Dusty Baker Win Quotations

It was very symbolic. It seems likes we get in that situation and we don't get anything. It's very frustrating. We had a great chance to win that game.

He said he could go one more. But you could see he was laboring out there, throwing the ball high,

He said, 'Kid, you're swinging at everything,' ... He said, 'You've got to zone in or out,' which helped me a lot. He said, 'Look outside or look inside because you can't cover the whole plate.'

Sometimes he has great command of the strike zone, and the next time ... It's a matter of being more consistent. He is throwing the ball good.

Just because you can hit, doesn't mean you know how to play winning baseball, ... That's what I'm trying to instill here, and it's not easy to do in the short time I've been here.

I was wondering when we'd win a 2-1 game, the way things have been going.

If he keeps throwing the ball like that, there'll be no problem.

If a young man throws strikes, they can win. There have been a number of young guys who came up and have done quite well, especially if they have the maturity and demeanor to handle it and do it. This is an opportunity for somebody to win a job.

It's a great run by Greg. The guys really wanted to win for him. We left him out there to give him a chance ... to win.

He's kind of in no-man's land a little bit. He's early on breaking stuff and late on fastballs. Jim Edmonds is probably in the same zone. You've got to swing your way and fight your way out of it. You can't try to press, but it's easier said than done.

He's been throwing the ball pretty good. He's been better in relief than starting. He enjoys the role and wants to go on every trip, which is rare. He wants to go in case he can get in a game.

That first inning has cost him a lot of pitches. He's been throwing so many pitches the last three starts, that's why we took him out. After the first inning, he started throwing the ball better. He had a lot of deep counts, a lot of 3-2 counts. Those pitches mount up.

We'll take them any way we can get them. (The wild pitch) was two runs, basically. We got just enough to win and avoided the sweep.

We'll take it to the end before we make our decision on who's throwing the best and what we need.

The things I want to see out of him is baseball experience and work on fundamental instinctive stuff -- running the bases, hitting the cutoff man, knowing when to run. I've heard that when he gets thrown out, he stops running. When you get thrown out, you need to be more daring.

He's throwing the ball great. We just can't go to him when it means something yet. I have to talk to (general manager Jim Hendry ) and we have to figure this thing out, because we're not out of it yet.

He's still upset about them losing. That's Michael -- he wants to win so badly.

The bullpen hasn't gone the way we scripted. Guys were going two innings and you can't use them the next day. They told me Aardsma was throwing the heck out of the ball in Triple-A.

Back in our day, they called this 'salary drive,' ... Try and continue to have a good year and win as many games as you can win. You are playing for respectability right now. What I'm looking for is you play hard and play for love of the game and respect and try to finish as high as you can.

You can sort of tell that teams are here, or teams are improved. Watch the winter deals they make ? the maturity of the young players.

This is something you hoped you wouldn't have to do, but it's one of those realities in sport and in life. It's not a pleasant situation, but it's here and it's real. This is a major blow. There's a lot to play for, knowing that he's with us and he gave us all he had all the time. We'll play for him, play for us, and play for everybody like we've been doing.

We owe it to ourselves, we owe it to our fans to put the best team we can on the field to try and win because people want to see us win,

We were trying everything to get him his victory. It was a great run by Greg. The guys wanted to win for him, and we left him in in the ninth to have that opportunity.

He's lost some valuable time and he's lost some valuable experience in there. We don't know if he's quite back to where he was before, even though he's throwing the ball very good.

I believe that when the wind's blowing in. When the wind's blowing out, I don't care about the height of the bleachers. When the wind is blowing in, I think the height of the bleachers has had an effect.

Ain't nothing on hold. These games are going to go on regardless. They're going to go into the record, wins and losses, regardless. You wish you could stop time, but I'm looking at that clock and that second hand's still ticking.

Guys are throwing the ball well. We've just got to cut down on the walks. It seems like we walk somebody and they score.

He got beat up pretty good today. They hit some balls hard. He was around the plate, throwing strikes. I just hope he's all right.

He's healthy. Sometimes he's not swinging well and other times he runs into some hard luck. It's a combination. I can see him getting frustrated. He needs one or two days and he'll get rolling.

They are both throwing the ball good. It's just a matter of location most of the time. I'm confident it will come. They've pitched well in the past, so why wouldn't they pitch well in the present and future? I'm not too worried. You want them to be in great form right now, but we do have some time. They have a couple of starts left.

They're avoiding him because he can hit you out of the ballpark. It doesn't have to do with anything but that. That's it. I don't believe any manager would let personal feelings - no matter how they feel - get in the way. They're trying to win games.

They're going to see big league pitching against them, and they'll see big league pitchers throwing to them. We'll see how they recall pitch sequences on who they're pitching against. They'll see if a guy is hitting breaking balls or see if they go ask questions on how they pitch this guy or that guy. Does a guy hit this -- what are his strengths or weaknesses. They have to pay attention because they're big in this equation.

I'm sure he'd like to end the year pitching, knowing Woody. If we can get him in there, we'll try to do that.

The elements were with us tonight. We thought spring was here and winter showed up again. I guess that's Chicago.

Stealing isn't just speed. Most of it is knowing the pitcher and knowing what a guy does. He might dip his head before he goes to the plate or he might drop his hands slightly before he goes to the plate or his feet are narrow when he goes to first or he might slide-step.

You know how I feel about things. Until you're mathematically eliminated, you've got a shot. Who knows? (Sunday's 14-3 victory over Florida) could have started us on a long winning streak. I was thinking, 'What happens then?' I had visions of 'Woody' being remorseful in (not pitching in) the playoffs.

They're playing hard, we just didn't play good defense. You can't give runs away in the major leagues, even at the end of the season. You have to play to win every day, and our defense didn't do that.

He's been working with Tony Gwynn in the winter and you can't find a better guy than that to work with. He works hard, he appears to be an outstanding teammate. I think he'll be an excellent catch for us.

You would think over the course of a winter -- actually three winters, two winters -- that guys would come back strong and healthy, which hasn't been the case. Woody had a little setback with his knee, but his arm is doing well. He's throwing the ball great. Hopefully, Woody will be ready soon. How soon we don't know. We have Wade Miller coming on pretty strong. We just have to pull our belts a little tighter and do what we have to do.

You've just got to play smart when something is wrong. You still play hard. What you don't want to happen is altering his swing and creating bad habits. As far as how many at-bats down here, it depends on how he feels.

They hit some balls on the nose. The elements were with us tonight. This is sort of strange. You think spring is here, then winter shows back up again, I guess that is Chicago; you've just got to deal with it.

The only thing that's in my control is to win ballgames and God is always taking care of me.

I think we match up with anybody because our pitching. In a short series you run your big three out there or four out there. That generally is what wins a series - pitching and defense. If we can catch the ball and not give away any runs like we do sometimes.

He deserved to win that one. That's hopefully a makeup for some of the great games he's thrown and didn't get a decision or got a loss. I'm glad for him, glad for us, and we can hopefully win a series before we go on the road.

His main thing is he's trying so hard he's not swinging at strikes. They're not getting him out, he's getting himself out. I've talked to him about it. When they come in the zone, he's not far from it. It's like fishing. You got to get that first one in the boat, everything is cool after that.

It's just not playing good defense. They're playing hard. Playing hard isn't good enough. You have to play to win and play to win every day, and that's what we're here for.

I'd like to see him play again to help us win and help him get 100 RBIs. We'll see. He's working harder now than ever.

I'd like to see him play again to help us win and help him get 100 RBIs, ... We'll see. He's working harder now than ever.

That was huge tonight, to get back to 2-2. We definitely wanted and needed the game tonight to start the Series all over again. We certainly didn't want to go down 3-1 then have to win three in a row.

I don't know if we've lit him up. We've beaten him. That's all that matters. If there was something, I wouldn't tell you because he'd fix it. Right now they want wins and we need them.

He pitched masterfully. That wind was on our side a couple of times today.