The Week in Quotes: October 5-12

THE ORIOLES

"Those guys can play with the gloves. That’s the
biggest difference I see in them this year."

— Lou Piniella, Mariners manager, on the
Orioles

"He’s the Oriole way."

— Davey Johnson, Orioles manager, on Mike
Bordick

"He’s one of the most dominant pitchers in
baseball today. When he’s on his game, he’s as good as
there is."

— Mike Hargrove, Indians manager, on Mike
Mussina

"We kind of assumed we’d have to go through New
York, because they are the world champions. None of us
were heartbroken when the Yankees lost, and none of us
cried."

— Davey Johnson

"I want to go to the World Series. But if I don’t,
I’ll be watching and pulling for my brother to win."

— Roberto Alomar

THE INDIANS

"We believe we can win. You have to."

— Matt Williams

"I know from my experience that Orel [Hershiser]
likes to put water on the back of his neck. He prefers
to have the cover of the ball moist as opposed to dry,
and he will get water wherever he can get it."

— Davey Johnson, Orioles manager

"He cheats and just about everybody else does. Why
not? He showed me how to cheat but said I can’t do it
until I’m about 35. If I’m fortunate enough to stay
around that long, I get the privilige to cheat."

— Chad Ogea, kidding about Orel Hershiser

"We’ve really come together since the beginning of
the year. Right now, we can talk about Matt Williams’
head and he doesn’t get as mad as he did before."

— Omar Vizquel

THE MARLINS

"C.J.’s real dangerous because C.J. swings."

— Jim Leyland, Marlins manager, on Charles
Johnson

"I’ve been fortunate every time I pitch against
them. I pitched well against other teams, but it seems
every time I go against the Braves, the guys make great
plays behind me."

— Tony Saunders

"We’re playing the best team in the world. People
can’t expect too much."

— Gary Sheffield

"I’m not going anywhere until we finish our
business. I’ll be right here in uniform."

— Alex Fernandez, out for the rest of the
playoffs with a torn rotator cuff

"I can’t pull a rabbit out of a hat and put Sandy
Koufax in a Marlins uniform. We have to improvise."

— Jim Leyland, Marlins manager

"It’s no secret that I never really had a
successful championship series, and this one wasn’t
going too well, either. So many people were bringing
it to my attention I figured something had to go my
way."

— Bobby Bonilla

THE BRAVES

"My success comes from the fact I’m aggressive and
not afraid to fail at a time when everybody seems to be
watching you. Everybody is tired, so you pull
everything you have from within and play with emotion.
As soon as you lose the edge, you’ll be answering
questions you don’t want to answer."

— John Smoltz

"Well, I was watching Baseball Tonight last night
and Harold Reynolds starts talking about Al Leiter
having no-hit stuff and, these were his exact words, ‘I
really feel like the Marlins are going for the kill [in
game 4].’ I’m thinking, what is this guy talking
about? I’ll be honest. It ticked me off."

— Denny Neagle, who won the game

"You put your little helmet on, and what’s being
said and what’s being written just bounce right off."

— Greg Maddux

"It’s tough. The team needs a guy like that. He’s
got experience, he’s got success in the postseason.
He’s going to be missed."

— Tony Graffanino, on injured teammate Mark
Lemke

THE PEDRO MARTINEZ SWEEPSTAKES

"We are looking to end up probably trading Pedro.
We’re going to cut our payroll way back."

— Jim Beattie, Expos GM

"I’d say we have quite a bit of interest. We just
haven’t gotten that far down the road yet with them.
We’ve certainly expressed to the Expos that we’ve got a
lot of fine, young players and feel we have a lot of
depth. We want to be definite players."

— Kevin Towers, Padres GM

"Obviously Pedro Martinez is a great pitcher whom
we tried to acquire this season, but the Expos didn’t
want to deal him. We’ve discussed the situation, and
after the postseason gets over with, I think we’re
going to get real serious in our discussions."

— John Hart, Indians GM

THE REST

"I never quite understood logic that grants
someone a better chance of succeeding simply because
he has failed elsewhere."

— Gary Shelton, columnist, on hiring managers

"Last year, we were the team of destiny. This
year, it seemed like we were a victim of it."

— David Cone

"We didn’t score any runs, we didn’t get any key
hits and now we’ve got 4 1/2 months to think about
it."

— Ken Griffey Jr.

"This truly hurts. It’s very painful. You play 200
games including spring training and four games decides
if you go home. It hurts. It’s frustrating."

— Alex Rodriguez

"We haven’t moved a baseball team in 26 years. I
certainly hope the Twins stay in Minnesota. But for
anybody to think that, in this day and age, you can
consign an owner to either uncompetitiveness or
bankruptcy is sheer folly."

— Bud Selig, acting commissioner

"It’s going to take twice as much work this winter
to take it to the next level. I don’t want this to be
one of those teams which drop off after reaching this
level."

— Brian Sabean, Giants GM

"We’re going to put him on a switch-hitting
program."

— Dusty Baker, Giants manager, on J.T.
Snow