Tony Russa Quotations | Page 3

So far, it looks like a smart move. When you pick up a catcher in the middle of his 20s like that, we may have something there.

I'm pleased he's here early. I think we have a real advantage with Jose (being) a very good infield instructor.

I'm just excited that both of the guys are playing well. That's the best part about second base. The thing about Luna is he's got so much versatility. He can play in the outfield tomorrow if we really want him to.

I haven't checked with Juan. I don't know why he wouldn't arrive tomorrow.

If Wally gets excited and gives him an inch, ... it's going to be two or three inches.

If you're a scout and you see a guy who can swing like that you say, 'this is a guy with tools. But it's a real difficult thing to jump into.

If you look at last year, we had Scott playing and he had some really big hits, but overall he was really banged up, he wasn't the same the last two months, ... This year we lost four regulars, three of them are boppers, and the guys that took their place did a terrific job of handling the bat, so we played a little different game.

If you could look ahead knowing those key guys would miss so much time, you'd really stretch to think you could pull it off.

In the eighth inning, we missed our location three times, twice when we were ahead in the count. We almost caught a break -- Cabrera's ball was tagged, but it fooled Walker. That would have been an important break to catch. Matt got the ball up with a 1-2 count, and the pitch that Delgado tripled on wasn't where Ray was trying to throw it. Against good clubs in key situations, either you do or you don't, and if you don't, you get penalized most of the time.

I'll say exactly what I said last year: It's one; it's not zero. I think we'll take the consistent approach.

I know him to be a really quality baseball man. I'll guarantee you, he knows the game.

I know it sounds like bull, but I don't care. If you get in, you've got as good a shot as anybody, five games or seven games. It's that kind of a tournament.

I haven't seen anyone in camp I would hesitate to use in a spring training game. Everyone is working hard.

If you throw the ball down the middle, they can hit one through the wind, which they've done a couple times both games.

If you return a lot of the strong nucleus, year to year, for two or three years, I think that'd be an exception. There's too many free agents, there are times money forces you to make decisions to not tender (contracts to) guys who all of a sudden become too expensive. You're trying to prioritize how to spend your money, and everybody faces it.

I guess they don't want it to flare up. (But) everything's a big deal. You don't want it to catch you by surprise.

I just talked to Scott about his first at-bat, and he's not just going to take. If David gets on second base, he'll go to right field.

(Clemens) is tough enough to hit when it's over the plate and if he starts getting a big plate, that's going to be tough for us. I know in our ballpark, both Tim (McClelland) and Greg (Gibson), and I think Wally will, too, will call a good game and not get excited about the home crowd. You always worry when a guy has good command that he can get somebody excited.

He's shown that he can pitch in difficult situations without it affecting him.

He's searching. He wants to hit. He believes he can hit. It bothers him when he doesn't hit. But he can separate the game in a classic way, and that says a lot about him.

He's sore, got some sore areas. The idea is not to push him. We'll see how he feels. If he needs (rest), he gets it.

Changing the makeup of your club, that's just routine with free agency and stuff.

But you separate it because it's not the most important thing, just the hardest. The reason you want to win the division is so you can play in October, get to and win the World Series. That's a different kind of challenge.

He took it like a pro. He's a teammate isn't he? It's not the same, but he went out and competed the same.

He throws strikes, has three pitches -- and his three pitches are major league caliber.

He's an excellent player. We've seen that. He's been exceptional defensively. He had a tough stretch before the break but he's been outstanding. The knee slowed him down some for a while, but he's healthy.

He's anxious to get out there, but I think if he gets out there he could go backward. We'll just keep moving forward until he gets the green light. If he's cleared to play, he'll play.

He's anxious, he's straining to get out there, and we think if he gets out there he's going to go backwards and hurt himself. We're just trying to give him a little more work and see how he responds.

I categorically refuse to accept anything that Jose says about Mark.

I count that as a quality start. Sometimes you can abuse the stats. Our team won the game, when's the last time the Cardinals lost when he started? That's a better stat.

I don't think the pitch to Ensberg was all that bad. I didn't see the replay. He had good enough stuff. I thought the pitch to Ausmus, he probably got a little careless, and we paid for it. He retired six guys. He had good enough stuff to do it, he just didn't get it done.

I don't think he had a meaningless RBI,

I don't think anybody really remembers getting on that plane,

I believe Major League Baseball is here in force. I know what they tell us about certain latitudes you get in postseason play because you're supposed to be emotional and try and win this.

I believe Major League Baseball is here in force, ... I know what they tell us about certain latitudes you get in postseason play because you're supposed to be emotional and try and win this.

He's made some improvement, ... With all the treatment, he's got some relief. He's not as sore as he was yesterday, so that's a good sign. But I don't think anybody told me that means he can throw off the mound on a particular day. But I know he has improved.

He's improving, more and more, but there's no definite date yet.

I called up to the press box, because for a while I didn't see anybody there. I thought somebody was having a cookout, but we don't allow that, do we?

I don't necessarily think you can separate the two. When you come into a game with a big lead, absolutely the worst thing you can do is to walk guys. That's the only time I'd yell from the dugout - whey they walked somebody. So when you get behind a hitter in that situation, it's more likely a ball catches too much plate.

I don't necessarily think you can separate the two, ... When you come into a game with a big lead, absolutely the worst thing you can do is to walk guys. That's the only time I'd yell from the dugout - whey they walked somebody. So when you get behind a hitter in that situation, it's more likely a ball catches too much plate.

He pitched the game he was capable of, but we actually had three, four, five chances with some of our best RBI guys, and he made pitches, ... So take your hat off to him. He pitched very well. We had our chances.

He pitched outstanding, and as long as this game is played, when a pitcher out there is pitching that way, you're not going to do much.

He pitched nine innings against a tough offensive club -- that's dominating. He had a 2-0 pitch to a terrific hitter and he hit the ball out of the state. But that's the last run they got. That's outstanding pitching. No disrespect to anybody in either league who's doing great, but there's nobody greater than Chris. He's clutch.

You can't have an outstanding bullpen without an outstanding closer, unless one of those guys in your legitimate bullpen becomes a closer. You build it around your closer.

This is one where you'll be lost for words. No thoughts, no description of the game. ... I'm at a loss to describe it, man. There's a new memory for new Busch. ... It'll be tough to top that one.

The guy who doesn't go into the rotation is going to have a tough pill to swallow. All five guys are very competitive and very proud off their contributions. It's going to be tough to take.

The impressive thing is he was able to maintain that level of concentration and competitiveness. Most guys, even if you're great, you have a dip once in a while. Every day he pitched it was like the same pitcher.

The doctor said it was like a train wreck. He didn't break anything, but he was bruised all over.

A lot will depend on what's Matt's opportunity. He may find a better opportunity, more money somewhere else. I don't want to drop a guilt trip on him. We'd like to have him back, but can we afford him?

A lot will depend on what's Matt's opportunity, ... He may find a better opportunity, more money somewhere else. I don't want to drop a guilt trip on him. We'd like to have him back, but can we afford him?

A guy like that, could he do enough to be the dominant player at the position? Depends on what kind of offensive player he becomes. He's got a live bat. He could hit 15, 20 home runs if he played every day. He's just got to find a way to do it.

You've got to make a commitment to playing the game that way, ... That doesn't just happen. That's the way our guys play the game.

The early indications were that we might lose him for a couple of weeks. But the antibotics seem to be working.

The Cubs have played us so tough all year, ... We had (Greg) Maddux going against us so we knew it would be a hellacious ballgame and it was.