Derrek Lee Quotations

We'll see tomorrow (Wednesday). The Cubs don't want me to play, but if I feel like I can play, I'm going to play. I'm not going to be stupid about it, but if I feel like I'm not hurting anything, I'm going to play.

Now that I'm here, it's going to be weird to leave the team. But it's a great opportunity.

I don't think you ever envision a contract like this.

He hasn't been caught so leave it alone. I don't think it's a story. I say leave the man alone.

We've got to perform. All the pressure's on us. We're expected to win this thing.

Today I felt proud. I felt like the whole country was watching.

He's having an unbelievable season. But for me, the best thing about him is his defense. He saves a run or more a game.

He showed flashes of it early. Second year, like everybody, is an adjustment-type of year. This year, he is showing what kind of pitcher he is. He is just dominant. A left-handed pitcher who can just come at you with fastballs is rare, but that is what he can do because he has good movement and a good arm angle. He throws strikes. He's a good pitcher. He's great for the game. He's a good person, having fun out there. He works hard.

Hitting is always an adjustment, so I don't really change my approach. Just try to hit good pitches.

He's going to pitch till he's 50. I don't understand it. He needs to sign with someone quick. The way he looked today, I've got a feeling he's going to sign with somebody.

It gave us a huge lift. I mean, it changes the game.

I think he's the best, period, in center field. Defense gets overlooked. But some days, even if you aren't going good offensively, you can bring good defense and help your team.

I was really nervous. You don't want things out of your control.

When that ball got out, it was like, man, such a proud feeling. When you hit one in the season, it's like, OK, you did your job. This was more like hitting a ball for your whole country.

We have the team. We're balanced and athletic. Our bench is great, and our bullpen depth is better. We just need to worry about each day and go from there. We need our pitchers healthy, and this spring looks good as far as health.

We get so much fan support, you'd think you'd play well here, but we didn't. It's something we have to get better at.

When are they going to stop, they've been alleging forever. He (Bonds) has never been caught leave the man alone.

The chance to go to the postseason, it's hard to pass up.

If you write in the paper 'Lee stinks,' that's not going to affect me. I'll just laugh. And if you write 'Derrek Lee is the best player in the league,' that won't affect me either. I'll laugh.

You just get better with age. You learn yourself and the league. I'm starting to understand more about hitting every year.

I felt I was good in basketball but I wasn't a blue-chip prospect.

I miss basketball every now and then.

As a first baseman, hitting home runs is what's expected of me. But I don't really try to hit home runs.

It's not like I'm an introvert. You get to know me, I can have a conversation with you. But in front of the media, I'm probably more of a quiet guy.

Defense is something I take pride in. I feel it's just as important as offense. They should have RBIs for defensive plays.

I want to be on that team that wins the world championship here in Chicago and sees the city go crazy.

Sometimes it's more fun to compete with your friends, because you can talk a little trash with them.

If they watch me play, people will say I'm not into it or whatever. That's okay. I kind of like it. People don't know how much work I'm putting into it. They don't need to know.

When does it stop? He hasn't been caught so where is the story? People have been 'alleging' him forever. Leave the man alone.

As of right now, I haven't talked about it. If it comes up, yeah, I think it needs to be done before the season. I don't really want that burden of thought. I want to concentrate on the game.

At least one guy gets to go home and say he got a hit off Roger Clemens.

It's easy to take a team like South Africa lightly because we didn't know anything about them. But we didn't and we played well today.

It looked like he was going to have a 1-2-3 inning. That was impressive. The first inning, he was leaving a lot of pitches up. He settled down after that.

I'm telling you, it was horrible. I told my agent if we lose, I'm moving out of the country.

I heard that they would talk in the spring, but that's about it. I think my future is here. I like it here. I want to win here. I see myself being here, but a lot of it is out of my control. If it works out, great, but it's out of my control.

I didn't know how I would feel at the plate, but I felt pretty comfortable.

I don't see why not. At minimum, you're going to play four, five innings per game, so you're going to get your two or three at-bats. It's pretty much the same thing you do here. Work out in the morning and get your at-bats during the game.