Brian Bannister Quotes (16 Quotes)

That's winning ugly and just staying alive out there. Sometimes I wonder what I win with. Sometimes it's just pure determination.

That's how I should have done it. If I were pitching against Cuba now, I'd attack them so much differently.

It was kind of a bittersweet day. My mom was having a tough morning because one child was having surgery and the other had good news.

I'm pretty flexible. It's all up to Victor and how he feels. I'm still on my schedule, so it doesn't matter.

I think I've been giving these guys too much credit for being good hitters. I know they are good hitters up here, but I can't be afraid to pitch to them. When I get in trouble I am able to go after them.

They took a leap of faith to put me in the rotation right away. It's a compliment and I'm just trying to take advantage of it, like I did in spring training. It's one of those things I've got to get over my own fears of being out there. Once that happens, I feel like I can be a part of this team and really just rely on these guys to win games.

I didn't really settle down until the fourth inning. It was almost a blessing that it was cold. It made me concentrate on my pitches. I made pitches when I had to. But I wasn't right early in the count.

He is one of my inspirations to keep working hard. He is extremely talented, but he has fallen on some tough times. I think about him a lot when I play.

This whole spring has been tough because Aaron and I have become good friends. I know his preference is to start. I know I'm getting an opportunity and I'm happy about that, but I know it means he's giving up something he wants to do. I know this is about what Aaron can do in the bullpen.

I think you can tell the jitters by hitting Alfonso Soriano in the head. I didn't feel comfortable until about the fourth inning. Then I settled in, my adrenaline started cooling off. Those first three innings were almost surreal. It was almost a blessing that it was cold because there weren't as many people out there.

My approach is I don't give in. I'll walk guys before I'll give them a pitch they can drive. I'll keep making my pitches all day.

It's a knack, it's a gift, and there's also a lot of hard work that goes into it. There's a reason you have a .700 career winning percentage. He always gives his team a chance. When he gets on the mound, everybody just has a faith in him. That's the best thing you can do as a starting pitcher give your team a belief they're going to win that night.

I knew my role was to come in here and to lay low, to just eat up innings, to pitch any game they needed me to pitch and to just give this team a chance to win every time. It wasn't to come in here and take over the show.

I felt like I was dragging a big weight behind me because I was dragging that leg along. I knew it wasn't bad because I was still walking and running on it. If it was torn, you're going down, so I knew it wasn't bad. It was very painful and I'm just glad I made it home.

This is going to be a special team. It's a lot of responsibility, but I'm looking forward to it. That's why I've prepared the way I have the last three years in the minor leagues, to get to this point, so I can contribute and they feel like I'm ready.

I think you add 40,000 fans and it changes things a little bit. All of a sudden, you're in a situation where there are tons of people, it's on TV, and people are analyzing everything you're doing. Now it's for real. Everything counts. For any young guy, it's something you have to adapt to.