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Cubs Week In Quotations
I Bet You Didn't Use the Term Base-Clogging Even Once
"We talk about it. On-base percentage. We've
been doing a better job. What can I say? Two of our new additions,
(Reed) Johnson and Fukudome, have done a nice job in that regard."
- Lou Piniella
"We're second in the league in runs scored to Arizona,
and to me, you score runs, you win. On-base percentage, hitting with
men in scoring position, left on base -- those are all byproducts of
how many runs you score."
- Lou Piniella
Moneyball was So 2003
"That'd be a great thing if that was contagious, because then we'd be
like the Oakland A's. The big thing there is on-base percentage. That
means you have a lot of chances to score a lot of runs and put pressure
on the other team consistently."
- Daryle Ward
Appreciating Our Moment In History
"I remember when we won 5,000. What an emotional day that was. We were so excited -- we realized we still had an uphill climb to 10,000."
- "Ninja" Ryan Dempster
"To be on the verge of that -- I've been here since the first one, and
to get to 10,000, it's a long, hard struggle, and I'm looking forward
to it."
- Ryan Dempster
"It's not about trophies. It's about wins."
- Ryan Dempster
"I stayed at home the other night and watched that "Cubs Forever"
show," he said. "Every once in a while teams should be forced to watch
stuff like that and realize how much it means to the city and to the
ex-players that have been here, and how lucky we are to get a chance to
put on the uniform and play in front of these people.
- Mark DeRosa
"It's cool to be a part of it and to get the win in the Cubs' 10,000th
victory. There's a lot of history in Chicago. It's a lot of games without
winning a championship."
- Kerry Wood
The Art of Winning Baseball
"What do I think?. My observation has been you've got a
bunch of guys who are not talking about what they're doing
individually. It's a pretty fun club to be a part of, obviously,
because we're winning.
- Ted Lilly
"It's contagious. You get a couple runs on the board and
everybody's pulling for each other. It's good to win like that, coming
from behind. It's awesome. We were down, but we never give up. We keep
fighting."
- Geovany Soto
"When you play the way we're playing, guys pick you up, and instead of
everybody interviewing you about the blown save, they're interviewing
the guy who got the game-winning hit,"
-Kerry Wood
"If chemistry did it, we'd go down to St. Anthony's and get 25
choirboys, and they'd all get along real well. You've got to play on
the field."
- Lou Piniella
Getting Ahead of Ourselves
"We have a good team, and we're expected to win. It's
going to be a big deal [to get 100 wins] but not as big as it would be
for fans. I know Lou, and I know he expects us to play well. Who knows,
we could possibly win 100 this year. That'd be nice."
- Daryle Ward
"Early in the year, you want to win games and win series. I don't look at the standings early in the year."
- Lou Piniella
"It always feels good to be in first place, but now the tough part is to stay there."
- Ryan Dempster
"We have everything this year, believe me. We can go all the way to … where we want."
- Carlos Zambrano
"This is a long season. Let's not get all crazy about
this thing. Let's just stay cautionary and let's just keep playing good
baseball, that's all."
- Lou Piniella
"We're thinking about the World Series. I think we'll be OK if we keep playing like that."
- Ronny Cedeno
"As long as he doesn't talk World Series, I'm happy."
- Lou Piniella responding to Cedeno's hot start
But Does He Have to Carry the Pink Backpack?
"I don't really consider Fukudome a rookie. I didn't consider Ichiro [Suzuki] a rookie when he was in
Seattle either. [Fukudome and Suzuki] are good, seasoned, professional
baseball players."
- Lou Piniella
"Technically, they are [rookies], but it'd be like sending Alex
Rodriguez to play in Japan and having him win Rookie of the Year over
there. That's the way I look at it. You enjoy these kids, because they
come here and play well, but myself, I don't consider them rookies. I
consider them good, professional baseball players."
- Lou Piniella
A .175 Batting Average Says Otherwise
"Hitting is not a problem. My problem is running and doing quick stops in the field."
- Alfonso Soriano
On the Job Training
"Felix is not a prospect anymore. He's got to find a way to survive and put it all together."
- Dave Keller, Cubs Minor League Hitting Coordinator
"I think it's been a week since I've got a hit. It's a good feeling, something in my life I'll never forget."
- Felix Pie after his HR versus the Mets earlier this week.
The Evolution of Z
"I played with one of the best pitchers in the history of baseball,
Greg Maddux, and he told me one time he preferred to throw more
sinkers, more (pitches with) movement, than velocity."
- Carlos Zambrano
That's Cute, Cover Up for Mr. Scrappy
" I don't know whether
it would've been a double play or not. I think Theriot tried to really
hurry the play. Tulowitzki can get down the line fairly good. But I
just can't use my short people every [game]."
- Lou Piniella on Theriot's blunder on Thursday.
Trade Secrets
"I got the green light on both of them. The last one was a no-brainer. You've got to go
right there. The first one, I saw changeup. I saw the grip, and I was
going."
-Ryan Theriot on getting caught at third base on a steal attempt
"Mechanically, if you do everything well, the ball will have more
accuracy to second base. It's just how you work with your
legs. If you stay open, the upper half will stay open, and if you close
up nicely the only way you have to go is straight to second. It's just
a matter of having good mechanics so you can throw it right on the
money."
- Geovany Soto
"A lot of good things are happening that are basically not noticed by
the casual fan, and let me tell you a couple of them. One, the pitchers are slide-stepping against us
a lot more. Two, infielders are holding runners, which are creating
more holes. And catchers are calling more fastballs."
- Lou Piniella
"We expect Fontenot to put the ball in play. What are
they (bench players) there for, to keep them for 14 innings? Try to get
the game over in the eighth inning. We had every chance in the world to
do it. We just didn't get it done."
- Lou Piniella
The Catch
"Unbelievable. It was the best play I've ever seen in person, maybe, the best play ever."
- Ryan Theriot on Johnson's catch
"What a great play," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "It's as nice a
play as you want to see. The way he not only caught the ball and slid
almost headfirst into the wall and when his cap came up -- you're not
going to see a nicer catch than that."
-Lou Piniella
"At Wrigley, they might have had to call time out to find his head in the vines,"-
-Lou Piniella
"[DeRosa] and Kerry were standing there, staring at each
other. [DeRosa] didn't say anything. I wish I would've
hung out a little longer. I was getting up to see if everything was
intact first. He said he saw a white streak coming out of nowhere."
-Reed Johnson
-Reed Johnson
Let Me Suggest thecubreporter.com, for all your Cubs Information Needs
"Last winter I saw my name on the Internet, that they possibly would
trade me. But I went through spring training relaxed,
thinking, 'If they trade me, OK. If they don't, I'll just deal with the
facts.' I'm happy to stay here because it's where I started my career."
- Ronny Cedeno
And the Rest...
"Whatever it is, I guarantee it's better than the old one. I'll probably enjoy it more on Saturday when I get a chance to go look at it and all. I always enjoy going to new parks, too, because they're always nice -- see the little nuances and neat things like that."
- Ryan Dempster on visiting the new Nationals Park
"Killed my average,"
- Bob Howry after a failed bunt attempt earlier this week
"I've never seen a guy strike out eight times in eight at-bats. This is a first."
-Lou Piniella on Geovany Soto's double golden sombrero
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