Buck Showalter Quotations | Page 3

It was a scrap to get through it, but the finished product, we ended with a 'W. It wasn't particularly pretty.

It's a hard job. He's done it well for us and he'll do it again. He's had some good outings, tonight wasn't one of them.

It's the time of spring where guys are getting their arms in shape and their legs under them. We'd like to see them start showing what they're capable of doing in their next couple of outings.

It just hasn't carried over so far. It will be good for him to get consistent at-bats down there and get back to the form that we need him to be in, and he's capable of being in. There's not any doubt that if he gets it going like he's capable of, he could be back very soon.

It's always a game of adjustments. We make the mistake of looking at the end of spring with finality. You have to make adjustments. The organization has done a good job of adding depth to our pitching and we're going to attack that.

It's always been a concern. But knowing the nature of the injury, it's been tough to handicap.

It's always nice to have a safety valve. We'll see where we are at the end of Spring Training. Six, seven weeks here -- a lot can happen.

It should be a feather in his cap. What I remember about him last year was the look in his face. It wasn't like he was overmatched. It was more about, 'I can't believe this is happening to me. I know I'm better than this.' He's a confident young man.

It's hard to maintain it, especially at the level he was spoiling us with. I think he is going to finish strong. Hank is a smart young man, and I think he will learn from it. He is only going to get better and better.

It's been a long trip, it obviously hasn't been fruitful. Everyone goes through periods, this is a tough period for us. Everyone knows what success is and we're not having it right now.

It's been a long road trip, and it hasn't been fruitful for us.

It's pretty exciting not to have this to be a topic of conversation the next couple of years.

It's unfortunate, but things are going to happen over the course of the season. Everybody knows your depth is going to be tested. Hopefully Ian will get back and pick up right where he left off.

You think about the years and the number of people who have played this game. When somebody says, '... the history of the game,' that's special. Somebody does not have to tell us to know we have an impressive group.

You talk about therapy for him. It's therapy for us to see someone who's a big part of the Rangers family in our clubhouse.

That's something we're looking at. A lot depends on how we're constructing our club at the end of the spring.

That's something every team will have to deal with. This is one of those Spring Trainings when you just have to roll with the punches.

That's the biggest play of the game. That and the walks. We scattered around a lot of hits, and they scattered around some hits and some walks. They have a formidable lineup and do enough damage without us walking them.

That put a damper on the day, Mike and Tex shaking hands and saying goodbye.

It's something that Mark embraced. He wanted to be the best. It wasn't for selfish reasons, but he knew we were going to need him to be a good first baseman.

It's Spring Training. I know how that goes, ... First, you throw on the side and you get a positive or negative feeding frenzy. Then you throw off the mound and get a positive or negative feeding frenzy ... and when you're done, you throw all of it out the window. It's not just Chan Ho. It's everybody.

It's something we have been and will continue to monitor.

It's something he wants to do, and we think it will be another good step for him.

It's not good news to see Soriano and Putz healthy and throwing well.

It's not a finished product but he goes through periods where it's pretty good. We've got to decide if it's there yet. That's a pretty tough call.

It was a good first step for him.

I've got a couple of things I want to say. Most of it is stating the obvious. This team has been through a lot together, they know where we fell short. I'm not going to insult their intelligence.

It's wide open. We have a lot of people to pick from.

They hit a lot of balls that snuck through.

It was just not his night. Three out of four nights ... I'm not going to extend him there. He wasn't pitching as good as he's capable of. He's scuffling. There's no sense in him continuing to scuffle if I can help it.

These things have a way of working themselves out over a 162-game season.

This is just the first day and we didn't want things to be too structured, so I really didn't see anyone working out. We'll have our first workout (Thursday) and we'll see what we have then.

That's a sensitive area. We have to be sensitive to what's going on in the world of baseball.

I'm going to play everybody, but Mark has certainly earned that opportunity.

I just want someone who I can trust.

In a lot of our minds, hopefully this is the last piece of putting it behind us.

I never said it was three months. It was something everybody jumped all over. Adam's in a lot better frame of mind. He hasn't had near the swelling or the soreness we might have expected.

I'm not sure, we'll sit down and talk about it on the plane.

I'm not worried they aren't getting enough at-bats. But we'll give them a few days working with Rudy before we put them back in a game.

If people tell me that Rudy will be full go by May 1, I'll be happy with that.

If you look for positives, some of the homers were solos, but I'm really reaching.

I look at stats just like you do. It's about run production and run reduction with defense and pitching.

I'll tell you what, Gary came into camp with an attitude. He can play all three positions and switch-hit. He's a good guy to have around.

I heard a lot and I saw what they were talking about. He's a good pitcher, and he's going to get the ball again.

I haven't heard anything that says it's serious and I haven't heard anything that says it wasn't.

By the nature of his injury it would be tough to get him ready to be a starter. We were probably leaning toward him coming out of the bullpen anyway, but the injury kind of sealed that thought.

He's seeing the ball well and putting a lot of good swings on the ball. It's a lot of fun to watch. He is very calm up there and has a good approach.

He's so excited about feeling no pain for the first time in so long, but he doesn't want to go back to that. This is a get-lucky guy. If this guy is right, he could really help us.

He's just been tentative on defense with that leg.

How are we going to find out if he can do it if we don't get him out there? ... This is a way to get his bat in the lineup and get him on the field.

He's ready to go. He thinks we're being too cautious.

I don't think if you go in that locker room there would be anybody who even knows about that streak. But how about that pitching?

Hopefully, now he'll be ready for the rest of the year.

He's a pretty special person, a pretty special player, in that order. When I go over a list to be concerned with, Mark being ready and being as good as he can be is not one.

He's a guy who has done it in the past. There's a lot of different ways to look at it, but it's what helps you produce runs. Obviously on-base percentage is something you look at, but there's a feel you get. What's the feel of the lineup? You see how guys complement each other and the problems you present other managers late in the game.

If he goes five innings and he's just cutting them up, we'd probably let him go longer.

I don't think anybody takes for granted how hard it is to do what he's doing. He's consistent in all walks of life. He loves to win, he loves to compete, he loves to prepare.

I don't think the game got away from Kenny. He pitched well enough to win. We just did some things and didn't help ourselves.

He's not ready to retire, I tell you that. I can see it in his eyes and you can hear it in his voice. Whenever he decides enough is enough, there will be a place for him in this organization.

He's obviously got a future or he wouldn't have been drafted. We wouldn't have carried him this far if he didn't have a chance to make the team.

He's not where he was at the start of the season, but who is?

He's managed his rotation and especially his relievers beautifully. You never see him leave guys out there too long or use them too often. You might wonder why he's taking somebody out after 10 pitches of a 9-0 game in June, but it's paid off. His guys have stayed fresh. He gives guys fresh innings.

He adds another productive hitter, a guy who can play the game on both sides of the ball. He fits into our clubhouse like a glove, a very competitive baseball player.

He ate up some important innings so we could save some guys that we didn't want to pitch. He did a good job in his Major League debut. I'm sure he had some anxiety out there, but he did a good job.

He pitched well. R.A. had good command, and he threw 14 out of 21 first pitch strikes. That's impressive. He did his part.

He pitched as well as we could have hoped for. We took him to his limit on three days' rest. The bullpen picked him up, we just had problems at the end. Rick pitched well. I'm sure there was a lot of anxiety, but he handled it real well.

He only got hit a couple of days ago and it's going to take time to look at things. There was a lot of swelling, but it has gone down quite a bit. There's still time.

The hit-by-pitch hurt. It's tough to get him out anyway.

The depth of it really is impressive. You look at how many guys we have with career highs in homers.