Tony Russa Great Quotations

Mentally, is closing tougher than a hitter going out there with 600 at-bats to produce ... tougher than a starting pitcher? For the great closer, it's as tough. He watches the club for eight innings. Then if he goes out there and screws it up, he's got 24 guys to answer to. It's a heck of a deal. Some guys can't handle it.

He's had another great year, the ERA stands for itself. I would never say anything to take away from Roger's year, but I think Chris has got everything working for him. ... His level of outstanding work is just getting better and better and better. He started good, and he's gone to great.

He's a remarkable baseball man, a remarkable character and a remarkable friend. Yeah, I miss him, but I feel great because he's as happy as he can be.

He is a classic high-average hitter because he takes a relentless approach every at-bat. Every at-bat he's the same way. He battles the great pitchers, he battles the real good ones, the good ones, the ones that are trying to make it.

He got himself into great shape coming into camp. He's not in a situation where he has to slow this down or that down.

My whole concentration on the game is affected by a pitch that got away. You know, that looks so terrible. The guy is a great pro. I just talked to Julian in there for a long time. Nothing against him, as soon as he fell out of his delivery...the ball has to get down. He's a sinker ball pitcher. That incident screws up the whole night for me.

I think physically he feels good and I think the pressure of the postseason has got his concentration back to where it was a great, great majority of the season.

Just look at him, he's in great shape. I don't know if he's more excited than he's ever been, but certainly he's not any less. I think he's high quality.

Just look at him. He's in great shape. There isn't a thing that has happened to him that has gotten in the way of preparation. I don't know if he's more excited than he's ever been, but he certainly isn't less.

We have one of the game's best closers but he was fresh and we didn't feel like we were pushing him at all. I don't care how great Izzy is, if I'm on the other side they may think they've got a better chance when the other guy comes out, because Carpenter's just dealing.

We worked hard to get here. Our club has been so relentless, and we're in a great position. ... The club has been absolutely relentless, and as strong-minded as you can be. This club is mentally and physically very, very tough.

We're mostly try to get to the finish line first, as soon as possible, then if we can do that, we're going to try to get to October as ready as we can. We're not trying to make a start for Anthony Reyes. We're trying to take care of those two priorities. If it turns out that we want to lengthen out the rotation for some reason, Anthony's a great guy.

What's different about this club, when you have this many setbacks, it's usually part of why you don't win or you barely squeeze by in the last week of the season with a good but not great record. To have this kind of run and play this quality of baseball for this long is why this club deserves a very different kind of credit.

When you face a guy who's been such a great teammate, and we have experienced so much together, it makes it a lot more personal. We know him, he knows us. It's definitely a different type of game.

What a performance we're watching. It's been a privilege to watch this kind of excellence. A lot like our first baseman. ... He's had a great, great year. Nobody has had a greater one.

We went through this last year. ... We're not going to get into wild-card formulas. The magic number has got to be zero to celebrate. It is one. ... It's a great feeling to know we're going to play in October, but we've always been taught you're a champion when it gets to zero.

It makes it a lot more personal, ... I mean, whoever you're facing, you know professionally what's at stake. But when you face a guy who's been such a great teammate, we have experienced so much together, it makes it a lot more personal.

It's been a great story all year long, how we've been able to compensate for some really important pieces that have not been available, ... He's an important piece and we're still hanging in there.