The Week in Quotes: September 3-8

HEARTS BROKEN AFTER CHAVEZ BREAKS UP PETIT’S PERFECTO

“You get that close, it breaks your heart a little bit. It's funny. We won the game, but you could see the disappointment in the guys as they came off the field.”
—Giants manager Bruce Bochy, on Yusmeiro Petit’s near-perfect game on Friday against the Diamondbacks. (Henry Schulman, San Francisco Chronicle)

“I threw that curveball all game, and everybody swung at it. I'm surprised. I don't know how he didn't swing. He took it like he knew the curveball was coming.”
—Petit, on the 2-2 curveball that Arizona’s Eric Chavez laid off right before breaking up the right-hander’s perfect game. (Chris Haft, MLB.com)

“It was a really good pitch. I think it's what he wanted to do. If I hit it, I probably would have grounded out to second. … I was really just focused on really making him throw a strike and earning it, in a sense.”
—Chavez, on the 2-2 curveball. (Steve Kroner, San Francisco Chronicle)

“I wasn't up there trying to break his heart, I just wanted to break it up. It was a pride thing.”
—Chavez. (Chris Haft, MLB.com)

“I felt like when it was hit, it was like one of those dreams where you just can't run fast enough. It was a little too far. I gave it my best effort and it was just a little bit shy.”
—Giants outfielder Hunter Pence, who laid out for Chavez’ single, but came up just short.

“[Rookie outfielder Roger] Kieschnick told me he didn't move for six innings [though] he wanted to go to the bathroom.”
—Pence.

“He normally gets in trouble when he leaves the ball up and over the plate. Today, he didn’t make that mistake. He was down in the strike zone. He was dominating. He was an artist.”
—Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero. (Nick Piecoro, Arizona Central)

“It was a beautiful game, a tremendous display of pitching. He was pounding the strike zone all day, quality strikes with all his pitches. I couldn't be happier for him. He's fought his way to get back up here. He's done a tremendous job. He's trying to send a message that this is where he belongs and should be pitching.”
—Bochy.

PIRATES, REDS HOPING TO MAKE NOISE IN SEPTEMBER

“A week ago, we took a series from them and moved into first place. Now it's a week later, and they move into first. We expected to be here, and we don't expect to go away. But we know we've got to play better. We need to put a foot down [Sunday].”
—Pirates manager Clint Hurdle before Sunday’s game against St. Louis. (Tom Singer, MLB.com)

“You don't want anyone to be human in September. You want them to be superhuman. You don't want people to be common in September. You want them to be uncommon.”
—Hurdle (Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

“September's the time to step up or shut up. You forget about what's been going on during the year, and you just have to keep striving to get better. It's a long season. People [have] got to understand that. It's been a fun month so far for the Reds.”
—Reds third baseman Todd Frazier after a Saturday win over the Dodgers. (Jeremy Warnemuende, MLB.com)

“It's going to be like that from now on. I was just thinking in the dugout, I hope these guys get used to it and like it. You can't get that high any other place except here on the baseball field.”
—Reds manager Dusty Baker on the team’s winning ways.

“That’s how you run the race. If you ever ran track or you understand track, you understand that. It’s like a horse race. It’s tough to know when to whip that horse and when you’re whipping it too early or when you’re whipping it too late.”
—Baker

“You’ve got to try to pace these guys. You’ve got to know which guys to push … You’ve got certain guys on your team that are helpers and certain guys on your team that are carriers. The carriers do most of the work. The helpers enhance what the carriers are doing.”
—Baker

EXTENDED CAREERS AND MILESTONES

“No. As of right now, it's a no. We went down this road before: The day that I quit having fun, making it a struggle to come to the ballpark or not enjoying the competition out there, is the day I will go home. Whether it be tomorrow, whether it be 10 years from now. I'm still enjoying the competition. It's just tough losing when you have such high expectations."
—White Sox designated hitter Adam Dunn, on rumors of his potential retirement at season’s end. (Scott Merkin, MLB.com)

“It's been a long journey. With all the ups and downs and things I've gone through, it feels like 4,000. I'll definitely take it and I'll treasure it, for sure.”
—Indians designated hitter Jason Giambi, on recording his 2,000th career hit. (Jordan Bastian, MLB.com)

LATE-SEASON INJURIES

“Yeah, the exam that he went through, the images taken in Denver concur with what's been found in the exam in Boston and he does have a compression fracture. That means it's non-displaced. But at the same time, we feel like he'll return this year. He's in a boot right now, will be for the time being. We feel like he'll be back to us before this year is out. We're hopeful in the regular season, yes.”
—Red Sox manager John Farrell, on outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury’s foot injury. (Jason Mastrodonato, MLB.com)

“I've had concussions before and it hasn't taken this long. I'm not the first guy this has happened to, though, and I understand that. Still, it's such a helpless feeling and you don't really want it. You just come to a point you realize it is what it is.”
—Athletics catcher John Jaso, who has been on the DL since July 25th with a concussion. (Jane Lee, MLB.com)

TWITTER

Everybody wearing Rays gear tonight at Legends on 2nd Street in Long Beach gets a free beer. It's our win or weep party.

— Joe Maddon (@RaysJoeMaddon) September 4, 2013

—Joe Maddon found some extra money in Tampa Bay’s small market budget, which probably doesn’t have “beer and fried chicken” as its own line item.

THE REST

“You can find somebody to do it. You could groom somebody to do it who’s on the staff, if you manage it the right way. I mean, think about it: the tougher job is to come in with guys on base, because he’s got to be quicker to the plate and he has to hold runners on.”
—Dennis Eckersley on the closer’s role. (Tyler Kepner, New York Times)

“It's a huge number—40 saves puts you in the upper echelon. Anything past 35 puts you in the upper echelon for me, but he's one of the top closers in the game, his numbers bear that out.”
—Royals manager Ned Yost, on closer Greg Holland becoming the 4th player in team history to save 40 games in a season. (Dick Kaegel and Kathleen Gier, MLB.com)

“It's just consistency and location. For me, if my location is gone, it's going to be a tough day. I don't have that kind of stuff. If I had Matt Harvey's stuff, I could be a little less careful. For me, I have to have command. If I'm not using both sides of the plate, it becomes a much easier job for a team to hit me.”
—Diamondbacks starting pitcher Brandon McCarthy, who has a 1.88 ERA over his last three starts. (Willie Bans, MLB.com)

“[The playoffs are] important to us in the front office, and I think the players know that. It's almost like playing in Little League again, where stats don't count anymore, and all that matters is winning a baseball game. When all focus is on winning, they understand.”
—Diamondbacks director of player development Mike Bell, on the minor league playoffs, which started this past week. (Teddy Cahill, MLB.com)

“At the end of the day, you hit 30 homers and you drive in 80, 90, 100 runs, whatever it is, that's awesome. But what's hard as a player, to be quite honest, is when the majority of the times that your name is brought up, it's going to be what you're not doing well — unless you're a guy like Mike [Trout]. I do quite a few things well, and there are some things I don't do well, which are quite obvious. Unfortunately, you tend to dwell on what you want to get better at. I spend quite a bit of time trying to figure out how I can do certain things better … The casual fan would probably be pretty pumped up when they see the baseball-card numbers, and the new-age fans are probably not going to be too terribly thrilled with a player like me. But you know what, at the end of the day, you are who you are. I want to get better and do what I do.”
—Angels first baseman Mark Trumbo, on criticism about his low on-base percentage. (Alden Gonzalez, MLB.com)

“Nobody's having more fun than Robby. When you've been through the things and some of the teams he's been on, to be in this situation, I think has been a real energizer.”

—Orioles manager Buck Showalter, on second baseman Brian Roberts’ enthusiasm for playing on a playoff contender. (Jeff Seidel, MLB.com)

“To be with him daily, you get to see it all and all the little things that he does. And beyond that, all the team things that he does. This guy is all about winning. That's it, that's it. He doesn't care about his batting average. He does only in the sense that if he's not hitting well, that means he's not helping the team. He's all about team and he's really unique and I don't even know where we would be without him.”

—Rays manager Joe Maddon, on the invaluable contributions provided by utilityman Ben Zobrist. (Bill Chastain, MLB.com)

“The reason was because he never has any Rays stuff on, so I figured if I got him a shirt with Rays on the front and his name on the back, then maybe he'd be more inclined to wear it.”
—Rays third baseman Evan Longoria, who printed “Team Wil” t-shirts in an effort to get teammate Wil Myers to wear Rays-themed apparel. (Bill Chastain, MLB.com)

“He just has to stay aggressive sometimes. Don’t get too fine. His stuff is so good that sometimes he tries to pick too much. We really just focus on being aggressive. Get in there, get out there, and throw the ball. You don’t want to help them out by nibbling too much. Get ahead in the count, and throw strike one.”
—Yankees catcher Austin Romine, on possible solutions to pitcher CC Sabathia’s recent struggles. (Andy Martino, New York Daily News)

“I had no idea that's what it was, but it's terrible, to be honest with you. We're not playing very good offense, defense, anything. Albers gave us a chance to win the game today, but we had a couple mishaps and you can't have that. We're not playing very good.”
—Twins second baseman Brian Dozier, on the Twins’ recent 10-game home losing streak, the club’s longest since 1961. (Rhett Bollinger, MLB.com)

“There's a team on the other side that's competing against us and trying to beat our brains in just as much as we're trying to beat their brains in. We created the opportunity. Obviously, you want the runs, but, hey, we're putting ourselves in good position. You've got to be strong-minded through that.”
—Orioles outfielder Adam Jones, on the team’s inability to score with runners in scoring position. (Jeff Seidel, MLB.com)

“I had an issue of stepping really far across my body. That probably put a lot of stress on my shoulder. If you're throwing that far across your body, I'm not saying it was the cause of what happened, but it could have been. We watched video from college and I was a lot straighter then. Still across my body, but there was a big difference from what it was in college and how I was throwing at the beginning of this year.”

—Mariners top prospect Danny Hultzen, who changed his throwing motion after dealing with shoulder problems earlier this season. (Greg Johns, MLB.com)

“I've heard some of the most unbelievable comments about my mom. When my hair was longer and we were here, somebody made a Chuck Norris comment. It was really funny.”
—Tigers pitcher Phil Coke, on Red Sox fans’ most colorful remarks. (Jason Beck, MLB.com)

“I didn't send him out there to paint.”
—Reds manager Dusty Baker, on Billy Hamilton’s first major league appearance. He promptly stole second and scored the winning run. (Anthony Castrovince, MLB.com)

“As long as the chicken wasn't drinking beer, we're good to go.”
—Indians manager Terry Francona, on the resemblance of the team’s “Rally Chicken” to the fried chicken controversy during Francona’s final days as manager of the Red Sox. (Jordan Bastian, MLB.com)