The Managers Speak - Part II
Wednesday's Managerial Comments...
Bud Black - San Diego PadresQ. With all the discussion about
Greg Maddux, can you sort of express how you feel about the prospect of him coming aboard.
BUD BLACK: Well, obviously we're extremely excited to have him on the team. You know, what he brings, not only as a talented pitcher but who he is as a teammate, what he's done historically as a pitcher, what he's going to do as a teammate, you know, his influence will be very, very impactful.
Ron Washington - Texas RangersQ. In a sentence or two, what did John Hart teach you about baseball?
RON WASHINGTON: He taught me about showing up every day ready to go, just coming up to the finish line. He was an upbeat guy. He was very positive. He made you feel good about yourself, and he certainly made me feel good about myself, which he didn't have to do because I already felt good about myself, but he did because I walked in the clubhouse and I saw a lineup card and the only name pencilled in there was Washington. How do you think that will make you feel.
Grady Little - Los Angeles DodgersQ. I know you said you had not reached a deal yet with Schmidt but you played against him last year in the same division. What kind of skills make him such a dominant pitcher?
GRADY LITTLE: Well, it seemed like every time we picked up the paper and saw that he was going to be pitching in our series, it wasn't really a pitcher we were looking forward to facing. You know that when you took the field against a guy like that, that he's going to be out there for a long time and you go into it in the frame of mind you want to try to keep the games close until he gets tired, try to get the next guy.
Bobby Cox - Atlanta BravesQ. How important is it knowing that Hampton should be back and ready to go?
BOBBY COX: A lot. Hampton's a quality starter. He's still young and he's got a new arm and we saw him throw in the instructional league. He came out after one and two-thirds, didn't face the last hitter, he popped an adhesion, so you know, it was nothing -- it is normal they tell me, very normal. So he got that sort of out of his system ahead of the ballgame.
Lou Piniella - Chicago CubsQ. How much input do you give Jim on players you would like to see or you let him handle that?
LOU PINIELLA: I have input, but, you know, I'm from the school where few minds are much better than one. And I'm also from the school where I've got two ears and one mouth, so I'd rather listen than talk too much. But if I'm asked, I'll give input, yeah. We've got really good scouts in the organization, they've got opinions, and rightfully so Jim's got a good background in baseball and he is an aggressive guy. A fun guy. He reminds me a little bit of Robin Williams, the way he cracks jokes all the time, makes me laugh. But I will tell you what, he is getting after it and I'm appreciative of that because, you know, I was told when I came here that there is urgency to win and believe me, they are showing that commitment.
Ron Gardenhire - Minnesota TwinsQ. Besides Rondell, how many other free agent options are there out there for you right now?
RON GARDENHIRE: Well, not that many. I mean, I have a seen the numbers that are flying around. We are not in that market so -- but as it goes along it is going to calm down we think a little bit and there's going to be chances and trade possibilities, everybody is talking about them. There's lots of options out there but we signed Rondell, then that knocks off one thing we have to worry about.
Jim Leyland - Detroit TigersQ. How do you stop the championship hangover? A lot of teams have had it.
JIM LEYLAND: I think starting in Spring Training and making them aware of it, and not hiding the fact if you get too cool and too relaxed and too blase about what we've done and who we are, that's not what the Tigers are all about. We're about it's over with, this is what we did. We celebrated. The celebration is over, now it's time to go back. The one thing we've got going for us, which I really like, is we've got some players coming up on that time in their career where they got a chance to get their pot of gold, and I love stuff like that because they're going to be hungry if they're smart.
