Cliff Politte Quotes (15 Quotes)

We all give him trouble about how big he is. But he's a lot bigger than anybody in this clubhouse. You got to watch what you say, you don't want to get him ticked off.

I've got all my buddies calling and telling me, 'Nice job,' and I didn't do anything. They're all giving me crap, asking 'Are you going to get into these games' If we don't pitch, we don't pitch. We'll ride these guys' coattails if we have to.

It's been something that I've had against myself for a long time. Even growing up, I felt I had more talent than I was out there showing. I've always been tough on myself. I always felt that even if I did something good, I could still do it better.

He's picked me up a couple times this year. I've got one or two wins because of him. Everything he does is 120 percent. He'll run into walls. He'll run through walls. He comes in on balls better than a lot of guys I know. When you have that kind of defense behind you, it makes throwing strikes easier.

A lot of us were nervous knowing that it's a big game, a big situation and we haven't thrown, haven't faced a hitter in two weeks. If I have to rest until March or February, so be it. We live with it as long as we win.

He takes the heat for us, and that's what everybody says they like about Ozzie. To a certain degree, we have to realize it's us. We're not doing the job for him, and he's taking the blame. We can't allow him to take the blame for everything.

We've been hearing it all year. We broke camp knowing no one picked us to do very well during the season. We came out of spring being third or fourth in the polls. We were the underdog all year even when we had a 15-game lead. Nobody really considers us contenders, so if we're underdogs during this whole thing, it would just be the same as it was during the year.

If something were to come up, yeah I would be fine with it. I want to do whatever I can to help the club.

I'm just trying to be consistent. Last year, the numbers showed that I was very consistent. I'm to the point right now where I know that I have a huge mountain to climb, but if I take it one step at a time ... I know that the ultimate goal is to help this team win games.

I've been playing professional baseball for 10 years and I've seen everybody do this, and it's exciting for me and my teammates who have battled through thick and thin to finally be a part of it. We struggled for a little bit and for us to pull together at the end here, it's very gratifying for us.

We've all been telling a lot of jokes. I guess we'll all get half a (playoff) share and half a ring. We won't be in the team picture.

I don't think so. We got all that celebration stuff out of our system when we got the trophy at home. We just have to regroup. Fortunately, it's early.

Just a fastball in the middle. It was down. I didn't expect him to hit it out, especially to left field. I thought for sure if I was going to get beat, I was going to get beat in, it was away. I'm still amazed that it went out, really.

I think you kick a guy in the butt in a tough situation, it's only gonna make it worse. You shouldn't go out there and say, 'You (stink), it's still a strike.' It's messing with a kid's head.

The whole team does that. When I have a bad one on the road and my hotel room phone is ringing, it's a teammate saying he wants to come up and borrow my shoelaces and belt. By no means has it ever been to that point, but they like to have fun a little bit. To be honest, I think that has made it easier for me to deal with.