John Flaherty Quotes (38 Quotes)


    With him, it was never a question of ability, it was whether he could get it over the plate.

    The ball was jumping out of his hand. His velocity jumped up with it, his slider was tighter and he had a dominating performance.

    I don't think there's any doubt, he'll have to guard against a letdown. The games he's been dominant lately, he's shown a lot of emotion. That's when he's at his best.

    The four million fans who filled Yankee Stadium this season made an awful lot of noise, but none of that will reach the Yankees in Boston. It's not a deterrent, ... There's nothing like playing here, like having the last at-bat. But we feel good about ourselves, home or on the road.

    I started my career with the Red Sox and proceeded to live out my boyhood dreams in Major League Baseball. Thank you to all of my teammates, coaches, managers and fans for making the ride so much fun.



    With every pitcher, if you call a pitch you know where he's going to miss if it's not right so you prepare for it. With Wake, I don't think you have that luxury. If he throws a knuckleball, you just don't know where it's going to go.

    When he throws strikes, he's tough we know that from our experience with him. It's never been a question about his stuff, it's been whether he can control it in the zone. He did that in two starts against us, unfortunately.

    Mariano tried to go in on him, which is the book try and tie him up inside. But he got us again.

    He's been pitching better, but tomorrow is going to be a big one. You don't want to say 'must win,' but we need this one tomorrow. Hopefully, he'll come out on top of his game.

    Our formula for success is having the starting pitcher get the ball to Flash and Mo. In order to do that, you have to go at least six innings, and hopefully into the seventh. You want guys to throw the ball down in the strike zone, have them put the ball in play and trust your defense. It's challenging.

    From the way he warmed up and what happened the first three innings, we thought it was going to be a fun day for us. It just got out of hand in the fourth.

    You can catch him in the bullpen all you want, but until you get into a live situation with runners on base, it takes on a life of its own. It's one of those things we've been saying all spring -- the more you get back there, hopefully the more comfortable you'll be. Today didn't go the way I wanted it to. I look forward to the next one.

    Even those who would be willing to take the time to do it can't. They just can't afford it.

    If you didn't know he had surgery you wouldn't even have thought it. He had to throw probably 70 pitches, I would think. In that short period of time, it was incredible. I know I was dying back there, I don't know how he was doing.

    Today didn't go the way I wanted to. You're not expected to hit it but you are expected to catch it.

    Obviously, he didn't have a knuckleball like Wake has. This is the best that we've seen in this era and it's one of those things that you really can't prepare for. You try to talk to as many people who have caught him and see if they've done anything that has helped them.

    Don't worry, the Yankees say. Joe might be panicking underneath it all, ... but he never shows it to us.

    Johnson did not stick around after the game to discuss what happened, but catcher John Flaherty said the two men were jawing throughout much of the first two innings. In the first inning they went back and forth and Fieldin told him, to his credit, that he had had enough, and to calm it down, ... When Randy gets excited, he says a lot to the umpires about pitches he thinks are strikes. It's nothing new.

    It was a borderline pitch. I thought it could go either way. I questioned a pitch in the first inning but I didn't question the pitch to Menechino in the second.

    It was a look that I've gotten a few times. And it doesn't make you feel comfortable.

    There is nobody who is more prepared or more intelligent about the game of baseball,

    There may be some blame on both sides. Randy may have stepped over the line, and Fieldin may have gotten carried away too quickly. But when you see the umpire take off his mask, you know you have to be careful.

    Well, hopefully when it's all said and done, we'll look back and say we dodged a bullet. But we can't think about that now. We've got two more big games against these guys.

    If they have more than one hearing, it won't be that bad. But you get the sense they're trying to rush some of this, which makes it hard for people to take time to read and get familiar with this and come down to Dover.

    We've been seeing some good things from Randy. We're starting to see that Randy Johnson attitude that we've been looking forward to seeing.

    In the first inning, they were going back and forth. Fieldin told him it was enough and Randy says a lot to umpires about strikes. You can place the blame anywhere you want. Randy took it too far or Fieldin threw him out too quickly.

    We're pitching well right now. Every time we go out there, it seems like we're getting a quality start. Hopefully, that will continue.

    You'd think you were taking good swings off him, but his ball had a little extra life on it, and you'd foul it off. He steps up on the big stage, and he did it today.

    I was disappointed that Fieldin reacted as quickly as he did, but he has a legitimate gripe. Randy was saying some things in the first inning and by the second inning Cubby had enough. In the first inning they went back and forth and Fieldin told him, to his credit, that he's had enough and to calm it down.

    I think he feels good about what he did. When you put in the hard work and see the benefit and the rewards, it's gratifying for him. Hopefully he'll get on that run that we expect him to get on.

    Johnson, now 4-0 against Boston this season, took it into the game. When Johnny Damon tried to bunt on the second pitch of the game, Johnson glared at him. He gave him a look and let everybody know that he was ready for this game, ... He stepped up ... It was a look that I've gotten a few times, and it doesn't make you real comfortable.

    He's a very detail-oriented guy. For this job, he's got a great combination of old-school work ethic - knowing how to put the time in - and the new generation that uses computers and video to get as much information as possible.

    He had great stuff but not great location. But his stuff was good enough to overpower that lineup.

    He's trying to do too much right now. He wants to turn this thing around. It seems like the harder he tries the worse his stuff becomes.

    You can place blame any where you want to. You can maybe say that Randy went a little too far. There's probably some truth to that, but I was surprised that Fieldin threw him out as quickly as he did knowing the kind of umpire that he is. He's a very good umpire. I don't know if Randy stepped over the line. I didn't necessarily think he did.

    This is the day Randy Johnson stepped up to the plate. You can say maybe this is the game we got him for, whatever. A game of this magnitude, against that team, being four games down - he stepped up today.

    I thought Randy went back out there for a curtain call.


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