Tony Russa Guy Quotations

He just didn't have it. I just don't think that it's a good idea to pat a guy on the back for getting to the sixth inning when he was ineffective for three innings. ... He's capable of so much better than that.

My whole concentration on the game is affected by a pitch that got away. You know, that looks so terrible. The guy is a great pro. I just talked to Julian in there for a long time. Nothing against him, as soon as he fell out of his delivery...the ball has to get down. He's a sinker ball pitcher. That incident screws up the whole night for me.

We have one of the game's best closers but he was fresh and we didn't feel like we were pushing him at all. I don't care how great Izzy is, if I'm on the other side they may think they've got a better chance when the other guy comes out, because Carpenter's just dealing.

When you're playing this game, at some point the players are going to look at you and say, 'Aren't you trying as hard as we are?' You're the guy who has to step up and say it,

When you face a guy who's been such a great teammate, and we have experienced so much together, it makes it a lot more personal. We know him, he knows us. It's definitely a different type of game.

When you go against a guy like Greg Maddux or a Roger Clemens, I don't care if it's a regular season game, is a guy with that kind of command and if he starts getting an edge he pushes and pushes it so it's up to whoever the umpire is,

There's a way to win when the other guy is pitching good against you. You've got to pitch and defend well against them. We didn't defend that well today, either.

For a guy who is supposed to be very tough, he's got a lot of cupcake in him. I saw him in an afternoon game in Cincinnati and he had his full beard on, but his wife didn't like it so he shaved it. He's macho with an asterisk.

It's not the way you'd like to set it up, where all of a sudden a guy who has pitched well as a starter, you make him a reliever,

It's not the way you'd like to set it up, to all of a sudden take a guy who has pitched well as a starter and make him a reliever,

It's not the way you'd like to set it up. All of a sudden you take a guy who has pitched well as a starter (Marquis) and make him a reliever. But you've got to do what you've got to do,

It makes it a lot more personal, ... I mean, whoever you're facing, you know professionally what's at stake. But when you face a guy who's been such a great teammate, we have experienced so much together, it makes it a lot more personal.

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.

(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.

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.

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.