26 Quotes by Jim Hickey

It's fair to say he's not prototypical (as a setup man), but when you talk about eighth-inning guys I can't hardly imagine a better one. When (closer Brad) Lidge was down (in July) and he was the last man, he did the exact same thing he had always done.

It's a chance to say 'thank you' and provide a unique experience.

It's the first time he's pitched this long into the season. He's close to 200 innings. It's nothing really unusual. Since the start in Chicago, he's been fine. He's ready to roll. He's done pretty good, considering he was pitching in Double-A last year.

It's simple. Wheeler's got more time in the big leagues. He's got seniority. We do it by the hierarchy, and Wheeler's the senior member of the club.

Once he first tweaked it, it was a two-or-three-start kind of thing, ... Then he started to get some other aches and pains, to some extent because he was trying to compensate for the hamstring. But I really thought he was past it. He was able to make two or three starts before this with no effects at all.

That might as well have been 100 years ago. I have no concerns whatsoever that this will have any effect on Brad at all, other than a positive one. It'll make him even better, make him even stronger. He's so strong mentally, he'll use it to his advantage.

I really thought we were past it and I think he thought so, too. It actually surprised me yesterday.

He told me he was plenty willing to go back out there, to eat up some innings to help the bullpen. But I wouldn't call it an argument. We've run into situations like this before and he's argued a lot more vehemently.