Grady Little Quotes (96 Quotes)

We like his stuff and we're anxious to get him back to the Major League club. We feel he could be very useful in the bullpen later on. We liked the person, his character. He's an awfully good teammate.

I was very impressed with what took place today all over. It takes a toll on you, but not really as bad if you lost both of these games.

Once he gets in there, the type of guy he is, he's going to want to be in there all the time, and I'm sure we'll have to back him off again.

The pitching coach came out and I'm sure his words to that pitcher were to try and get a ground ball back to you. I guarantee that's what he told him before he walked away and that's one of those times it happened.

Today we got a good glimpse of the pitcher we've been hearing about. He's got a strong arm and he took it right at hitters, and the results showed.

The Lowe I saw today is almost identical to the same guy in Boston.

With Izzy, we feel better than we thought we would. He's hitting full-speed right now. I had to go get an explanation on that myself yesterday (Saturday). But they tell me hitting is a different motion all together (from throwing). So, he's still a ways away.

We had a Mexican pitcher, a Puerto Rican catcher and a Korean pitcher all yelling at each other. I couldn't understand what any of them said.

His best so far. He had a better look on his face. He rebounded physically well today. We're very pleased with that. He'll work the game Saturday night and that will set him up for Monday.

All I knew about him was his injury history. We're still well aware we have to protect him. We can't use him day in and day out.

He did throw well today.

Dodgers coach Manny Mota talked to the kid Friday, and the kid said he wasn't going. We're glad he made that decision. It's important for us to monitor him. It's getting to the point we want him to be here.

I'm really pleased with the outing Derek gave us. Pettitte was really good. He had outstanding command all day long. I've seen him that way many times and tonight was no different. But Derek pitched just as well.

The guy's been struggling. We figured if he takes the day off, watches us play and sits on the bench and just enjoys himself, with the day off today and the off-day tomorrow, we think we'll see a new man Friday.

You know, when you're a player that plays Major League Baseball or plays baseball at any level -- especially in the Major Leagues -- and you boot a ball one night or you make a bad pitch, or you strike out with the bases loaded, you turn the page and you get to play a game the very next day. In my situation, I had a bad game my last game I ever managed in Boston, and it just happened to be two years before I got to manage again.

I'm thrilled to get the opportunity to manage a team again. I'm totally focused on being the manager of the Dodgers.

We definitely have some tough decisions to make.

I don't think you can just sit there and say yes when you're just talking about one of 30 jobs in the world. I felt like I could. I felt like I'd be ready if the opportunity ever came along again. You can't sit there and say you expect that.

He's going to catch on Wednesday. I plan to have him in there. And he's available to pinch-hit.

You can't ask for too much tougher conditions. The sun was right in his face and the wind was blowing. And he handled all the plays he was supposed to.

We feel good about him being able to do that. He's at a point where we hoped he'd be when he takes off to go to the World Baseball Classic.

I know, I know, it's just like McNamara. Tell me that didn't cross my mind 1,001 times when I was deciding what to do. In the end, I decided to make the textbook move, and now I could strangle myself for it.

Not really, because I know myself and I know what I'm capable of doing and what I did do while I spent two years there managing the Red Sox.

It could be one to two days, or it could be seven to 10 days. We hope by Saturday to have a good read on what we're looking at. We'll play it by ear.

He hasn't felt any pain whatsoever, and that's why we're turning him loose. If everything goes well, he'll be here in Saturday. If he's physically able to do this, we're ready for him. It's very important to have one of the guys we're banking on being in our regular lineup being back in there.

I never say, 'He's a No. 1 and he's a No. 2.' They're all one of five, and each has an important role. I feel we've got some people with experience in the rotation. And we have depth with the younger kids. Last year the injuries really hurt. We've been able this winter, we feel, to build some insurance.

Had he not got hit on the arm I think he'd have gone deep into the game.

I hope he plays 175 (games) this year, to tell you the truth. You have a player with that type of talent, you want him out there as much as possible.

We're going to show up tomorrow. We'll be all right.

If the time comes and he's the best option, we'll adjust our thinking.

Our No. 1 concern right now is to get him back healthy.

It's a pretty common thing. It's happened to me while I was picking up my grandson, and he's about 40 pounds.

He's much better and we still have a lot of time to watch how he progresses. What he has is something that cannot be aggravated by getting out there too soon. It's about tolerating pain, and there's much less today. I'm more encouraged today that he'll be able to play on Opening Day Monday.

It was a big game that meant a lot to a lot of people. I made a decision, and the results were bad. What are you going to do I went on with my life.

We've seen a lot of improvement in Jose in the cage. He was at the point where he needed to improve from the left side.

That's mostly from operating with a strange catcher. You see what it takes to get on the same page. I think we saw the beginning of that today. When a guy's got an assortment of pitches, they've got to learn each other.

I think it's important to know them personally -- like, J. D. Drew and his young wife are getting ready to have their first baby.

We have some awfully good choices. They all want to be in the game. Sometimes the choices are made for you, sometimes there are some difficult choices to be made. That's what we hope happens.

We're putting the lineup out there we thought we'd put out on April 3. This is the first day that we've been able to use this lineup. We're looking forward to seeing the results.

I'm very happy with where he's at. We'll get him in a couple times before we leave, and he'll be right where we need him.

There's a little tightness and we'll back off as a precautionary measure. It doesn't seem serious. We'll go on an abbreviated schedule. He'll miss a bullpen session. We're not real concerned because we have some time to get him ready.

I don't want to put him in a position that curtails his progress. If he's playing enough for our good, don't be surprised if you see him leave here with us. If he won't get enough playing time, he'll start in the Minor Leagues.

We're still at a point in time where we're just mainly concerned with him busting loose all the adhesions that could be left in there from his injury, and I think that's about done. He pitched some outstanding change-ups and threw some good quality fastballs there.

You look in the dictionary under 'old pro' and you'll see his picture. He knows how to play the game of baseball. He's been doing it good for a long time. He wouldn't get out there until he was fully ready. He's a pleasure to have around.

It's a tough thing any time you score a lead like that. And it's something that we need to get out of our system because it gets old quickly when your offense comes to life out there, and whatever you give doesn't seem to be enough. It tends to be a long day.

He's done nothing around here to turn a person off -- in the clubhouse or on the mound. He's productive. You can't help but like everything he does. He doesn't wow you with his stuff. All he does is get people out.

They've been doing a good job. Normally at this time of the year, the pitchers are ahead of the hitters and that's a common occurrence this early in spring training. We'll see how it progresses as the spring goes along.

If it's something that happens for a period of time, it won't happen for very long.

If everyone produces, then the decision is tough. That's what we want.

I don't know if he's going to throw anybody out at the plate, but he's throwing well enough to get a couple of at-bats. We certainly hope he'll have another year like (2004). He's coming along great.