Baseman Quotations

Your goal as a hitter is to get on. And if the third baseman is playing back and letting you lay down a bunt, I don't have a problem with that, even if it's late in a no-hitter.

There was a time when rival teams used a shift against me. They would put the second baseman on the shortstop's side of the bag, move the shortstop into the hole to his right, and have the third baseman hug the foul line. The idea was to build an infield wall against a known right-handed pull hitter.

I would go anywhere to see Brooks Robinson. He was the best third baseman ever. Nobody played third base like Brooks, and he was one of the nicest guys to ever play the game.

My defense at first base is good. I'm not like the typical first baseman who doesn't move well over there. Why do you think I get called the Pick Master?

Lew had the green light and I had a pretty good lead since the first baseman wasn't playing behind me. That jump-started things. That was huge for us.

Hank put on a clinic at third base. We don't win that game if Hank doesn't have that day today. He made four or five plays that were as good as a third baseman can make.

For several years, I have had my eye on second baseman Del Pratt of St. Louis. I cannot say that he is a better player than our own Joe Gedeon, but he has played better ball, and we wanted him. Well, how did I get him? I paid $15,000 in cash and gave away a number of good players for him. But what can you do?

Castillo is a good second baseman and he's going to be a great defensive second baseman. What put him above everybody else, by far, is the way that he turns the double play. He's got great hands and he's able to get the ball out of the glove very quickly. He also has an absolute cannon for an arm. Very rarely do you find a second baseman who has the best arm on the team. That guy does.

But it's the infield to me. I play first as though I were a third baseman or a shortstop. I pride myself on my defense. I pay a lot of attention to it.

He's a good defensive third baseman, and he's quick and he's got good range. Early on this spring, he wasn't moving his feet like he can, but you can see today what type of third baseman he can be.

He tried to stretch it to a triple, but he gout caught up with the third baseman a little bit and jammed his neck. They ended up having to carry him off the field on a stretcher. It was a scary thing to see.

He has great instincts and feel for the game. He positions himself so well when the pitch is coming and has great reactions. And he throws as accurately as any third baseman I've seen.

He's a very impressive player. I've told him that I'm only keeping the seat warm for him. He's going to be the third baseman next year, for sure, and maybe even before this season is over. He has a chance to be a really good player.

He's been coming on. He's been our defensive second baseman and we just needed to go with a guy consistently there. When he's getting the opportunity, he's been swinging the bat better lately..

He's a third baseman playing first, but he's very upbeat about everything. I told him, 'The only thing you should concern yourself with is getting better.' The fact that he can play more spots makes him more valuable. He was very comfortable.

We've been trying to get him to stay back and get him to go the other way with two strikes and (Tuesday night) he did it twice. Once the second baseman (caught) it when he hit it hard and the other time he got a hit.

Jose Bautista needs at-bats. He's shown he has that power, that he can hit at Class AA, which was exactly the right level for him last year. If he does the same thing in Indianapolis this year, then he's earned the chance to be the everyday third baseman in Pittsburgh.

Jeff has been a big part of our success the past three years. He's been one of the top offensive threats each year and he continues to be the best third baseman this league has seen.

I'm so used to playing both right now. I think I can be a natural second baseman and I feel like I could be a natural shortstop. But right now I see myself more as second baseman.

John is an excellent third baseman and the fact that he can play many positions makes him a valuable player for us. We are very excited to add John to an infield which has greatly improved from last season.

I think with Joe, this is what we are going to get. But when Joe is playing like he did, he is one of the best third baseman in the AL.

I think there are many qualities. One, he's arguably the best defensive second baseman in the game. Two, he brings a great deal of energy to the field. And three, he's also a pretty good offensive player for the position.

I think she's the best third baseman in our league.

I think it's a situation where I'm trying to hard to go to the next level, and that's to get a starting position. I think for the most part, I've been pressing too much. Nobody here is labeled as a second baseman right now. That being said, I know that I had a real legitimate chance of making it.

I thought the ball was in right field when he hit it. If (the glove) is on the left hand, he doesn't catch that ball. But the guy made a great play. Their first baseman had an exceptional day.

I was on the phone with him for three hours last night. I tried to talk him out of it. We all did -- his dad (former big league catcher and manager Bob Boone) and his brother Aaron (the third baseman in Cleveland). We sort of ganged up on him, but he said his heart wasn't in it.

We played at a really high level the night before and came out this afternoon flat and unfocused. We didn't hit the ball at the plate, and they did. There were bright spots and some good plays made in the field (by infielders Knapp and Lewis and first baseman Barnes). We had one bad inning and then played fair the rest of the game.

We had a new shortstop and a new first baseman tonight. We're pretty inexperienced.

That was bull, hitting our first baseman after he hit a home run.

When we recruited him, I thought he?d be a little scrappy second baseman who would get hits, steal some bases and play some small ball.

When you look at him on the field, his defensive ability goes without saying. I don't think any second baseman stays in on the double play like he does -- recklessly, sometimes.

We think it was a no-hitter. They had a hard-hit ball right at our third baseman that got by him. It was scored as a hit and we think it was an error.

We've got a first baseman, shortstop and second baseman that I think should win a Gold Glove. Those guys are great in the infield.

Adam Kennedy is the best defensive second baseman in our league.

Orlando is probably the best second baseman I've ever played with. Losing somebody like that always stings a little. But, especially in our division, you have to be able to hit.

(Orr) did a nice job today. I've always been a Stubby Clapp fan and the fact that he'll probably be our second baseman means he'll get an opportunity to go out and shine one more time.

Both sides present a lot of difficulties turning the double play, but I'd say the second baseman has the most difficult job turning it.

We'd been working on that all week. We knew they were going to bunt, so we called a bunt coverage and our first baseman did a good job of executing it.

A lot of people in the organization are saying he's the best third baseman they've seen in a long time. He has got good hands and an accurate arm, and offensively, he's a good contact guy.

They (the Thunder) had two routine balls hit to our second baseman with the bases loaded that bounced over his head. Both times they scored two runs.

Probably as underrated a third baseman as I've ever seen.

People see me as a position player who can catch, when I'm a catcher that can play other positions. That's a huge difference, and what I've been trying to get people to see since I was 23 years old. I think I'm getting to catch because I've been hitting pretty well and they want to see if I can handle it. There are plenty of first/third baseman to go around. If I don't at least show the catching, there's no place for me.

A first baseman must hit 25 or more home runs.

I like being in control. You feel like you've been a solid factor in winning over, say, a first baseman or a right fielder. That's why I like it a lot. It's such an important role.

I'm a second baseman - where should I play? What's going on here is not my problem. It's not his problem. It's the team's problem.

In my opinion, she is the best third baseman I've seen.

I'm not saying that if we get a chance to bring in a veteran second baseman who can really help us, we should say, 'No way, we have Anderson Hernandez,' ... He might need another year. But he's young and talented and sure of himself. We owe it to ourselves to take a look.

The best-case scenario, you come into camp with a starting second baseman and a starting shortstop. We don't have that here. But we're working on it.

I just smacked it up the middle. If that second baseman had gotten to that ball, I probably would have just kept running out of the stadium. Or maybe run out there and picked a fight with him.

His instincts told him he had a shot at him. It's a tough play when the third baseman is on the move.

In that situation, the ball, his glove and my shoulder collided. Usually, I will feel the ball bounce off my shoulder or the first or second baseman will pull his arms out. But the type of player he is, he tried to make the play.

I looked at the second baseman and I figured I'd go hard and give up my body to get in there, ... It was key. It was all about just putting pressure on their guy. I wasn't able to put down any bunts today. I'm upset about that, but I was able to get some key hits for the team.

He's the first baseman of the future here. No doubt about it.

He said the first baseman caught the ball, I saw it completely different. I asked him to ask the other umpire and he said it was my call and I'm not going to ask the other umpire. I really need to watch what I say. I've been reprimanded before. That didn't have a whole heck of a lot of bearing on the ball game. It was pretty well out of reach, but let's just put it this way: I've got a control pitcher on the mound and he walks five guys in three innings. That's all I'll say. He hasn't walked five guys in five games.

He's a proven veteran out there. He and (second baseman Luis) Castillo work very well out there together.

He's the only second baseman we have and we have to get him going. He's been swinging the bat pretty well (during a rehab assignment for Norfolk), and we'll get him right in there. ... We wouldn't call him up if he wasn't ready.

He's the only second baseman we have. We've got to get him going.

It was just one of those days where we hit the ball very well. A lot of our hits were solid and quality at-bats. Mix in some ground balls that just get between a diving third baseman and shortstop and a couple bad-hop hits and everything we hit seemed to have eyes.

It wasn't but a few years ago when people thought of him as a liability out there. Now, he's solid. I've had him since 1993 when he was a catcher/first baseman in Class A at Bellingham. He's a self-made player. Through the hard work and the time he's put in, he's turned himself into a solid major league outfielder. His routes are outstanding, his jumps have gotten better and better.

The guy jumped four feet for that ball. I thought for sure it was over his head. I guarantee you maybe one other second baseman in the entire big leagues makes that play.

The first pitch I threw was to third baseman Bob Bailey. It was a fastball, low and away. He ripped it for a home run down the left field line.

I try to get extra bases on anything. That's a play I've done a few times in the past. Any time you see the third baseman going all out for the ball -- I was gone from the get-go. You had to watch him to make sure he made the throw. Once he made the throw, I just kicked it in to the highest gear I have.

I certainly feel like a third baseman. I don't miss shortstop. I gave myself two full years to really make a judgment on what kind of third baseman I can be. And we're almost there.

He's not really had to make a throw, we've only had one throw from a first baseman all spring. While he's probably throwing about what I expected right now, he's still got a ways to go. He hasn't had to make a throw to second, hasn't had to make a quick, hard throw and we don't know what's going to happen until that happens.