Joe Torre Game Quotations

Obviously, if you get to a Game 5 it's very important.

If we had tied it last night, I would have brought him in for the ninth inning, even though that's something I don't like to do. The need to get him in a game is important.

If we can just keep our minds on the game we're playing, ... that's the most important thing for us to do now, and hopefully we can continue to do that.

Our pitchers are trying to keep the game close, basically.

It has been coming down to pitching, and Randy pitched a big game and I thought Moose was terrific.

We are running out of games. Randy is pitching and we are playing at home. We have to feel it's our game to lose. But nobody is giving it to us. It's hugely important.

We're in a pennant race, but the mentality is more of a postseason situation where every game is important enough to win right now, ... We can't be thinking long term.

Every game is vital. These are our playoffs now.

At some point soon, I'll sit down with Bernie and we'll go over everything. I have a great relationship with him, and always have. I've probably talked to him more than any other player here in my tenure. If the first game of the season were today, I'd say he'd be the starting DH. But I also want to give him a lot of time in the corners (left and right field), with the emphasis more on him playing right than left, spelling Sheffield.

We've been playing very aggressive baseball, very determined baseball. This game was as good as any game we've played this year in terms of winning this type of ballgame.

Scoring 10 runs in one game doesn't give you a five-run lead the next day.

That's what the game is all about. We have 25 guys, 11 pitchers, and we need everybody to contribute.

That's going to take a lot of thought, I guess is the best word, ... Only because you certainly don't want to do anything physically that's going to hurt him. I won't know if he's available. But if he is, as the game flows, if you're sitting down there with me, you're going to have the same thoughts I am. You're going to see where you are, see what's happening, and certain people just come into your mind as far as doing things.

Everything was up. I know he wanted to stay in the game but I think it was the best thing to do.

The one thing I can take credit for is for not trying to be someone else. I've always tried to be a manager who allowed his players to play. The game is theirs. What I've done for 10 years is try to stay out of their way.

You're getting a chance to look at these kids with the number of at-bats they're getting early in the game compared to what they would be getting if you had your whole team healthy and here. It's a little bit different, but you're getting to find out a little bit more than normal.

(In) Game 6, the way he came into Yankee Stadium and pretty much dominated us - that's a memory that will be hard to lose. That had to be one of the most pressure outings you'll ever see in that situation.

I'm not the least bit concerned. I'm not pleased that we lost four of the first five games, but it doesn't make me sit back and say, 'What can I do?' or 'What should I have done?' This is the game of baseball.

I guess it was supposed to come to a Game 7. We'll see what happens.

His arm is getting the work it needs, but he really didn't get a whole lot of game work. It was a setback, and it will probably add a couple of weeks to his rehab.

These guys have been playing their tails off. It's not going to be perfect every day. You're going to give something away. But even today, we had a chance to tie the game in the ninth inning.

It's fun to win a game like this at Yankee Stadium any time. But in the home opener, it's really special. The only way we're going to get momentum is to string some of these together.