Clint Hurdle Guys Quotations

There were games early in the season where we crumbled like a house of cards in situations like that. These guys are willing to pick one another up and that is a big improvement with this team.

You can't ignore the fact that you are missing your No. 3 hitter. We just asked the guys to tighten their belt a little, but just carrying their load, not try to do anything more than they are capable of doing. It's an added pressure, but you can't be consumed with it.

It would be like guys talking about cars. Rebuilding a carburetor is nothing for them. For me, that's an impossibility, it's not going to happen unless I take it somewhere. But for a hitter those are terms that are pretty commonplace.

It was a nice challenge for him to be able to respond to that. We aren't in the same situation that some other teams are in. We can challenge some guys and see how they respond. That's why we ran him back out (in the fifth).

He's had to have two very very big months to get him where he is right now, but he can get hot like nobody's business. He's probably learned some very valuable lessons through this year. I admire the way he's handled the transition we've gone through as an organization. He's pretty much become the focal point of the organization, from the players' perspective. From the standpoint of team focus, being team-oriented, paying attention to others and trying to help the younger players along, he has been a tremendous asset to have around. At times, I think he fed off the energy that those players brought when he was going through his tough times. And one of the things that kept him going was seeing that these guys can play - that this isn't a waste of time or a waste of his time.

We hung around, we had the tying run at the plate a couple of times, we just couldn't get it done. We do hang around. It's something these guys have found a way to do this year.

This is a big pick-me-up. Some guys showed up big-time. We just kept hanging around after an early lead got away. Obviously it was a pretty explosive ninth inning, and some guys that needed to get involved got involved. It's a good confidence-builder all around the house for us.

We had a lot of guys just running hot, and we were running hot to start the game again tonight. That's a nice come-from-behind victory on the road for us. I've seen a lot of road games.

Guys that are able to play, we'll get out there and play, and guys that aren't able to play, we'll pray for them and hope they get better.

Nobody's under a magnifying glass. You put somebody under a magnifying glass long enough, you burn them. The guys that didn't pitch well, they know who they are. Through honest self-evaluation, they'll see their location and the adjustments they need to make the next time out. That'll be the critical area to watch.

We are a work in progress. These guys had a lot of baggage laid on them last year. We weren't that good last year. There were a lot of young players cutting their teeth, but they also are players who came up together (through the farm system) and had success together. And they want to have more success together.

It's a big pick-me-up. Some guys showed up big time tonight.

These guys want to take some momentum into '06. They are looking forward to letting people know that we're going to show up and play.

These guys overcame adversity. They persevered through it all.

These guys have a chance to chart a new course.

It's up to them now to go down and be a reflection of this camp. I told them eyes will be on them. A lot of guys down there will be looking at how they walk and how they talk once they've been in a big league camp.

That's been a redeeming quality, that he has been able to slow things down and been able to get an inning over with before it completely got out of hand. He said he has not been comfortable out of the stretch the last couple of games. I told him I didn't think he was lying. I told him either we have to find a way to make him comfortable or for him to not let any guys get on.

That's a very resilient victory. To be down twice. . . . These guys are just focused on playing the game, inning by inning, and getting the job done.

That's not the way it is. I think it takes some pressure off of him. And it shows those guys what they are capable of collectively.

One thing our guys do in spring training is get in shape. Jorge needs to play there, get his at-bats and reps, and show up with the groove he was in last year and that he needs to stay in.

You aren't going to replace a Todd Helton, but we have guys that can do things for us.

We are new at this. We are starting to like it. We need to keep it going. Each one is a confidence builder. Each one helps the guys feel they belong. Guys each get a chance, and when they perform, they feel good about themselves.

We are moving forward with a large group of players rather than having five or six guys we brought in to bridge a gap for a year. We had our first taste of the process. The first two months, it was a very bitter taste. We took a lot of ridicule. But we hung together. We are not out of the woods yet, but we've taken steps forward.

Those guys (the middle relief) have some good numbers on the back of their bubble gum cards.

We know Tom is experienced and he is not going to rattle. We want to see them maintain velocity once we have them pitching back-to-back days. Guys are going to be given every opportunity to show they can't do it.

We have always been big on guys on the bench being versatile.

There's other guys we want to look at, more importantly, for next year's bullpen, ... If we need him, he's available.

Those three guys give us the most flexibility and the most talent we've ever had at the end of a game. We're going to be good.

I told my guys in the meeting today, man, it's like a snake. If somebody tells me it's dead, I'm going to run over it three times before I believe it. You tell me he's not swinging the bat good, I'll believe it when he's left here and we've been able to handle him.

It's an uncomfortable spot for the manager. Basically, you don't want anyone to get hurt, whether it be the guy doing the pitching or the guys doing the hitting.

The confidence that comes from getting on any type of run gives you that confidence once you initiate that run again. We've got to pitch well, we've got to play solid defense and we've got to get timely hitting and execute, which is what we did for the last three months last season - with a lot of guys people didn't know against a lot of teams with some pretty big names.

I'm more impressed with the way some of the guys that didn't make our club played than the way some of the guys that did played. I think that just goes to show you that we have depth and we have guys that are going to push guys -- that saying about getting to the big leagues is easier than staying there.

What was important to me is the way the guys who didn't make the club performed.