Cubs Week in Quotations 06-06 to 06-12

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels "Henry was good. He said he will slap me." - Carlos Zambrano, on Henry Blanco coming out to talk to him after walking the first 3 batters in Sundayís game versus the Padres Not Settling for Second Best "It's early, but we don't want the Wild Card. We want to win the division. We will win the division. That's our goal." - Carlos Zambrano laying the smackdown Not That There's Anything Wrong with that... "He's a beauty." Jeromy Burnitz, on Carlos Zambrano Hot, Hot, Hot!!! "I'm feeling hot. You can see the team and everybody getting hot. It looks like 'D-Lee' woke up everybody. He was carrying the team at the beginning. I see that, I see 'D-Lee' play like that, how he's playing, how he's hitting. Let's fight for the team. We have a pretty good team, we have hitters, we have pitching. We'll do anything to win as many games as possible to catch St. Louis." - Carlos Zambrano Just Win Baby! "Everybody talks about having fun. 'Oh, let's go out and have fun.' I never understood that. Never. You have fun when you put together some wins. That's what we've done, and it's been a good time." -Jeromy Burnitz Hearing Voices "I heard a couple yells to go to second. I thought we had him -- I should've put a little more on it to make a more accurate throw. It ended up we didn't get him at first either." -John Koronka, on his ill-advised throw to try and nail the lead runner on a sacrifice bunt You Know, We've Been Saying That All Along "Neifi's been unbelievable all year, In that leadoff spot or No. 2 spot, he's been on base the whole time. He makes the plays, he's won a Gold Glove. The way he's swinging the bat, he's an All-Star right now." - Derrek Lee Campaigning "There should be a Cubs shortstop there, and it's the guy who's playing there right now. He's been unbelievable. He definitely deserves it." -Nomar Garciaparra Thereís No Such Thing as Bad LuckÖÖBut Just to Be Clear! "Not to me, it wasn't all black. It was black and white. I was thinking, 'Where did he come from? Does he live here?' [Omens] don't mean nothing to me." -Dusty Baker, on the cat that ran across the field during Wednesdayís game Is There Such A Thing as a Smart Mental Error? "I made a stupid mental error, I've maybe done it twice in my career. And unfortunately, [with tonight's situation], we end up losing. -Will Ohman, on not covering first properly in Tuesday's loss to the Blue Jays Preparing for The Future "You can't get enough pitching, but our plan was to get the best available guy. We're realistic in knowing it's a certain period of time to the big leagues. In the farm system, you want as many talented players as you can. We generally take the best available talent." -John Stockstill, Cubs Scouting Director, on the Cubs draft straregy At Least Someone is Noticing "What I've noticed is that he's leading the league in complete games and averaging under 100 pitches during his games. Maybe we can pay attention, especially some of the younger guys, on how to minimize your pitches." -Dusty Baker, on Roy Halladay's efficient pitching method Has He Seen The Light? "I tried to take what had been working on on the side and take it out there. Just trying to keep it a little more smooth. Sometimes, depending on the situation in a game, you want to try to do a little more and end up jumping. I'm trying to keep everything the same, regardless of the situation in the game. -Kerry Wood, on trying to steady his mechanics Thievery "They just have to have a little more larceny in their veins and cause a little more havoc. Just utilize their speed because they have the green light most of the time. It's a matter of letting your ability take charge and be a little more daring.'' -Dusty Baker, on Jerry Hairston and Corey Patterson stealing more bases Death By Speed "You are going to make some mistakes, but speed kills and creates mistakes. This is what I want them to do.'' -Dusty Baker It's Too High, It's Too High "I hit it in the wind. I hit it high enough for the wind to blow it far enough." -Greg Maddux on his Friday homer Back to the Bench, Dubois "I believe in 'Holly. It's a matter of him believing in himself. He has the skills. He can run, he can throw, he has power, he can hit. The last few games, he's starting to wake up and starting to swing the bat well again. -Dusty Baker But You Make It Look So Easy "[Red Sox catcher Jason] Varitek, he knows how I think. For example, when I hit a curveball to left field my first at-bat, he knows I eliminate that pitch and start looking for other pitches. So my next at-bat, first pitch, curveball. It makes it difficult." -Todd Walker, after Saturday's game We Never Doubted You For A Minute....Well Okay Maybe a Minute "I thought it was just a matter of time before we meshed." -Todd Hollandsworth