Pennant Quotations

Don't believe those tales you hear about my being all-in. Wait until you see me in action for your team and then form your opinion of my worth to your team. I assure you that I am delighted to be a Pirate and that I will do my best to bring another pennant to the Smoky City.

Nobody ever won a pennant without a star shortstop.

Fans all have their memories of pennant races, good memories, sick memories.

I was surprised by that. I thought he did a real good job for us. And he had been in a pennant race before.

September was definitely a confidence booster. Having a chance to help the team with some at-bats here and there during a pennant race was nice.

Harry's 17 years with the organization were marked by outstanding team achievements, including the team's first-ever pennant and World Series appearance, and he will be remembered as one of the organization's legends, ... He was also one of the community's greatest supporters and he did much to make the city of Milwaukee a better place for all of us to call home.

He was an absolutely outstanding pitcher in the role he took on last year. We tried hard to get him last year for our pennant run and again this winter. Our people evaluated him as one of the top guys in the business in the role he's now doing.

Our organization is in the thick of the pennant race and we want as many people at the park as possible. The support of the best fans in baseball is what fuels our play on the field, so we're hoping to see people come out and take advantage of this opportunity.

Pennant is actually considered a fan-assist atmospheric boiler, which uses atmospheric venting. But they use a fan on the out-side blowing in to regain your pressure loss on the combustion side. That helps a lot.

Pennant races drain the energy from the best of them. Old-fashioned baseball races are to me the most grueling daily test in any sport. Gotta keep coming out, every day, in the face of looming disaster.

Nathan is a guy that has been in pennant races, and we have a lot of confidence in him. He's a hard thrower, throws lots of strikes and has the ability to close out games, so we think he will fit in well with this bullpen.

It hasn't been fun. But I have been through springs like that before and then the season starts and you are in a pennant race all year. We are hoping that's what happens here.

I think it was a terrific effort against a good club and considering the circumstances of being in a pennant race.

I wasn't a rookie in pennant races, but I was a rookie calling the shots. The players made me look good.

We didn't encourage clubs to get overly aggressive, because we knew what he meant to our club in the midst of a pennant race. Ryan's an extremely talented player and is going to be an outstanding every day player in the big leagues. Despite the fact that a lot of people thought we should have been more aggressive in sending him away, we're happy we didn't.

When you're in the pennant race, there's going to be some ups and downs. Just as long as there's more ups than downs. We're going to come out and battle tomorrow and hopefully take the series.

We're a team in a little bit of a transition. But I still expect us to contend. And I didn't even expect us to contend for the pennant last year.

We did everything we could, ... You're in a pennant race. ... We're trying to win. Five runs in two innings -- you can't go with that.

The fact that we have something to work at, like battling somebody in a pennant race, means that pride will step in for us. It will force us to play hard and focus on the game.

We should have won the pennant that year. It was the best club I was ever on.

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.

We're in a pennant race here, ... We're doing everything we can to win. And five runs in two innings, we can't do that.

Doug's been here all year, so obviously he's the guy that's going to play, especially being in a pennant race, ... I'm a young guy and I still have to wait for my turn. But I have no problem with that.

Everyone waited a long time for this. It's a great feeling to clinch the pennant here in this park against the Giants.

Yes, we had some problems. We solved those problems. That's all part of what made it a great year. Record attendance, record revenues, great pennant races, great excitement. By any criteria one wants to use, the sport couldn't have a better year.

You can't do that. This is a pennant race game. ... This is a disgrace. This is disgraceful.

The team that won that pennant was in the minors when the season began, ... The old guard, that came over from Brooklyn, their best days were behind them.

We had a real young team and the young guys made a lot of progress. I don't anybody expected us to be a pennant winner, but I think we got better as an organization this year.

We've had our backs to the wall and bounced back all season. But it hurts more when you're in a pennant race.

I've never been involved in a pennant race, but I think it increases the pressure on them. It's tough to win two games in one day. We're feeling good and we're ready to take on the Red Sox.

Some people like to say that Gene has never been a winning manager. But he has been a winning manager when you consider that some of the teams he had were in the pennant race when they really had no business being there.

That's why if it was up to me, I'd turn off all of the TVs in the clubhouse. And I'd turn the (out-of-town) scoreboard off at home, too. What good does it do? When you're in a pennant race, you shouldn't worry about the teams chasing you, so why watch the games?

Right now, we have something right in front of us, ... Everybody's loose. Everybody's enjoying it. You play this game to be in a pennant race.

This was a much more important game for us than for the Cardinals. We're fighting for our lives at this point. We're the ones in a pennant race. They're umpteen games up with a month to go.

I'm looking forward to the second half of September. How could you not want to be in a pennant race with the Yankees?

If you're afraid to be in a pennant race, you'll never be in a pennant race, ... If you're afraid, you won't face the media, you don't play cards, you don't have a couple of beers after the game. There was a lot of controversy the other day when I said that our team stinks. We had lost two in a row. If you play good, I'll let you know. If you play bad, I will let you know.

You try to stay focused in the game. You have to approach it as a 0-0 game; you can't let up at all, especially the way they've played us. It seems like every day brings more pressure. We're in a pennant race, so when we come to the park, we have to play well.

It's been the most 'un-fun,' and it's been one nightmare after another. It's like I'm working for the fire department, just putting out fires every day. But I've been through springs like that before, and the season starts, and then I'm in a pennant race all year. Hopefully that's what happens here.

It took me a long time, ... I was pressing a little too hard, but tonight I just tried to go out there and relax. It feels good to go out there and give a good performance. My last couple have been poor, and it was weighing on me. It's no fun to be in a pennant race and not giving the team quality starts, so I was glad to turn it around tonight.

It took me a long time. I was pressing a little too hard, but tonight I just tried to go out there and relax. It feels good to go out there and give a good performance. My last couple have been poor, and it was weighing on me. It's no fun to be in a pennant race and not giving the team quality starts, so I was glad to turn it around tonight.

They can take the players they're given and by deploying them in a clever way, swing the pennant race not by 10-20 games but by a few games.

I hoped they learned from playing in the pennant race, from coming back from where we did. They learned the little things you have to do to win.

I really pushed myself to come back as quick as I could, so I could help. We are in a pennant race.

If you talked to me in April, as a matter of fact if you told me in the winter meeting or when we left camp this team would have 90 wins and be fighting in the pennant race, I will take that. Obviously our lead has shrunk real quick. Obviously we are not playing real good and the team behind us is playing extremely well.

I didn't have my best stuff; I struggled with my mechanics early. It feels good to go out and have a good performance. My last couple were poor. It doesn't feel good to go out in a pennant race and not pitch well.

It's very rare for me. It's almost like an unreal situation, but that makes you appreciate it more when you get back ? that pennant races and going to the playoffs just doesn't happen automatically. It humbles you.

The kids are obviously part of our future, and the fact is they're going to experience, hopefully, a very exciting pennant race. Everybody likes their hits. It's being involved in something that could be special and getting experience when the game counts. Mets fans and the organization should be proud of David Wright and Jose Reyes, and Victor Diaz had a huge night also. And Jake is getting his feet wet.

It's a pennant with the No. 14 in the middle of it.

It's not as fun as being in the pennant race. But if you can help keep somebody at home, that's fun.

It's so big because the team's battling out there and we're in a pennant race.

It's nice to get up here and see what major league baseball is all about. I have confidence I can play here. But given the situation that we came into, being in the middle of a pennant race . . . we understood our playing time was going to be kind of sparse.

It's exciting to come in at this time of year and just be a part of (the pennant race). Basically, I'm just here to help the team in any way I can. I'm down here to do whatever I can.

It's funny to say, but it's easier to focus on a team like this, ... You want to do well, not that you didn't when your team is struggling, but you can get in a lull. Your focus isn't as high as it is here, knowing you're in a pennant race. Every pitch counts.

It's frustrating. We're in the heat of the pennant race, and I feel good. To pitch like that but then have one inning, that's frustrating. I was cruising along the first three innings, then you saw what happened.

It's fun to make it interesting for the Red Sox-Yankees pennant race. We're a big team this week.

This kid responded to every situation as well as anybody who ever put a Major League uniform on, whether it was a game down in the pennant stretch or going into New York or pitching a ballgame in the summer. He wants to keep getting better, and that's why we're excited about his future.