Bronson Arroyo Quotes (68 Quotes)

He forces everybody to say, 'This guy's off the wall. I can be myself around here. I don't have to walk on eggshells.

But Jed and Ben both stated to me that there was no deal on the table for me right now, and they felt pretty strongly that I wouldn't be traded any time anywhere in the near future. They couldn't guarantee me security for the lifetime of the contract.

You feel good physically, but your body does things the first time you get on the mound that you're not accustomed to the first few months. So you get tired quickly.

I agreed to the contract with the strong advice not to sign it simply for the reason that I want to play in this town and I love being a Red Sox. I wouldn't have signed this deal in any other place.

I got lucky again. I'll just keep hacking. I really just couldn't believe where the pitch was. It was almost identical to last time. I thought he was going to throw me away and it was still kind of middle-in a little bit.

We'll try to wipe this one away as quickly as possible. I only threw 79 pitches, so I feel like I'll be healthy for the Yankees. ... You always hope for the opportunity. So, we'll see.

Back in eighth grade, I remember going to school with a Mohawk and Ozzie Smith's name carved into the side of my head, and no one said anything to me. When I heard about it, I thought it was unfortunate that he got sent home, but it was also funny because he was trying to have his hair like me.

The goal is 15 wins, 200 innings, regardless of when you get them. I don't necessarily want to be anybody's ace unless it comes to playoff time.

We're definitely close, probably as close as you get to a GM as a player but it's a business. It doesn't matter how you feel personally about somebody. You've got to make the best move. It's like playing a chess match. You're just pieces on a freaking board, that's what players are in this business. It doesn't matter how much they like you.

I signed at a pretty good discount. They felt going year-to-year would be more beneficial for me financially. ... They felt like I was leaving close to 4 million on the table. But I could be in a car wreck tomorrow. So, at this point in my career, it's obviously benefiting me with a little bit of security.

(Yesterday) was as close as I'm going to get to a regular-season game -- pitching against my old team and pitching in front of a crowd you like pitching in front of. It's just funny, man. You look across the field and see all the guys you've been playing with the last few years. It's like playing against your neighbor in Little League or something. It's hard to keep a straight face.

I enjoyed having him around. I think he brought a lot of honesty to the table as a GM and also, he's kind of closer to our age group, so it was easy to communicate with him. The door was always open. People always say that, but it's hard, a lot of times, when you have a big gap in age. A lot of times people aren't as friendly in front offices, it can be more like a principal-student thing. With Theo, you always felt like you were on the same level as him.

Any time you have somebody whose been around you personally for a while, they get to know your tendencies and it's nice to have that familiarity.

I was definitely surprised, ... just being that he had only been there for a couple of years, he's a hometown guy, growing up a Red Sox fan. Other than being a player, it's the best job in the world, and I thought he was going to be here for life.

You kind of feed off each other. You're thinking about Wakefield going nine last night. I'm sitting down on the bench thinking the same thing, trying to get deep in the game.

To make it through that inning just giving up two runs really helped out a lot,

It's funny, ... it's almost like Theo is such a friendly guy, so much like on of his peers, I think he went above and beyond so people (thought) he wasn't 'one of the guys.'

I was trying to nibble a little bit because I didn't feel I needed to give in to these guys to get them to swing at something. That put me in a jam.

Luckily for us we just got more balls in the air than they did. These guys can do enough damage on their own but I guess if I can help out the cause, I'll keep doing it. If the wind is blowing out, we have a team that can put up some runs. That gives confidence to the starting pitching.

It was an 0-2 fastball. I was trying to go up around his neck at the middle of the plate. I missed and left it chest high on the outer half.

I think he's the type of guy who's going to come in here and handle the pressure. He's pretty low key. He does his business and he doesn't worry about what's going on outside (with the media attention). I think he's going to play great defense, and I expect him to have a good year, where everybody will say this is the Mike Lowell that we know.

I wouldn't expect him to be back before the All-Star break. The infection he's got is pretty tough to get rid of and because he already had one replacement there's no blood flow in that area so it's hard to knock it out. So it's going to be basically take the hip out, knock out the infection, put a new one back in. That's a lot of trauma on the body.

I'm sure everyone looks at the standings at one time or another. We knew the Yankees would be there from Day 1. We knew it would be a tight race and it will probably come down to the last three games of the season against these guys. They're two good teams.

He comes in consistently throwing the ball hard and where he wants to. I'm amazed each time he goes out there.

We got on a streak just like this last year, and you really feed off each other. You're thinking about getting deep into the game to save the bullpen for October, and it's fun.

I was in another world after hitting it out.

Not having him around is probably definitely going to hurt us a little bit, but everybody is a professional around here and pretty much set in their ways anyway, so we're going to try to go forward.

I definitely noticed it. It just means that people are expecting big things from me. I hope I can come here and satisfy that need for us to have some quality pitching.

Having two No. 1s is really what put us over the top and I think we have an opportunity to have that here with Josh and Curt if they're both healthy.

The most promising thing (about the trade) is I wont have to worry about going to the bullpen . . . unless Im absolutely horrible.

They didn't guarantee me anything, but the vibe I got from them from what they said to me was that they weren't going to trade me any time in the near future. That's relative to whatever you think the near future is, but I thought it came pretty quick.

I just tried to stay focused, thinking about (Tim) Wakefield last night being able to come back from a five-run deficit and get a win,

I was surprised by the atmosphere in the stadium in Chicago. The fans were loud. Yankee Stadium can be loud. Those people gave them a run for their money.

Facing the Yankees 19 times a year, that lineup is so power packed -- even the eight hole and nine hole sometimes. It's tough to pitch to. It's mentally wearing on you as the game goes on. For me to be over here in the National League, just to have the pitcher in the nine hole, gives me a little bit of breathing room. I don't think there's any lineup in the National League that can compare with that one. For me, it feels like it's easier to get over the hump.

It's fun. You kind of feed off each other. You think of Wakefield going nine Tuesday night. I was down on the bench, thinking the same thing.

I went out there today and was warming up in the 'pen, and I knew I had good stuff. When you've got good stuff, especially playing in a park like this, that's so big, you can be really aggressive and kind of go after these guys.

Obviously, everybody likes to see you around and get to know your new teammates. But everybody understands Manny's not on the same page with all of us. Just like Pedro Martinez. Pedro was used to doing his own thing, but you win 15 to 20 games every year, you've earned the respect of your teammates, and nobody is going to complain about it.

That's why I stopped thinking about Manny. Unless he's at the plate, you don't know what the hell he's doing.

Manny is a strange guy. Outward, he's happy-go-lucky. On the inside, he's got a lot of conspiracy theories going on. Obviously, Manny might be one of those guys when he's 50 years old he might be in his house with all the blinds shut and looking out and the CIA is after him. You don't know, man. You don't know what's going on his head.

It's funny pitching against guys you played with the last three or four years. It's like playing against your next door neighbor in Little League or something. It makes you want to laugh.

From what I'm hearing, I wouldn't expect him to be back before the All-Star break.

Any time you face your old teammates, you want to do well - especially since it had been such a short time since I got traded. My fastball command was the best it's been all spring. If I can feel like that every time out, I'll be happy.

That was awesome. You want to be accepted. They're expecting good things from me. I hope I can come through.

You can't walk in a dark alley at midnight and not be recognized in New England.

I thought that was all we would get.

I just felt like it was October, man. I could feel the excitement in the crowd, ... The two double play balls that I got tonight were huge for me.

I'll take that 50 times over.

I haven't spent that much time with him, but he seems maybe a little more hands on, maybe a little more vocal than Wally, but he realizes the situation he's in is probably going to be temporary.

I don't think a lot of decisions rested on just Theo's shoulders, ... I think a lot of people were involved in having a roundtable discussion and having different ideas, so I don't think it will change all that much. Obviously it's going to hurt some beca

It was disappointing. I love being a baseball player. I love the city. I loved being a Red Sox. But it's a business. They do what they do to benefit the team.