Mark Shapiro Expectation Quotations

We won't know until Monday night, but it's a realistic expectation.

At that point in my career, I didn't have an appreciation how difficult the transition is for young players to the big leagues. It's fortunate that everything's kind of broken right, that we've lived up to expectations. But that was a lofty expectation to place on the public here - no one's allowed me to forget that I gave that.

To say we're contending with the Yankees and the A's was not our expectation coming into the season. If you told us our record would be 14, 15 games over .500, I would have said we'd be leading our division.