Eric Chavez Good Quotations

He's a big-game pitcher. You can tell he wants to be out there. He's got the stuff to go out and shut down a good team like that.

He's funny, he's completely opposite of everything that's been written about him. Obviously there have been some unfortunate situations with him, but coming into it I think everybody was open minded and there was no doubt in anybody's mind that he was going to have a good time here and he was going to get along with the guys. Since I've been here, there haven't been any jerks or bad personalities.

He's going to be ready (for Opening Day). I've seen how good his swing looks, I don't think that was ever a question. It was just his foot and staying healthy.

I think it's the single best trade we've ever made -- just because of the lack of offense (this year). With Jermaine, our offense was already good and he bettered the offense.

We're doing something pretty special. We've been good the last couple years. But this is borderline spectacular.

We've always had good (closers) in the ninth inning. But the seventh and eighth has been a real strength for us this year.

Ellis is locked in. A week ago, we couldn't find a hit, and now we're back to being comfortable about scoring runs. As good as our pitching is... our hitting will really dictate how we do.

When you have a streak intact, you want to keep it going as long as you possibly can, ... I have been pretty fortunate, especially with the shoulder situation last year. The past four or five years, I've felt pretty lucky. I don't really expect anything. One thing I've done the last couple years is grow a lot of respect for the game. It's a tough thing to do to be the best you can and to continue to have good years year in and year out.

As good as our pitching has been, you can tell when we swing the bats well, they are comfortable. When we're not swinging the bats, they are not too comfortable on the mound. Hitting will really dictate how well we do the last month.

I know. That's how good Joe was. In this environment, it's a big deal, and I've seen a lot of our guys go out there pretty timid at times. But there was nothing timid about Blanton. I thought he had really good stuff tonight, and he just went after guys with it.

The better teams are obviously in the American League. It's tough, but it makes for good baseball. Now the National League has to do some work to catch up. There's no doubt in my mind the top five, six teams are from the American League.

Nothing you could say or write about him would be good enough. He's why we're where we are.

No. That was pretty bad. There's too many good players over there for that to happen.

That's a good sign. The most important thing is we need our pitchers back in line.

Gerald told me not to worry about spring. I could go 0-for-30 and still get ready for April. I didn't want to play catch up again. My timing was always off in April. When I watched video, the biggest difference was in April I was out in front of the ball, reaching for it. In August I let it get deeper and used my hands more. I just need my lower half for balance. My hands are good, my wrists are good and I have some pop. I need to allow then to work.

There's too many good players over there for that stuff to happen,