253 Quotes by Tony Russa

I think we understand we're officially in October baseball. But we discussed it last year and again this year. It just doesn't seem right to celebrate it when the magic number is one. You're watching the number go 10, 9, 8 ... and it gets to one so you celebrate? When it gets to zero, you celebrate. That's what we're going to do.

For a guy who is supposed to be very tough, he's got a lot of cupcake in him. I saw him in an afternoon game in Cincinnati and he had his full beard on, but his wife didn't like it so he shaved it. He's macho with an asterisk.

I watch the outfield and how neat it is to have guys playing for their lives. You watch those drills, there's a lot in those drills. When you have an outfield that's set they're getting the kinks out.

Then there's a consequence because that'll be picked up someplace and it'll get attached to him some and he'll lose some points with legitimate fans and people in uniforms. It's a shame. How about how hard he works every day? How he cheers for his team when he's 0 for four? And all these other million things he does right? Somebody says he lingers at the plate? That's real tired.

I think they're starting to feel good about how they're throwing. We've shown the kind of depth that can pay off for us.

It's not the way you'd like to set it up, where all of a sudden a guy who has pitched well as a starter, you make him a reliever,

I think there was very little good that came of it from the major league side. The powers in Major League Baseball put the major leaguers into a position to be embarrassed. Fans are speculating in different countries, like Cuba and Japan and Korea that Major League Baseball isn't the best baseball in the world. I think it is, if the competition is fair.

It's not the way you'd like to set it up, to all of a sudden take a guy who has pitched well as a starter and make him a reliever,

I sat down with him right away, and I think he was as frustrated as we were. He was working to try and get there. The process was difficult. But he has been working. So we scratched his sideline.