Mike Redmond Quotations

Obviously, anytime you get beat and go 0-9 against teams in your own division, sure, those things hurt. We just haven't played that well. Do we still play them 16 more times each? Yeah. So who's to say we can't win 12 or 13 from each of those teams. We could do that, too. That's what's great about playing teams in your division so many times.

Nobody was enjoying those types of conditions. It's just not fun playing baseball when it's 100 degrees out. It's just miserable. You have to suck it up. It shows what your team is made of when you play in tough conditions. Our team has a lot of character.

If I was out there, that is where I would play me. That's how I play. I don't pull the ball. I just hit it pretty well this time.

He doesn't know many guys. Signs, philosophies, everything is completely different to him. ... But Luis is one of those guys who plays on instincts. He's got a lot of talent, so he'll be fine.

Guys are being respectful of the situation, how tough it is for everybody, the organization, our fans, T.K., everybody. You've got to respect that. You respect that as long as it takes.

He's a great kid. He works his butt off. He's hungry.

I saw more guys shaking their heads going to the dugout than I'd ever seen before. The thing about Alex Gonzalez is, he has the ability to make the tough play look routine.

I think he's been tremendous. He's everything that everyone built him up to be. He's got a chance to be a great player in this league for a long time. Hopefully, I can play behind him for a number of years.

I think he's already one of the best ? if not the best ? catchers in all of baseball. He's going to continue to improve. People talk about power and hitting enough home runs. It takes awhile to adjust to the pitching. He's a contact hitter. He's not a free swinger.

I'm serious. I've been behind the plate when it's happened.

That was probably the best double-play combination in baseball.

We're all right. We worked it out. Just a little difference of opinion.

You know, he was pumped when I just walked over to him. That was pretty neat. It puts things into perspective as a baseball player.

We needed something to get us over the hump.

The only thing that's keeping him from winning a Gold Glove is he doesn't hit .300. Ask the pitchers how important defense is to them. Shortstop is such an important position. There's so many different plays. They're involved in everything.

When you get late in the season, you need guys to step up and get big hits. That's his job.

I've preached to a lot of guys in here about playing and finishing strong. Sure, it's a little frustrating for myself to not be able to finish.

I've played through it, but it just got to the point where that was it. I couldn't basically run. I feel good about doing everything I could. I battled through a majority of the season, especially the last two weeks.

Sometimes I laugh when we talk. I'm 13 years older than he is. He's got a great grasp for what's going on out there. I don't think I've ever talked to a 22-year-old kid with as much of a good idea as he has.

You've got to suck it up. It shows you what our team's made of. This team has a lot of character. We're not going to give up.

You're not really focused on necessarily getting guys out more than you are trying to execute some pitches. Most of the time, we have in our plan just trying to get ahead with our fastball and mix in some breaking balls.

This is probably the most painful thing I've been through.

It's kind of always an uncomfortable catch because you can't really consistently expect the ball to be in the same spot. Every pitch does something different. You know it's coming, but you've got to be ready for anything.

I like the feel of our team, man. All the guys have just fit in great and are great guys. I'm excited, I really am. With our pitching and mix of guys we have, I think we're in good shape.

I'm like, did I just see that? ... I jumped up and said, 'Great job! But don't ever do that again!' Deep down, I was going, 'Man, that's impressive. A spring training game and this guy's going all out.'

I preached to a lot of guys in here about playing and finishing strong. It's frustrating for myself to not be able to finish, but I know it's an injury I've had for quite a bit of the season and have played through it. It got to the point where I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't.

Hey, it can happen. Who's to say that if we string a group of 10, 11, 12 wins in a row we can't make up this ground? This is what you want.

I'd say that's a pretty routine play for him.

I am truly honored because I know, obviously, what Bob meant to the Twins. I always told myself, when I put a uniform on for the first time in 1998, that I'm going to give everything I have.