He just treats people like people instead of treating them like players. If a guy has a bad day, he doesn't treat them any differently than if they had a great day, and that makes everybody feel comfortable. They can all go out and play, and not worry about their manager changing his disposition every day.

I've been real pleased with our catching this season. Damian has given us a little more pop, and Chad hit better after a bad start. Both do great jobs behind the plate.

He's a good pitcher having a bad year. And the good pitcher in him came out tonight.

He wouldn't have had a bad month without that problem. We weren't going to use it as an excuse.

He's unfailingly patient. He never panics. He has a knack for taking a lot of pressure off of everybody. He never dogs anybody, no matter what. He just treats people like people. He doesn't treat them like players. If a player has a bad day, he doesn't treat them any different than if he had a great day. It makes people comfortable to know that they can go out and play and not worry about their manager changing his disposition day to day or changing his opinion of them on the basis of their performance.

I feel bad about that. We've really raided them. But we didn't have any choice. We had to do it.