Spring Quotations | Page 6

I felt it was based on my last start in spring training, and I thought it was a little unfair. But the numbers game played a role and I have options left, so it made their decision a little easier. So I went down there, worked on what I needed to work on, and here I am.

I felt nervous. But I'm going to be OK. I feel good. That's why I prepared all spring training. I'm going to play every game that I can.

I felt pretty good. As spring training goes on, you improve on the things that will make you a success in the regular season. Today, I did a few things right and a few things I feel like I can improve on. I feel like I'm headed in the right direction. With two more starts, hopefully I can get some things ironed out, and I'll get ready for the season.

If I have a bad one, I'm able to let it go, release it, because I know I'm going to have a chance the next day. Spring training is for work. But I want the job, so I'm going to do everything I can to get it.

I believe we've had a great spring and great fall camp. The players feel really confident. I think it's going to be very interesting.

I believe they never really let it drop. At the time that my husband went to the commission meeting they told him that they appreciated him coming and thanked him for bringing the petition, but said the annexation would continue to move forward for the good of the citizens of Spring Hill.

I bet you he'd like to have the lineup he had in spring training. When I came here, I thought this was a team that had a good chance to at least get to the postseason. The chemistry here has been bad because we're not winning.

Certain kids stick out, ... And when I saw Adam in spring training, I liked his attitude, his work ethic. He busts his butt.

Certainly, I want to get back to starting and go that road, ... I just have to wait and see how things are going to play out this year going into Spring Training.

I - and I think many other observers - thought Ichiro would be the one to say no and Hideki would say yes. I think he's grateful to (George) Steinbrenner for the new contract and the confidence in him. He feels more of an obligation to Steinbrenner than he does to Japan. It's not about the money, it's about the vote of confidence. I think he thought it would be rude to leave the team in spring training. If he hadn't just signed the contract, maybe he would have gone.

I apologize to Venezuela. They know how much I love my country, but I cannot accept what they proposed to me. I respect the Florida Marlins because they tried to push Miguel Cabrera into third base, but this is not spring training. This is a big competition and you represent your country.

But we like Ryan Nece. Jeff Gooch and Ryan have had a real competitive battle this spring and summer, so Ryan will be the starter. He's earned that in Jeff's absence.

But we'll be back. I'm already excited about Spring Training.

I don't care if it's the outfield or the infield, ... as long as I know what to prepare for. I can make myself a decent outfielder. I can already play the infield. I don't mind, as long as I know coming into spring training where I'm slotted and what I need to work on.

I don't know much about how it was before I got here, but I can tell you we have a real good team and that creates a buzz. I feel pretty good about our chances. I'm not good at predicting anything, and after you spend a little time in the game you realize expectations don't mean nothing. I want to go to Spring Training and get in the winning mode. I want to meet some of the guys I've never met and try to see what we can do as a team and what we can't do and find a way we can complement each other.

I don't know what reason there is to be cautious anymore. Once the tissues have broken up and there's no pain or discomfort, I don't think it's going to come back ? unless I rupture more scar tissue. I'm just going to go out like I'm getting ready for the spring again.

I felt as good as I have all spring in the second and third inning. Then I got a little tired, left some pitches up and... well, I'm just going to forget about that fourth inning.

I feel very welcome here. Jerry called me right after I got the job and told me he wanted me here in the spring to help out, and I appreciate that. I feel like this is where I belong.

I felt better than the last time, which is good. It's still early. You've got to wait and see, rack up some innings, to see if you start feeling better. Who doesn't feel good after five innings (in spring training)?

I felt comfortable today, I felt at home. I love Chicago. I love to play here. This is the start. Spring training is over. Right now, we start a new season. I'm trying to feel comfortable at home plate and play real good defense.

I felt like I was in a groove. Obviously, the four runs did help. It gave me a cushion there. But I really feel that having those innings in Spring Training helped me, and I feel a little bit more at ease this year.

I felt like all spring I have done pretty well. This was just a good ending to spring. Now it's time to get ready for the fall. I just relied on my teammates. That's the thing about Texas; everyone is going to make good plays. When you have such a great supporting cast, it is much easier to be successful.

(But) some students are thinking about going back on their own during spring break to present the final plans.

But that's a good thing. That's a positive thing. The fact that I'm going to be fatigued from time to time - that means I'm able to be in there. I'm only seven months (from surgery). ... Late in spring training I felt I turned the corner. I felt great the first couple weeks. I threw a bunch of games together. To me, that's great news.

Because Putnam and Volusia counties have manatee viewing as a spring and summertime tourist attraction, the need to be safe is imperative and the boaters are very cognizant of them being in the water. We are not big fans of people swimming with manatees, but manatee viewing is something everyone should do before they die. It is that awesome. People have a heightened awareness of manatees after actually seeing them.

Because of that we had a lot more run-off into the reservoirs in spring and early summer.

I have asked Mike (Wallace) to drive the Lucas Oil Chevy at Bristol. Mike had a good run for us at Bristol in the spring race even though we were wrecked and we feel he will give us a good solid run there again at our hometown track." ()

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Having said that, we saw him play the latter part of August and thought he had had enough. He had already gone from Double-A to Triple-A and we thought it was time for him to go home and get ready to play winter ball if he wanted to, or if not, get ready for spring training.

Here it is spring againand I still a young man!I am late at my singing.

What I love about spring practice is that you get to teach football. There's not the pressure of a game or the scoreboard. There is always the competition, but you can teach the game. It's a chance to help the players get better.

What I mainly do during the spring is spend time with our young players. I help them with their hitting and I instruct the outfielders. Working with the young guys is something I really enjoy. I'm trying to help them improve as baseball players. I'm also trying to help mentor them. I want them to avoid making the same mistakes that I've made.

When he was talked to by the media or by us, he liked the way he felt the second week of spring training, so I'm optimistic. If he's healthy, what a lift he'd give us.

Having new coaches on the staff in the spring is not difficult. There are very few situations where we are not on the same page. We are all thinking the same way about 99 percent of the time.

What we've seen this spring is that we have many players who are very close to being ready to play at the major-league level.

What will slow this market down, and has slowed certain segments of the market down, is overpricing, ... Back in the spring there was such a frenzy that very pedestrian product was drawing multiple bids.

We are finding out that a lot of Bostonians are making plans to go to Spring Training. I think we've probably gotten more calls about that than I've seen in our years here. One lady sent me an e-mail, she said, 'I know that the van is leaving, I don't care. I'm already in Fort Myers, when is the van arriving?

We thought we were ready leaving Spring Training. We were playing very good and swinging the bat good and everybody thought they were where they needed to be.

We till a bare minimum, light tilling in the fall and in the spring to plant. We have a lot of wind.

We told Garrett he does not have to flinch. I think he's actually having fun watching what is going on. We are all having fun watching. Someone is going to have to tell the kid (he is going to the minors). I guess that is my responsibility. . . . Garrett is having a special spring in his own right.

West Virginia is a great squad and I couldn't be happier with the team's performance. We kept possession of the ball, passed effectively and defended well. Bryan is a young goalkeeper, who was playing in his first game. The spring season exists so that players can gain experience and Bryan will be better for it.

We take an approach toward Spring Training that we're not only getting legs and arms and timing in shape. We're getting their minds in shape as well.

With Mario, every time he goes and tries to dive or something, we're going to hold our breath. But he's 100 percent and playing well. He swung the bat well in spring training. Vega did also. Those two guys will probably be in the middle of the lineup and kind of rely on them for some offensive power, some offensive numbers.

We've got to get the dangerous trees, the dangling limbs left from Hurricane Katrina removed. But I am afraid spring storms will catch us before that happens.

We're on spring break and are missing a couple of seniors because of that. It took us a while to get used to playing without them, and it always seems a little tougher to play when you're not in school that day. ... It definitely took us some time to get going this afternoon.

We're optimistic for the retail sector this fall. We think that the consumer will come back into stores. July is primarily a clearance month, and we think we have accomplished what had to be done in July, liquidating all the spring merchandise. So, the stores are well positioned,

I actually thought there would be less people here than there were. I would still rather watch this than go anywhere else on spring break.

I actually wanted it. I guess the fact that I was working so much at first base during spring training, I kind of (cut) back my hitting.

He spends a lot of time training. He just trains hard, sets his goals, and works hard to get there. He also goes to a lot of high-level tournaments in the spring and summer.

He's played really well. He'll come into Spring Training with a real good opportunity. A lot of it depends on what we do in the winter, but there's not a whole lot about his game that I don't like.

He's played well and ironically he looks great this spring. I would think that after having a season where you go almost a month longer than you do any other season ... he would have come to spring training and be a little bit slow. But he's actually looked better this spring than he did last spring.

He was nervous, nervous all week long. And this was a good-hitting team. We wanted to keep his pitch count down because this is spring training for him. But he did exactly what we needed him to do.

We made significant gains this spring and have developed some momentum. We were pleased with the results and were more encouraged with the overall changes that we made to improve as a team. We anticipate making more gains this summer and creating more momentum leading into a successful fall.

We maximized the opportunity for Mark. He really got a bunch of great work in. He developed tremendously and had a great spring for us.

We may struggle early. Everybody is young, not really that experienced. These times right here, spring ball and summer camp, are when we have to build up and get everybody ready to play.

He wanted to get an idea about American Spring Training and techniques.

He wanted to get something done before the season started so he can just focus on the season and get rid of any trade rumors. They've been working on it all spring and he's happy that it got done. It was fair to both parties.

I always came to spring training. But this is first time in uniform. It's good.

Have your camera with you at all time. I went to New Orleans for spring break and now it's a mess. You never know what's going to happen or how things will change.

He comes into Spring Training where it's his job to lose.

He completely changed his fundamentals of punting. He was always a three-step punter, and in the spring changed to being a two-step punter. Which has done a couple of things, number one, he's easier to protect because he gets rid of the ball faster and number two, it's given him a much better rhythm and (the late) coach (Mike) Drake actually worked with him a lot last spring to get that taken care of for us. It's paid off huge because he's had a great year.

He carried that with him the first half of the year. If for some reason his routine gets disrupted, (he's) sort of off-center. But he left spring with a good look in his eye.

He changed the grip on my sinker last spring and got it to sink more consistently. He had me put my middle finger on the seam instead of my first finger, and slide it up on the ball about two inches. Those two inches made a huge difference.

He'd be the most likely guy in the group. But a lot depends on what we do leading up to Spring Training.

He was running around like a spring chicken. Once that adrenaline wore off, pain set in.

He was struggling right of out of spring training with coming back for the third year in Double-A. When he got off to the slow start I think he was just questioning his passion for the game. His main decision was he wanted to spend more time with his family and move on to a different livelihood. We have to deal with it and wish him well.

He was good. I know he threw a few too many pitches in the first inning, but he settled in. You know, I think a lot of times the first time in a real stadium other than a Spring Training ballpark gets your hearts started a little more -- maybe throwing through his stuff a little bit -- but I thought he was really good.

He was perfect. He walked a guy that I thought he struck out. He gave up a base hit and it was probably an error. He commanded his fastball, changeup and breaking ball. I've been telling him all spring he's got the stuff to do this. He's got to believe in it and trust it.

He was phenomenal in spring training and I don't expect anything different. He's very cool, calm and collected.

He was playing a little catch-up this spring and wasn't as sharp as we would have anticipated him to be. He has quickly turned that around and really has played some great lacrosse in recent weeks.

We make a real strong effort to get as much done, as much as we need to during the spring and in Indianapolis.

We looked back at what we felt we needed to do better in Arizona (on the spring trip) and worked on that yesterday. We hit it back up the middle, and I had guys going to the opposite field who hadn't done that in three years.

He didn't exactly light it up in spring training. We didn't know where it was going.

He didn't go home for spring break. We told him he had to get in shape and get his weight down. He's looking much better.

He didn't have the spring and had a tough time holding his position. I don't know exactly when it happened until the second half when he said he couldn't go. At that point I noticed him limping.

He did a tremendous job in the spring. He played last year. He played against Boise State (8 for 16, 138 yards) and did a great job. He played bits and pieces in other games. He did an outstanding job in the spring game. He started bad, but by the end of the day he completed 60 percent of his passes.

I am in year 13. There is no spring chicken in this guy right here, and I understand the nature of the game. I understand it is a young man's game. It is just a matter of whether they want to go with the young guys. Maybe they let me ride off into the sunset.

He turned in some of the fastest laps in testing last week at Daytona. I could just see by the spring in his step and the way he was talking that his confidence is coming back in a hurry.

He understands where to go with the football and has made a lot of progress for us. It has been a really good spring for Kyle.

If the three weren't even, coming into spring training, they are even now.

He deserves the spot from his spring tour form alone.

He has exceeded any expectations you would have for someone less than a year out of the draft. Certainly, we probably expected a little more out of him because of the person he is and because of his background, and we all went into spring training hoping he would be ready to contribute at some point this year, but never expecting he'd be closing games in June.

He impresses me every time he goes out there. Obviously, I didn't get to see him much in Seattle, but every day of spring I've been impressed.

He is certainly still competing for that backup role. I think Bo had a better spring than just about anybody thought he would. We like some of the things he can give us.

He is doing the things that he did in Spring Training and during batting practice. Now he's taking it into the game. Has he gotten it completely down? No, but he has gotten it down to the point where he could be a tough out.

He was around every day in the clubhouse in Minnesota and was in spring training all the time. He was just a joy. He was fun and he was happy every day.

He's got work to do to get back any skills he may have had. Just because he played there in high school before he was signed doesn't mean he's Gold Glove caliber. This will be the focus for him in Spring Training.

He's had a good spring. Coming into Spring Training, I didn't have any expectations for him, because he didn't have a good 2005 season, and didn't pitch particularly well in Puerto Rico. He exceeded my expectations, because he wasn't a guy who would've even been considered for somewhere in the pitching staff.

He's had a real productive spring and we have great hopes for his future.

He's had his challenges in spring training to get out of the gate. If ever there a year that he needed to be on time, it's this year. He's a free agent-to-be, and we certainly need him.

If it remains warm, no problem. But if we have a cycle where we go back to the normal spring weather ... and you get below freezing, that's a real risk.

He's back (in the clubhouse) looking at tape and he's back in the cage every other inning hitting. He works hard at his game. He was great about that in spring training and that's carried over to the season. He just loves to hit.

He's coming around every single week. It all started back in spring ball. He played great in the spring -- I think he was one of the MVPs, you know, and he's been getting better and better every week. He's in the film room, and Sam's showing him the way, letting him know what he needs to do.

He will bring some stability and look to build the program. Chuck is close enough that he can start working out the kids this spring and hit the summer running.

He has had some good at-bats and has had a flair for the big hit here recently. We saw that from him in spring training. Anyone who has seen him play realizes he has a lot of energy. He's working on focusing that energy into the important aspects of his game. He has an ability that you don't see every day.

He has made a real sacrifice and commitment to staying in shape over Christmas and spring break. He looks real good.

He hasn't been quite Michael since spring training. We wanted him to go get his arm strength back. We are going to need him before the year is over.

He hasn't pitched in a week and I wanted to get him as much work as I could before spring break. He did a great job. His curve was working better late than early. When he got it breaking, he really kept Lincoln off balance.

He had to do a couple of things he hadn't done all spring -- score from first base, go in the gap.

He had a very good spring for us. He didn't play in the spring game, so no one knew about him. He hurt his ankle right before the game.