Tony Russa
Tony Russa
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
certainly excited gotten great happened
Just look at him. He's in great shape. There isn't a thing that has happened to him that has gotten in the way of preparation. I don't know if he's more excited than he's ever been, but he certainly isn't less.
certainly excited great high
Just look at him, he's in great shape. I don't know if he's more excited than he's ever been, but certainly he's not any less. I think he's high quality.
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.