The Week in Quotes: World Series Edition

REVERSED

“This is like an alternate reality. All of our fans waited their entire
lives for this…We won’t even need the airplane to fly home.”

—John Henry, Red Sox owner (Boston Herald)

All of our fans have waited all their lives for this night, and it’s
finally here. These guys did it for you, New England.”

–Henry

“I wish we could get our rings tomorrow…Unbelievable-no more
going to Yankee Stadium and having to listen to ‘1918.’”

—Derek Lowe, Red Sox pitcher (Boston Herald)

“I’m so happy. I’m happy for the fans in Boston, I’m happy for Johnny
Pesky, for Bill Buckner, for (Bob) Stanley and (Calvin) Schiraldi and all
the great Red Sox players who can now be remembered for the great players
that they were.”

—Curt Schilling, Red Sox pitcher (Boston Herald)

“I think we learned a lot when we played against the Yankees because we
lost the first three games. And today I was talking to some of the guys
and I said, ‘Hey, let’s go. Don’t let these guys breathe.’ We know what
happened against New York. We came back…So we came back and won.”

—Manny Ramirez, Red Sox outfielder and World Series MVP
(Boston Herald)

“It’s a thrill to be able to write a page in the Red Sox history book.”

—Larry Lucchino, Red Sox CEO (Boston Herald)

“I thought we had a great scouting report…But what it comes down to is
having really, really good pitchers.”

—Terry Francona, Red Sox manager (Boston Herald)

“Any time you don a Red Sox uniform, you have to talk about the history
of this team and not having a World Series championship since
1918…Sooner or later, that hex had to stop. Everybody thought it was a
curse, but to use it was just a five-letter word.”

—Trot Nixon, Red Sox outfielder (Boston Herald)

BREAKING THE MOLD

“In baseball, too many people try to discount someone like Theo,
someone who could be the C.E.O. of a Fortune 500 company and probably
will be…Guys like Theo have really opened the door for other bright
young guys who might otherwise go to Wall Street.”

—Billy Beane, Athletics general manager, on Red Sox GM
Theo Epstein (The New York Times)

“As someone who bleeds Yale blue, I was impressed by the fact that he was
a Yalie… And I was impressed by the fact that he came all the way down
from New Haven. This wasn’t a guy coming across town. He showed up early,
and he dressed appropriately. Theo was a baseball historian and knew a
lot about the Negro League, which also impressed me.”

—Calvin Hill, former NFL running back and Epstein’s
supervisor in Baltimore (The New York Times)

“He is a young guy who is bright and learned a lot…He’s been
fortunate to come into a relationship with a guy [Lucchino] who likes to
nurture smart people and keep them around.”

–Hill

BY A STITCH

“Ten years from now I think people are going to look back and say Willis
Reed pulled a Curt Schilling…Willis Reed scored four points. Curt
Schilling went seven innings against one of the best offenses of recent
memory. No offense to Willis Reed.”

—Theo Epstein, Red Sox general manager, on Schilling’s
performance in the ALCS (N.Y. Daily News)

“If there is a Nobel Prize for medicine, he should be up for it.”

–Schilling, on medical director Bill Morgan (N.Y. Daily News)

“I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t move…Somehow, we had an extra stitch in
this time, and we had caught a nerve in the leg. We took that stitch out,
and things started to change almost immediately from that point.”

–Schilling, after his Game Six ALCS win against the Yankees
(Seattle Times)

“The only risk is making sure we take out the sutures after the game, to
prevent infection. We’re doing what’s best for him. We’re not
compromising Curt’s future.”

—Bill Morgan, Red Sox medical director (N.Y. Daily News)

ALL IS FORGIVEN

“I don’t want to bring a downer on the whole situation because I’m very
happy for the Boston Red Sox…and they certainly deserved to win the
World Series this year.”

—Bill Buckner, former Red Sox first baseman
(FoxSports.com)

“I’m just a little disappointed with the whole thing. This whole thing
about being forgiven and clearing my name, you know, I mean…cleared
from what? What did I do wrong? It’s almost like being in prison for 30
years and then they come up with a DNA test to prove that you weren’t
guilty.”

–Buckner

“I’ve gone through a lot of, what I feel, undeserved bad situations for
myself and my family over a long period of time, and for someone to come
up to me and say, ‘Hey, you’re forgiven.’ I mean, it just kind of brings
a really bad taste in my mouth.”

–Buckner

“Not a chance. Not a chance…There are a lot of great people in New
England and great fans, and obviously they’re very passionate about their
team. This is their championship; this is what they did, and I’m happy
for them. But my team in ’86 didn’t win and this team did.”

–Buckner, on the prospect of being included in 2004’s World
Series celebration

SO LIMITLESS AND FREE

“There’s nothing yet, it’s way too early to decide what I’m going to
do… I kind of know which way I’m heading but I’m going to take some
time to talk things over with my family, so we’ll wait and see.
Ninety-nine, that’s the way I’m leaning.”

—Roger Clemens, Astros pitcher, on retiring (MLB.com)

“Tony did whisper that to me; I told him good luck…I’m disappointed
because I’ve had the taste of World Series and to get so close and not
get there was very disappointing. I’m so far removed from the game since
that game ended, watching my boy play to kind of get my mind off being
upset at how the season ended so quickly. In Spring Training we were
expecting to get in the World Series and I expected to do that even with
the injuries.”

–Clemens

“I think it’s their year, it’s been 90 years and I hope they lock this
one down…All my friends from up north are calling me. They’ll be happy
for a day anyway, but they’re not going to have anything to complain
about anymore. You might see a smile for about a week in Boston and then
they’ll go back to being miserable.”

–Clemens

“It’s great for that city and great for baseball. There’s nothing like
playing baseball in the east. It’s a lot of fun, it’s a terrific city. I
don’t wish for them to lose the next two games but it would be kind of
nice if they could clinch in Boston. Hopefully no one will get hurt.”

–Clemens

“I don’t even think [the decision] will be until January or February.
It’s exciting in our household. My son [Koby] is fixing to
make a decision on where he’s going to play college baseball. I’ve been
waiting for a long time for this to happen. We’ve got some big decisions
to make in our house and he’s leaning on Pops to help him move in the
right direction.”

–Clemens

THE REST

“I’m not a sixth batter…I’m a cleanup hitter, or third, because I’ve
earned that right with almost 600 career home runs (574).”

—Sammy Sosa, Cubs outfielder (Chicago Tribune)

“I’m going to play at least another five or six seasons, hitting 35 home
runs a year…That would allow me to finish with 700 home runs.”

–Sosa

“From a financial standpoint, McPherson fits better than Glaus and we’ve
got other needs… We’ll probably make use of our resources in other
areas.”

—Bill Stoneman, Angels general manager, on third
baseman Troy Glaus (L.A. Times)

“I know how they’re expecting to be compensated… Rather than use our
resources to go after Glaus, we’ll go after other needs.”

–Stoneman

“If we didn’t have McPherson, it might be different… We’ve got a guy
ready to break through at the major league level.”

–Stoneman