Rod Barajas Quotations

Whenever you play teams fighting for the playoffs, good quality teams, you want to try to win series, and we were able to do that here,

I'm a professional baseball player. Nothing that happens during a game is going to take me away from doing my job.

From what I've seen him throw, and talking to other guys who have faced him the last couple of years, he's back to the level he was with Florida. He looks incredible. He definitely could help us in the pen.

I think . . . we started from way behind. Slowly, gradually, it is starting to get there. With the job that (Mets GM) Omar Minaya's doing, and other guys that are coming up, I think it's going to open up more doors for Latin guys and African-Americans in the front office.

That was the first time that coming out of his hand almost every pitch looked like a strike and then the ball would move. It was very promising.

That's the most life I've seen in El Duque's fastball, but he seemed to lose it after 100 pitches.

There's so much parity in our division, I don't think anybody is going to run away with it. Even though we're not playing our best baseball, we're staying close. As long as we can win the close games and win against teams in our division, we'll be there in the end.

Right now, we have to throw more fastballs and changeups on the verge of a walk, and that's not where we want to be. We want to be where, if we're behind in the count, we have the confidence to throw the knuckleball for a strike and not have to give in.

R.A. is the kind of person who will battle through it if there are bumps in the road. He has set his mind on making it with the knuckleball, and he has already come a long way with it. You have to admire what he is doing and how he is doing it.

The young pitchers have struggled some, but they need to go out there and establish themselves. If you want to be around next year, you have to go out and pitch. That's the bottom line. I hope we continue doing that and these guys develop into quality guys on our staff.

They're quality guys with quality arms. They're guys who have been around for a while and have been successful. They're winners. That kind of experience is nice to have.

At least by that time, I should have all the names and faces memorized. I'm here early every morning. I'll shake a lot of hands.

It's a quality pitch. I had a hard time catching it, and that's a good sign. When a catcher struggles trying to hold on to the knuckleball, that's what you want. That's tells you it's a good pitch.

It's tough. You never want to critique another catcher, especially with Tim Wakefield on the mound. I talked to their players; they say Bard did a great job catching him in Spring Training. But when the lights come on and it's a night game instead of a day game, it's tough. It's the hardest job in baseball.

It's great to set records. We have a team that hits from top to bottom. For me to be the guy to set that record, I'm excited.

It was huge. We've felt like we've played better than our record indicates on this road trip, and to come back and win a game like this, it's a big boost.

I just want him to enjoy it. You never know if he's going to face him again. You don't want to put too much into it, you just let his natural ability take off.

I just change my whole approach. My stance is completely different. I go down almost on one knee and turn my body almost sideways so I have more time and I can catch the ball deeper. It's a matter of finding something you can feel comfortable with. You want to be relaxed and be able to move your glove quickly from side to side.

I just remember my finger bleeding because he throws such a heavy ball. He absolutely battered my hand. Not too many guys can do that much damage. My finger would just crack because the ball would just pound in there.

Chris was outstanding. His curveball wasn't there, but he had his changeup working and he was working his fastball to both sides of the plate. That's the key to him, having two pitches and using them effectively.