Tony Russa
Tony Russa
bad innings last nine pushing time
Every time we play him in the last two-three innings of a game, we're pushing him. It wouldn't be a bad idea for him not to play nine too often.
avoid bad concerned front half kept lose pushing second starting stretch though
We've been really concerned the whole second half that a stretch of bad play was right in front of us and I think that's kept us pushing and we've been able to avoid it. I don't want to lose that concern even though we're starting to get healthy.
bad club understanding
When something like that happens, you put the other club in a bad position, so it's better not to put the club in a bad position, ... But I think my understanding is they understand it was unintentional.
add bad chances excellent game miss point smell
We had excellent chances to add and we missed. That makes the game have a bad smell when you miss a point once or twice.
totally
It's something he should have. It's totally different from his cutter and his fastball,
almost category playing
Eckstein is playing so well, it's almost in the category of, what's new?
best change grind trying wins
The best way to keep yourself competitive is not to change anything. Right now we're trying to grind out wins and win the division.
albert ball balls gone hit track warning
The ball Albert hit would've gone out anywhere. There weren't balls that were hit to the warning track that did not go out that would have gone out in other ballparks. I think it's going to play like the other one.
al credit gets guys miss soon sounds speak step sure win
I want to make sure Al Reyes gets the credit he deserves, but you don't want to speak so much about that and pretty soon it sounds like we can't win without him, ... That's an important miss for us, but we have other guys who can step up.
hear needed ready team whatever
not what I wanted to hear. I would've wanted to hear him say he was ready to do whatever the team needed him to do in this situation.
neck sore
The neck where he had the whiplash, that's what's sore -- more sore.
ready team unhappy whatever
It's not about him; it's about the team, ... I told him, 'If you're going to be unhappy and pouting, then I can't put you out there to pitch.' He said he was unhappy, but he was ready to do whatever the team needs. I'm comfortable that's how he really feels.
closer days move protect risk smart
It's really a smart move on his part because once you're in that closer role, there are days you just got to go, you got to risk it. But here we can protect him better. For him and for us it makes a lot of sense.
advantage good pleased
I'm pleased he's here early. I think we have a real advantage with Jose (being) a very good infield instructor.