Jose Oquendo
Jose Oquendo
José Manuel Roberto Guillermo Oquendo Contrerasis a former Major League Baseball infielder and a third base coach for the St. Louis Cardinals currently on medical leave of absence . He is the longest tenured third base coach in Major League Baseball. He also served as manager of the team representing Puerto Rico in the 2006 and 2009 World Baseball Classic...
competing expected good guy regular took
That's the only one that took me by surprise. We all expected him to be there. He's a regular in Cincinnati. He's not competing for a job. But you can't say anything. This is voluntary. A guy has a right to say no. But he would have been good to have on the team.
guy miss replace somebody strong
That's a strong position. If we miss one guy (such as Posada), we'll have somebody who can replace him.
behind good guys job pitchers work
They were pretty solid. The pitchers got their work in, and the guys did a good job behind them.
felt good guys impress impressed looking people type watching
He's his own guy, but being around those type of people has to impress you. You see people you admire, like Rodriguez, and it has to be a positive. But watching him, he's just as good as those guys. I know he was impressed by the guys he was looking at, but he also felt like he belonged. He did belong.
aggressive bases continues guys hope second swinging
Guys were aggressive on the bases and swinging the bat. I hope that continues into the second round.
aggressive baseball guys played selective swinging unlike
The guys played aggressive baseball, but they were also being selective at the plate, unlike (Tuesday) when they were swinging at many first pitches.
fast high pitching strike
Vazquez was working too fast and he was pitching a little too high in the strike zone.
run runs
We'll be aggressive. The more runs you score, the better. Every run counts.
feels hitting hope work
We hope he can do something tomorrow. We'll see how he feels after he does some hitting work in practice.
careful expect experience knows leave says unless wants
I'm going to be careful with him. He's probably going to be in the lineup, unless he says otherwise. He's probably going to be a DH for us, unless he comes out and says he wants to play first base. I'll leave this up to him. He has experience enough that he knows how much he can play. I expect him to play.
introduce soon
As soon as they get together, that's the first thing. We're going to introduce them, and we're going to introduce them around the bag.
ask beating canada puerto sure
Be sure to ask him about Puerto Rico beating Canada.
clutch hit pitch proven tough
Bernie, he's a clutch hitter. That's the way he plays. He's proven it through the years. He hit a tough pitch back the middle. He's professional who makes clutch hits. He's always done it.
close competition tradition
There has always been a tradition of competition between the islands, because they are so close to each other.