Tony Russa
Tony Russa
care finish great line mostly october ready rotation soon start trying turns
We're mostly try to get to the finish line first, as soon as possible, then if we can do that, we're going to try to get to October as ready as we can. We're not trying to make a start for Anthony Reyes. We're trying to take care of those two priorities. If it turns out that we want to lengthen out the rotation for some reason, Anthony's a great guy.
concentration feels good great majority physically pressure
I think physically he feels good and I think the pressure of the postseason has got his concentration back to where it was a great, great majority of the season.
affected against ball concentration fell game great guy incident looks night pitch screws soon talked
My whole concentration on the game is affected by a pitch that got away. You know, that looks so terrible. The guy is a great pro. I just talked to Julian in there for a long time. Nothing against him, as soon as he fell out of his delivery...the ball has to get down. He's a sinker ball pitcher. That incident screws up the whole night for me.
best care chance fresh great guy pushing side
We have one of the game's best closers but he was fresh and we didn't feel like we were pushing him at all. I don't care how great Izzy is, if I'm on the other side they may think they've got a better chance when the other guy comes out, because Carpenter's just dealing.
compensate great hanging pieces year
It's been a great story all year long, how we've been able to compensate for some really important pieces that have not been available, ... He's an important piece and we're still hanging in there.
excellence great greater nobody performance privilege watch
What a performance we're watching. It's been a privilege to watch this kind of excellence. A lot like our first baseman. ... He's had a great, great year. Nobody has had a greater one.
barely baseball club deserves good great last quality run season squeeze week win
What's different about this club, when you have this many setbacks, it's usually part of why you don't win or you barely squeeze by in the last week of the season with a good but not great record. To have this kind of run and play this quality of baseball for this long is why this club deserves a very different kind of credit.
champion feeling gets great last magic number taught zero
We went through this last year. ... We're not going to get into wild-card formulas. The magic number has got to be zero to celebrate. It is one. ... It's a great feeling to know we're going to play in October, but we've always been taught you're a champion when it gets to zero.
face great guy whoever
It makes it a lot more personal, ... I mean, whoever you're facing, you know professionally what's at stake. But when you face a guy who's been such a great teammate, we have experienced so much together, it makes it a lot more personal.
answer closing club eight goes great guys handle heck hitter produce screws starting tougher watches
Mentally, is closing tougher than a hitter going out there with 600 at-bats to produce ... tougher than a starting pitcher? For the great closer, it's as tough. He watches the club for eight innings. Then if he goes out there and screws it up, he's got 24 guys to answer to. It's a heck of a deal. Some guys can't handle it.
absolutely club great hard mentally physically worked
We worked hard to get here. Our club has been so relentless, and we're in a great position. ... The club has been absolutely relentless, and as strong-minded as you can be. This club is mentally and physically very, very tough.
definitely face great guy knows type
When you face a guy who's been such a great teammate, and we have experienced so much together, it makes it a lot more personal. We know him, he knows us. It's definitely a different type of game.
baseball character great happy miss remarkable
He's a remarkable baseball man, a remarkable character and a remarkable friend. Yeah, I miss him, but I feel great because he's as happy as he can be.
coming great himself shape situation slow
He got himself into great shape coming into camp. He's not in a situation where he has to slow this down or that down.