Jim Tracy Quotations | Page 3

You make bad pitches to Major League hitters, they put the fat part of the bat on the ball. When you are involved in games like that, regardless of what stages it's at, you don't have the luxury of making a mistake and not feeling like it's going to cost you. It is.

We'd like to get together at some point.

There are a lot of little things that you definitely have to understand -- not only as an individual but as a group -- to get it done,

We have a lot of different things to sort out, ... He's got a lot of different things to work out.

We obviously came to a point in Los Angeles where there was a difference of opinion between Paul and I as far as how players are evaluated.

Who will step up? That's the question. And how consistently can we work the process?

This whole weekend shows how great a sports town Pittsburgh is. The people here really care about these teams.

We're not quitting, that's for sure. We've been in every single game and we've had a chance to win every single game.

You have to be prepared for something like this to take place with one of your players. As I said many times during Spring Training, always be asking yourself the what-if question. Craig Wilson looms very large right now.

To see if there is any benefit to a four-man rotation, ... You'd consider it.

With a young kid you can't take everything you've got and fire it at him, ... You'll short-circuit the guy.

There are a lot of very special people who are still there. You build relationships with people in this game, and some you build lifelong relationships with. There are a few over there I have done that with.

When you face a pitcher the caliber of Chris Carpenter, you only get one opportunity like that.

When you have somebody who has his type of energy, who brings that to the table like he does, the potential is there to strike quickly like that.

the (player) personnel factor and the evaluation of those players.

We were talking about four different people as possibilities for one spot in the rotation. It makes that situation that much more intriguing in my opinion.

We've got to find opportunities for them. I don't want to see either of them sit for any period of time and not participate. We can't let these guys sit for days on end and then ask them to do something special in the seventh or eighth inning.

With everything we had going on (Wednesday), I didn't want to overdo it because I'm a firm believer that too much information too quickly can short-circuit people. We took it very slowly and made sure everything was understood.

With our cut-down (Tuesday), we are getting closer and closer to what some things are supposed to look like. The tone of the games now in spring training has changed a little bit due to the fact that some of the regular guys are staying around a little bit longer.

When the first pitch of the game gets thrown, we've got four games to try to win. I'm certainly interested in doing that now that I am sitting in this office.

We've played five games and we've had chances to win all five. I'm proud of the club. We did everything we could to get back in it tonight.

We had something going on in the fifth, it looked like we had a chance to get back in the game, but they cut the inning off. We took some good at-bats off him, we created some opportunity for ourselves ... but from watching him, he's got a crisp fastball and his breaking ball also is very sharp.

Two perfect pitches to bunt -- they are fouled off and we left our guys stranded. (Chicago) created a two-out situation and got a base hit that scored a run. It's huge.

First and foremost, you aren't going to win many games in this or any ballpark with one run. We get six hits from three people, and that won't make it at any park.

Exposure is the best teacher, ... It doesn't always work out the way you want it to, but with time and exposure, they grow.

Both plays were close. It was a run we didn't get and a run they did get. But you don't point fingers.

Both passed the test. That's good. We don't have to make a decision today and the decision we do make won't be an easy one. That's what you're always hoping for, tough decisions.

We need to get him back to where he is completely functional, rather than seeing parts of him here and there.

We need to speed him up with his at-bats. He needs to catch up a little bit. But we can get him to 45 or 50 at-bats very easily.

You better believe he's having a terrific spring. He has a chance to be a real player at the major-league level.

You can nitpick all you want, but one run isn't going to get it done. We played hard. There was no lack of effort. We needed a timely hit. We weren't able to get it done.

We've had a few like this. The record may suggest differently, but when you look at the games we've played, we've had our fair share of games like this.

We'll just see where he's at physically. If he gets to the point where he's physically able to pitch, yeah, there's some benefit to getting him out there before the season ends. Absolutely, there is.

Tonight was, in my opinion, dramatically better than what we saw in Florida. In Florida, he battled, but his fastball command was erratic. Tonight, it was crisp, it was good to both sides of the plate. It's a big step forward for him.

To me, he's one of the game's best pitching coaches in the National or American leagues. He has not only the ability to teach the physical aspects of the game, but also the ability to communicate with his pitchers.

There does come a point in time where reality sets in.

We've never quit. We just need to come back here tomorrow and try to turn this thing around.

We have a decision to make. I have no interest in pursuing anything unless after the out clause is exercised.

We had three two-out base hits to score runs. You hope it's the start of something.

Those three left-handers -- their mission on any given day, when they're going really, really good, will not be to strike out 12 or 13 guys. That's not the kind of pitchers they are.

This was a pretty good example of it.

We got a solid pitching performance. Unfortunately, we got two hits.

Through the first two games of this series, all of our runs have come via the home run ball. We were not able to, when we tried to get something going, sustain it offensively to put ourselves in a position where a base hit or a gapper could score a couple of runs for us.

We were pitched to death. It's the best game that's been pitched against us all year.

What takes place between the pitcher's mound and behind the plate is vitally important to the success of a major-league team. I think Ryan is realizing that more every day.

We got pitched to death. He dominated the game.

Very well deserved. What else would you ask Craig Wilson to do?

You feel like you've done the best you can do. The effort they've given me every day is noteworthy.

To summarize for you, both guys passed (Saturday). It doesn't make any decision over the next few days any easier. But that's what you hope for. When you're in a position where you have to make choices like this, they're not easy. It's a great problem to have.

We did a good job of coming back against a very good ballclub.

Both have very similar stuff, stuff that can beat you down on any given day. But you don't want guys with very similar stuff pitching on back-to-back days.

Both guys are going to catch in situations and games that make the most sense for them and the club.

Both are very competent kids and are smart enough to know what we're talking about. They'll figure it out.

Every time he comes up in a situational at-bat, the job gets done.

Every team needs people like that. It's not just what he does as a third base coach, and I happen to be believe he's very good at what he does. Having this guy as a buffer between my office and the clubhouse ... that's huge.

As the players get older, the problems become a little bit larger that you have to periodically deal with.

Did the starting pitcher give you a chance every fifth day to go out there and win? -- that's the biggest element I look at. (Santos) was pretty good at that last year.

Cory Sullivan had quite a day for himself today. Not only did he do the big thing with the leadoff double offensively in the 10th inning, but he made two outstanding defensive plays in center field and covered an awful lot of ground.

And we haven't lost any of those games.

Each and every time we creep back into the game, it's followed up by additional runs by the other side of the field. And when you're trying to play catch up, and it continues to go further and further away from you, you're trying to get back in the game three or four times a game that's tough to do.

Duke did a fine job. It was a quality start and he gave an opportunity for the club to win. I don't know how much more you can ask.

Duffy is an important piece at the top of our lineup. That's an ideal spot for him. When he gets on first base, he can be a very disruptive player as fast as he is.

Duckworth has kind of pitched his way into this picture, no question.

Each time we creep back into the game, it's followed up by additional runs from the other side of the field. When you're trying to get back into a game three or four times a day, that's tough to do.

First of all, I happen to think he was a pretty good player before he was selected to play for his country. I don't need to see him go play for Mexico to see that. But, absolutely, it can be a confidence-building experience.

There's no question about it. This is not the same club that we were playing a September ago when we were fighting to win a division championship. It's not even close.

There's no closer in baseball that's perfect, though we lost one (Gagne) who's as close to being one as there is. Brazoban has done a great job.

I started to fall in love with the game of baseball when my dad gave me my first set of baseball cards, ... I kept the ones I recognized. The guys I didn't were the ones I put in the spokes of my bicycle with clothes pins.

Is Oliver Perez important to us? And Kip Wells? Sure, they are. But we've got a whole clubhouse full of guys that are important to us.

Is he not a guy going into day one who is considered a Gold Glove candidate -- and a Gold Glove candidate that can go out there and get 200 base hits if he uses the whole field and hits intelligently with the situations that are in front of him?

Is he a candidate to have an opportunity to make the club? I don't know the answer to that. We'll take it a day at a time and see how he progresses from a health standpoint. If he comes along quicker, that obviously creates more options for us.

Is he a candidate? I'd have to say that would be yes. But likely? I wouldn't say that at all.

Things are going to be done differently than they've been done in the past, I can promise you that. And it's going to be different in a good way.

Think about the ... significance of ... how many at-bats he takes this year with men on base because the guy (Casey) hitting in front of him is going to be on base. There's going to be a number of times that he's going to come up to the plate with people on base and have the opportunity to either extend the inning, put a game away or extend leads. All those possibilities will be there.

I've never signed up for anything with the thought in mind that I wanted to be mediocre. I feel pretty good about it.

I've never seen Curt Schilling go out and start a game with the intention of hurting people. But if you start hitting people in the head... you need to be very careful of that.

It was wonderful to see them. They represented themselves extremely well. Timmy Hill should be very proud about the way his kids competed.

I've always felt that honesty is the best way to go. These guys aren't kids anymore. They are men. Sometimes you tell people some things, and they don't want to hear it. We've all been in that position. Deal with it. Here's what it is.

Sometimes it takes one at-bat in one game for the light to go on. You can accomplish a lot by doing what we were doing with Duffy today.

Personally, I don't know how he caught it.

Offensively, we did some great things. To get back in the game in the manner in which we did took some great at-bats.

No question there's a lot of pitching here. And we're keeping an open mind to everything we see.

No question in my mind. You are talking about people who have great baseball minds and are tireless workers.

No question, he's making a strong case for himself and everybody is paying very close attention to it. We see what's going on.

The one thing I noticed about this team while watching from the other dugout is that it swung and missed too much. The approach had to change collectively, in my opinion, as far as each and every guy approaches his at bats. You need a group of players that understand that in a given situation it's pretty important for them to try and put the ball in play, and not swing and miss.

A day like today -- that's something that happens even with an 'ace' of the staff.

Stranger things have happened in this game. But obviously we have to win a number of our remaining games and obviously we need some help. San Diego has to lose some games in a row and we have to capitalize on that.

Once we get to the point of a second opinion and finding out exactly where that's going to take us, that's obviously the next thing that we're waiting for. In the interim, there's no need to speculate on anything about it.

Colby has worked with him a lot. Oliver is being given information that can help him succeed as a major-league pitcher. Sometimes, the player has to take the information and make certain adjustments in order to be successful.

Coming out of Spring Training, I thought we'd score some runs. We've scored 20 runs in the last three days and haven't won a game.

DePodesta said Cruz's recent play compares favorably with his earlier years. His .783 on-base plus slugging percentage is higher than that of Dodgers starters Cesar Izturis, Jason Phillips, Jason Repko, Oscar Robles, Jose Valentin and Werth.

And then we'll go from there and start stretching him out.

As a two-hole hitter, this guy has the capability for doing great things for us offensively.

A very wonderful note, I might add. A very professionally done thing.

At some point in time you always face a little adversity. The good clubs overcome things like this.

Back in May, when the Padres went something like 22-6, they had a chance to slam the door, throw the lock around the handle and close it off for everybody else. And it didn't happen. So it's not a matter of anybody putting on any type of serious charge thus far, it's a matter of teams just winning some games here and there.

As long as he keeps his focus and continues to realize there is no real opportunity to be satisfied and he maintains that hunger, ... he could wind up being a real good pitcher in the Major Leagues.

As I've said, both guys are going to catch.

That's what you hope for. They both did exactly what I wanted them to do, probably what they wanted to do, too.

That's why you come to the ballpark every night.