Manny Acta Quotations

We're going to play to win, but as managers we also have the responsibility to have these guys ready for the regular season.

We have so many stars that the toughest part is getting our roster down to 30 players.

There are no favorites in baseball. You can do it in basketball or hockey or any other sport, but in baseball there are no favorites. Our country expects a winning team and we are OK with that. We are going to go round-by-round, but we don't want to let our country down.

We're anxious to face Cuba. We've never played them before in this type of competition.

The Expos have always been a perfect fit for him. In Montreal he can walk down a street or take a subway and no one will bother him, and he likes that. But who knows about next year? Everyone is too focused on what's going on with the rest of this season to think about what's going to happen after it.

There is a window in that we'll have big 27 show up for the next round. It's not etched in stone yet, but it's almost money in the bank and we're pretty excited about it.

We have a responsibility to get these guys ready for the regular season. We are doing pretty much what they do in Spring Training like fundamentals and extra work. We owe it to them and to the organizations that allowed these guys to play.

We had a window up until yesterday and it's just been shut. We support his decision, stand behind him - family comes first. And we're going to have to move on with what we have.

Nobody said it was going to be easy. But you can lose one game in the second round and still advance.

I don't know Soriano as an outfielder. He is here to play second base.

I believe this is the biggest recognition I'm going to get for the rest of my life in my country. Coming from a country with so many good players and so many coaches and being chosen to do this, nothing will match this.

I believe that part of what the World Classic did was remind people that baseball talent comes from all over the world. There are a lot of people playing this game.

I have a gut feeling he's going to pitch.

I don't want the word patriotism being brought up over here because of these guys being professional and (some) other teams are not. Because when you have $100 million in the bank and a contract and you leave everything and take a chance and come over here and play for your country, if that isn't patriotism, I don't know what it is.

He's become the face of a big part of the United States, a big part of the New England fan base and he deserves it. He's a pro on and off the field, a very likeable guy, and he's true. He's legit. He's not faking anything for a long time now, and he deserves everything he's got right now.

He'll probably pitch as much as he would if he was in Spring Training.

We're pretty excited. He's a guy that is really hurting right now because he's not here.

We lost our bona fide closer and our No. 1 guy.

We made the decision it's the best thing for us. He's dying because he wanted to participate so bad, but unfortunately he won't be able to do it.

Knowing Pedro, he doesn't want to participate just to participate.

I would start spring training a week earlier so the players would get five or six exhibition games in before starting.

I think it's going to be a terrific atmosphere. The four teams here are going to have good baseball.

I think we could play a lot better than what we played. I think we should have scored at least 12 runs.

I think we can play a lot better. I think we could have scored at least 12 runs. We didn't do the things we were supposed to do.

It is a sign of what we can do.

Our guys take it very serious and show a lot of pride in this kind of stuff.

I think our pitching was great. Actually things kind of flip-flopped a little bit. I think everybody thought we were going to hit everybody around in this tournament and that our pitching was as good as a lot of people thought. Our pitching did a very good job, and we just fell short. It wasn't lack of pitching at all.

I think everybody in baseball knew, even before the All-Star break last year, that we were going to play this Baseball Classic, and everybody that had the desire to play prepared themselves to play for this tournament. Yes, they didn't have 100 at-bats or whatever before this, but we got all the way to the seventh game. We played two rounds, the guys saw enough pitches, they had enough at-bats. There are no excuses.

Just because he's tied for the league lead, that doesn't mean you can't run on him. So what are you going to do? He made a good throw. You gave to give credit to him.

Manny is sure. He was one of the first to sign the papers last year.

Most of the players here were not involved in the Caribbean Series. That was something that basically the fans were the ones that were really involved in that, took it personal. We were going to try to beat whoever we faced, whether they speak English, Spanish or Italian.

Willie has made it clear that the job is out there for the taking.

We really went at it hard like professionals. They deserve the credit. I'd rather give them credit than make excuses.

We have big stars in our country, and it's tough to trim our roster. There are lots of expectations around our club. I think we're going to fulfill them.

We definitely know he's not going to be available for the first round. The priority is that he's healthy first. He does want to participate, and we do want him to participate.

This will be a game watched by every Dominican soul, the 8 million we have on the island and all the others spread around the world.

We're the ones who are supposed to hit everybody around, but Venezuela didn't let us do that. We showed our hearts, and we are very happy to be in the finals.

You have to give all the credit to their pitching, which held our offense to only one run. They just flat-out outplayed us.

We will using the line up that you saw out there today. It's not time to make big changes. That line up won the last to games for us.

We felt relieved. These guys are professional. They've been playing in the big leagues for years and they're used to ups and downs.

Everybody who had the desire to play prepared themselves for this tournament. Our guys saw enough pitches. They had enough at-bats. No excuses.

There's still a lot of baseball left in Sosa, he's only had one bad year and has a lot to offer the Dominican team.

They always say the most important pitch in baseball is Strike 1. It's even more important now.

Back at home, everybody always thought that David was going to be big time. When he was in Minnesota, a lot of people thought that he was going to be a productive hitter there. But he's moved on to a bigger market and he's done what he's done, and he deserves everything that he's getting.

(The WBC) is going to be every four years, but I don't know if in four years we'll be able to put together a team like we have right now. This is a pretty special group.

This park brings back good and bad memories. We fell short, but it was good to make it here. Our expectations were very high because of the team we had, but I also understood that in baseball you never know because it's a very short tournament and anything can happen. I still think when you look at the size of the country where we come from and the number of players we have, we have the best athletes.

This is the real kind of Caribbean World Series, especially having Cuba in there.

It's a shame, but Pedro won't pitch in the Classic. I met with Pedro to talk about this; he did everything he could, and he was ready to join the team later in the competition, but his injury delayed his preparations.

It's a short tournament and we have to stay humble about it. It's baseball and anything can happen. We feel very good about the group we got here. We actually have the group we wanted and they seem to have the special love to play for their country.

It was full of blood. He only had about 10 more pitches before he was done, so we made the change. We appreciate his effort.

It was an awesome experience. I would go again tomorrow.

It's over, the second round, we went through it, and I feel fantastic because most of the guys now are in playing shape. The pitchers have been able to go out there more than once, and the hitters had enough at-bats, so I'm happy for the guys.

Daniel deserves all the credit. We had several scoring opportunities to break the game open. We didn't do it but our pitching staff came through.

It's nice to have depth, and that's what we have.

It took me by surprise that a team with such tradition as the Dodgers would consider me. I'm going with an open mind as if the job was mine. The Dodgers are equal to baseball, so I feel proud to be considered to be their manager.

I'm very happy with the performance of the guys here. And everybody had a chance to play.

I had a blast. It was very intense and every game was a must-win game. I would do it again if asked and almost every player I have talked to from different nations would come back again. It was terrific chemistry and I'm thankful I got the opportunity.

If you're going to get hurt, you're going to get hurt, whether you're in spring training or the World Baseball Classic. But I want everybody to understand, we're not going out there only trying to win and forgetting about our players. We have a responsibility to the organizations that are allowing the players to play, and we're also going to try to get them ready for the regular season.

If you're looking for the best players at this time, you can be sure to find them on the Dominican team.

I looked at the scoreboard at the end of the game. We weren't going to win, 1-0. They flat-out outplayed us, and you have to give all the credit to Vazquez for holding down this offense.

Cabrera just stepped up and did a great job.

I don't think that, with the level of competition of every team, you need to have your 'A' team out there for nine innings every day.

I am worried about the health of our best starters, but they have the desire to play and that makes me happy.

I can see why they are dominating international competition.

The kid has shown that he's not intimidated at all. He's got terrific stuff. I think he can go against any lineup in this tournament.

The good thing is that in every game we had a different hero, so different people contributed to those different wins. I hope that Alfonso Soriano and Miguel Tejada wake up for the next round and they contribute more.

The crowd did help us. We have a big Dominican community here. But I think the game was so good, the players weren't even paying attention to the fans. They were focused on the game.

All of those guys were supposed to come over here with him and I think that's one of the reasons he doesn't want to come. It would remind him.