Eric Chavez Quotations

Nobody knew this year these guys were going to do as well as they've done,

Of all the times I've been here, ... this was the most impressed I've ever been with one of our pitchers.

(Perry) suggested a couple of things. For me the game is mental. I have to conquer the mental part of the game. Once I do that, I'll be where everybody expects me to be.

There are so many games left, we just have to continue to work hard. We haven't hit the ball well all year. It's only a matter of time.

I can't even remember the last time we got swept.

I can't say enough about Kennedy, Witasick and Payton, ... To me, Payton's been the biggest. I think it's thesingle best trade we've ever made ? just because of the lack of offense.

I don't care about the results. It doesn't matter the lineup. I just work on my approach.

Barry was my childhood hero growing up, and what he's going through I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. But as far as this being race-related? I totally disagree. If Big Mac (Mark McGwire) was playing, he'd be in the same boat. This is a case where if there is a beast, you chop the beast's head off. That happens to be Barry. I think we all want to see the end of the story. I want the right information.

We've got to sweep. The door's still open. It's a little crack, but it's open. If we go 3-1, we're still two games out with three to play. We've got to sweep. That's the bottom line.

He's a big-game pitcher. You can just tell.

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 was okay. His stuff was a little flat. ... Watching the video, he was much better against New York.

He was O.K.. His stuff was a little flat. Watching the video, he was much better against New York.

We lost. The numbers say you're out and the season is over -- that's it. I think it was quite evident we were not going to do it. The numbers and history were not on our side. When he caught the ball, that's the end, There's no more.

He didn't hit the panic button. He wasn't putting the blame on anybody, wasn't pointing the finger at anyone. He told us we're gonna still come to the field and improve ourselves every day. He handled it the way a professional should handle it.

If we lose these ballgames (against the Rangers), those four (against the Angels) won't mean anything,

He was throwing strikes with his off-speed pitches. That is fine the first few times through the order. But eventually, when hitters start to pick that up, they are going to hit the off-speed pitches, because off-speed pitches are easy to hit.

He would be just the perfect fit for that job.

I'm an aggressive hitter. I've always had the same approach.

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.

Whatever. They (the U.S. team) want to keep me in the wings in case (Alex Rodriguez) doesn't play, that's what happened. If it was someone else, I'm sure they say it was OK. But I'm fine with it.

Spring training doesn't matter. Stats don't matter. You take that time, especially the veteran guys, to get ready.

Regardless of what happened today, we've got to sweep. We'd need a miracle going for us to sweep them, but you never know. It was a miracle last year with Boston.

Regardless, we needed to get something on the board with that at-bat. I'm the key guy in that spot to make something happen. I didn't come through. It hurt us right there. We have to get a run in, whether it's a flyball or something else. In that situation, I'm the person you want up there -- I'm the person I want up there. Hopefully, starting tomorrow, I'll have opportunities to redeem myself.

Jermaine said when Frank was in there, he was hitting everything out of the park. Everything is still there, the stroke, the vision. We just have to keep him healthy.

Just a week ago, we couldn't find a hit. Hitting is really going to dictate how well we do the next month.

I still want to take it to that next level,

I think without a doubt, those guys are the favorite to win. And I'm not blowing smoke, because there's something to be said for guys that have done it before.

I think the way his stuff was and how he handled the hitters, that was the most impressive performance I've seen here. He wasn't worried about the lineup, the (left field) wall or anything like that.

I think he threw a lot of pitches down the middle of the plate that we popped up.

I think Frank will come in early one day when no one's around and start playing it. They've both been great.

I threw probably 100 balls. That's when it started to go downhill. I I got nervous. What if I can never throw the same again?

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.

It came and went really quick. I'm just glad we held on to the lead or else (the home runs) would have been for naught..... I didn't even see Frank's swing. And by the time I sat down, Milton went deep.

It came and went real quickly. I'm just glad we held onto the lead.

It didn't look like Kendall stuck his arm out there. It was kind of weird. I guess he just caught Kendall on the wrong moment. That's not hard to do. I think (Lackey) said something to him in Oakland before. I know he's done it before. I've seen a couple pitchers do it. I think that's why him and (Joe) Kennedy got in a fight. Same thing.

I think we're back into feeling comfortable about scoring runs. I think hitting's really gonna dictate how well we do next month.

We were here all night, and it might happen again.

You can go back in the year and look at the seventh, eighth and ninth inning; we played well enough to win. We should have won those ballgames. ... Hopefully (the poor performance of the relievers) will be addressed this offseason.

We haven't been swinging the bats lately. Hopefully we can score five, six runs tomorrow and get our confidence back.

We were made a mockery of in the first two months and here we are in September still playing for something. We've come through a lot. It's not a burden to be playing for the playoffs. There are a lot of teams making vacation plans.

That was a situation where we needed to get something on the board. That was a key at-bat, and I didn't come through. That really hurt us. I wanted to be in that position.

(The opener) was probably more disappointing for the fans. We were able to shake it off.

(Washington) would be just as hands-on, especially if he got the Tampa Bay job,

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

We still have a fighting chance. It's going to be disappointing if we don't win. Obviously this is a miracle we have to go for, but anything can happen.

We've come through a lot, ... Whatever we do, this is for this team. It's time to forget about everybody else. We need to put ourselves in a little shell and look at each other and depend on each other and pick each other up. That's pretty much what it's all about.

We've won every year since I've been here, but now I think we have a realistic chance to do some big things. When I signed here, I knew Billy would do what it would take to win.

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.

I started scoreboard-watching three or four weeks ago; that's when you know things are starting to get interesting. It's not a burden to be playing for the playoffs. This is the time of the year when every game counts, every pitch counts. It's an honor to be able to play for something when other teams are making vacation plans.

I've been pretty bad getting runners in from third,

The tournament is a great idea. Even if I don't end up playing, I'm excited about watching it on TV.

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.

When you face top-notch pitching and they shut you down that's one thing, but we haven't run into that since Minnesota (Aug. 12-14).

I've said it before. This team is going to go how the hitting goes. It's too much pressure for these guys to throw shutouts every game. We need to be consistent, especially against a mediocre pitcher.

That's fine, all I need is about 45 to 50 at-bats and I'll be OK.

That was a big at-bat, it really hurt us. I was looking for a pitch to drive. For whatever reason I've been popping up a lot of pitches this year. Hopefully starting tomorrow I'll get some more chances to redeem myself.

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.

A lot of teams do score early and kind of shut it down,

A lot of teams do score early and kind of shut it down. It was just a refreshing day for everybody, I think, especially the coaching staff. We've been playing some tight ballgames and they've been able to sit back and relax and enjoy this one.

There's something to be said for that. We've never done it. Those guys have finished it out before. This team hasn't. For that lone reason, those guys, to me, are the favorite. But do I like our chances? Yes, I do.

There's not one of us who felt we shouldn't have put five or six runs on the board,

There's no doubt in my mind he'll be ready to go. It took me some time to get back into the rhythm of things and I know there's plenty of games left for him to get going.

I hope we can score five or six runs tomorrow. I hope this will help get our confidence back. There's a lot of baseball left, I hope we can get going again.

I know there's a lot of unfair things being said, but it was a no-win situation for the U.S. You're supposed to win but with all the quirks of the way it's set up, it just wasn't toward the advantage of the U.S. People who really know the game and are involved in it understand they were a little bit behind going into this whole thing and at a real disadvantage.

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.

I never said I needed someone to hit behind me. I just said I needed someone else in the lineup. If you only have one or two hitters in the lineup, you're not going to win.

I never envisioned half of what we've done. Going through what we went through, I just wanted to get back to the point where we had competitive games - not even winning, just competitive games.

I'm a big just-play-baseball guy. I'd rather we just kept it all between the lines.

I guess he caught Jason at the wrong moment, which is not hard to do.

I guess he caught Kendall in the wrong moment, which isn't hard to do.

Oh my God, he was unbelievable. At one point, I thought he was our best pitcher. Kirk was a big part of keeping us afloat.

I kinda hit the panic button a little. My main focus was just put the barrel on the ball. I guess during the game a switch went on. But I was shagging balls and felt delusional. I didn't know where I was at.

I'm really excited about this tournament, and I'd like to backdoor my way into it any way I can.

The basic message was that he thinks this is a really special group of guys, and I couldn't agree more.

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.

I know Lackey said something back in Oakland, and he said something today, too.

I just think guys were more afraid of getting hurt than anything. I know what it takes to get ready. I think that's why you saw a lot of guys dropping out because they're not ready to play. It's too early to play, especially competitively. That's why spring training is what it is.

I have the right approach now. I had the wrong approach. Now, I'm less aggressive and I'm letting things happen. I like to swing the bat and attack the ball. I'm seeing the pitch and slowing it down a little bit. As funny as it sounds, I'm really not worried about my numbers.

I just wanted to get off the turf.

But he deserves a managing job. I'd love to see him go.

Chicago had it. And you look at a team like the Angels, going back to when they won it all in 2002, they had it, too. They still do, as a matter of fact. They've had it for a long time, and they've done a lot of winning.

He's raking. He's got that confident look in his eye again.

I didn't know he was ready. It surprised me. Obviously, if Rich is back, it will be a much-needed boost.

I didn't even see Frank's swing. By the time I put down my helmet and my batting gloves and sat down, Milton went deep.

I don't know if that's a direct result. Mentally, I was prepared this season, regardless of my physical condition.

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.

He's a motivator, I've found. He's already come up and said, 'Eric, this is going to be your best year ever,' and he's always talking about getting your mind right for April 1.

He's like Rich Harden, he could dominate in this league for a long time, if he wants to and he focuses. Some guys have the stuff to dominate, but Hernandez pitches, too.

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

It's a miracle we're going after for now. You never know. It was a miracle last year (in the playoffs) when Boston came back on New York. We'll keep fighting until they tell us there's no chance to make it.

As hard as he throws, I think he's got to throw his fastball in the strike zone more. Then he can pitch off his fastball. Every successful pitcher in this game pitches off the fastball.

Sometimes you really do have to tip your cap to the other guy. I mean, Colon is a legitimate Cy Young type of guy, and Lackey is right up there in the league in strikeouts. But tonight, we should have scored some runs off this guy. The rest of the league does. We're the only team the guy shuts out.

the four-time Gold Glove winner said. ''The pain was the same as before, but it started to affect my performance. It was mental, too -- it really altered the way I went after balls. I wasn't being relaxed, I was thinking, 'I have to get there really fast,' because I had to think about making the throw.

The door is still open, even if it's a crack. We'll keep fighting until they tell us we can't make it and the season is over.