Dave Duncan Games Quotations

Shows you how talented he is. Last year he won 15 games ... re-establishing himself,

Mulder really deserved this game today, because he's probably had the opportunity, or been in position, to win four or five games that we let get away from us after he's been out of the game. It's nice for him to get a special win, and I know this is special for him.

I would guess that he hasn't grinded it out from start to finish. Is he capable? I don't know right now. I do know he's got the physical ability to be a starting pitcher. But you don't win a lot of games picking and choosing the games you want to really put everything into. You put everything into every start.

He was struggling with his delivery and his control. His pitches weren't sharp. But I told him it's a great sign because you're going to have 10, 12, 15 games during the season when it just isn't working. A lot of guys give in to that. But he didn't. He kept battling.

It's not just winning games. It's the way he's pitched. He's been pretty dominant. I've seen guys win a lot of games before. But with the exception of Vida Blue in 1971, I've never seen a guy that has controlled the game, game after game after game, like he has.

I don't think (Looper) is where he needs to be yet, and I don't think he thinks he's where he wants to be yet. I know he's not because we talked about it. It's a long season. I think it's more important we concentrate our efforts into getting him into some games and some situations where it's not critical. That way he can re-establish himself before we start putting him into difficult situations. He agreed with me.

You can't always do what you would like to do, so you just hope the situation presents itself. You're aware of how much they're throwing, how hard (the starters) are working. That influences what you do. But we're still going to play the games and try to win them.