I didn’t tag him, so let’s just keep him here?’ Come on. I mean, seriously. Or you’re playing football and they call holding and the guy doesn’t hold him. Do you want him to go to the ref and say, ‘I didn’t hold him, sir, please put the flag back in your pocket?’ Come on."
—Jeter. (Brian Costa, Wall Street Journal)

THE SHADOW KNOWS

"If we continue to play at this level, we're not a team you want to see coming."
—Mets manager Jerry Manuel.

"This is definitely tough. The one thing I appreciate is the knowledge of the media in the city. With that comes some different issues as well, but it's tough, but I think at the same time it can be very rewarding."
—Manuel.

"They're here and they've won championships. They're right across the street. You're kind of in that shadow."
—Manuel on the Yankees.

“This is not an attractive job unless you want the money. The only person with a worse reputation then Jeff Wilpon in the game is David Samson."
—anonymous NL executive. (Joel Sherman, New York Post)

YOUR SCHEDULING QUESTIONS ANSWERED AND EXPLAINED

"The computer is not a human being. It can't necessarily give you the best travel pattern. You give it rules and preferences, but the computer doesn't have to get on that airplane at midnight and arrive at 4 in the morning."
—MLB vice president for club relations and scheduling Katy Feeney.

"Well, I always like to say if everybody is unhappy, we've probably made a reasonable schedule."
—Feeney.

"We've had people say well, why don't you play a warm-weather schedule, play in domes and warm weather the first part of the season. But the year we tried that, it rained in the West and when we came home to the East it was snowing. If someone can tell me which week in April there's going to be snow, I'd be happy to work around that. The weather is not yet something over which we have control."
—Feeney. (Michael Rand, Minneapolis Star-Tribune)

HE CAME IN HERE AND LED US RIGHT OUT OF THE PLAYOFFS

"We love him, I’m telling you. When Theo (Epstein) told us that day he signed him, I was thrilled. I still am, and, three or four years from now, we’re still going to be. It hasn’t gone perfect. There’s a lot of good things there. He’s a stand-up guy. I don’t know that everybody is going to have their career year every year."
—Red Sox manager Terry Francona on pitcher John Lackey.

"You don’t want to make excuses. At the same time, you try to figure out, over the course of a long year, if you make pitches and balls find holes. That’s why we use the word ‘consistency.’ There’s going to be times when balls find holes. I do think Lack has been that guy sometimes. But runs still count."
—Francona. (Brian MacPherson, Providence Journal)

THE REST

"I broke a lot of labels. I broke a lot of things that were said about me. That was a goal, as well to get that negative vibe from over my head this year. I think that's bigger than hitting 30 homers. I think that's bigger than anything else, because now teams see that I've gotten a lot better as a player and a lot better as a person."
—Pirates outfielder Lastings Milledge on growing up as a big leaguer.(Jenifer Langosch, MLB.com)

"My style, quite frankly, is out of sight, out of mind — unless we start to struggle. When we start to struggle, then you’ll see a little bit more of me."
—Cashman on speaking to the Yankees before last weekend's series with the Orioles. (Thomas Kaplan, The New York Times)

"Anybody can get by anybody if it's three out of five. And you have so many days off that your starter can go twice, maybe a third time. Preferably, it would be a best-of-seven. You've got the ALCS and World Series at seven. I think they should make the whole thing seven."
—Angels right fielder Torii Hunter. (Anthony Castrovince, MLB.com)

"I've been trying to make it my best season. We've got (two) more weeks left — we'll have to see. But I definitely hope this is my best season. I'm trying my best to play as well as I can. But I do that every year. I try my best every year. For some reason, it's been a little bit better this year."
—Rays left fielder Carl Crawford. (Bill Chastain, MLB.com)

"We're seventh in the league in runs scored; kind of a middle-of-the-pack offense in regard to scoring runs. I think anybody who watches our club on a daily basis understands that it comes with spurts and we're not adept at handling situations because of the looming threat of strikeouts."
—Diamondbacks interim general manager Jerry Dipoto. (Nick Piecoro, Arizona Republic)

"That's the guy we're trying to focus on, to not let him beat us, and then he ends up doing just that."
—Dodgers pitcher John Ely on Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki. (Mirjam Swanson, The Press-Enterprise)

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Alex Carnevale is a contributor to Baseball Prospectus.