Tim Purpura Quotes (147 Quotes)

That's the beauty of Brad. He can take it. He can dish it out, but he can take it, too.

He has had to scratch and claw his way back. This experience has been hard on him. I don't think he or we thought it would take anywhere near this long. But it brought out the competitor in him.

I know he's a free swinger, but at least half his strikeouts this spring have been looking. That leads me to believe that he's trying to be more aware of the strike zone. He's still going to strike out a high percentage of the time. But he's more cognizant of it, and is trying to get better pitches to hit.

Last year, obviously we had two bites at the apple. This year we've got three, and we've got two more to go. We've got one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball going, and we've got another dominant pitcher going the night after that. So we feel, certainly, very well set up for it.

One caller said that when he called in May, he said I was a moron, ... He said I'm no longer a moron. So, I feel pretty good about that.

This year is completely different. He has some back issues and some hamstring issues. His last month was not of the caliber that the first five months were. He was not in the same physical condition. He's a phenomenal physical specimen, but he's also a human being. There are things that happen through the course of time that nobody can stave off.

I think his commitment to the World Classic is intriguing. That gives me some indication that he thinks that he's got something left that he can go out and participate in that.

He always had to have competition that was challenging him,

I'm as proud to see Freddy Garcia pitching in the World Series as I am to see Raul Chavez playing in the World Series,

We can win this thing, ... We've got one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball going Wednesday. And we've got another dominant pitcher Clemens going the night after that. So we feel, certainly, very well set up for it. ... So I think that certainly, the tenor and the mood is very positive at this point.

We had more questions than answers. But even through the bad days in April and May, we were developing. We were seeing some good things in every game.

I got to start that dream process of becoming a general manager. I learned a lot of the game from coming to the park across the street.

He's making progress. With a young player, there's that adjustment period. It takes time. I give him a lot of credit. He had some tough outings and he's come back from it.

It was difficult to build our club last year. We certainly learned some things from that. With the way our payroll has escalated through normal processes, it becomes an even greater difficulty this year to build.

Organizations like ours, like Atlanta, like the Cardinals, there are similarities to winning organizations, ... You have that focus that it's about winning, only winning. You have to have higher expectations than other people. And sometimes, you have to flush guys out of your system that might not buy into it, that might put their stats first, rather than winning. In those types of organizations, guys like that don't last, and they kind of self-select themselves out, and you end up being able to win on a consistent basis because you keep the guys who buy into that.

We've got some time here. We all feel bad. It's a difficult situation for everybody.

Considering that it's been since the 12th game of the franchise this is a pretty amazing event. Forty-four years is a long time, but just look where we have come from in the last 12 or 13 years. Since Drayton (McLane) owned the club we have just continued to pump out winning seasons and that's why we've made up so much of the ground.

He's a guy that can pinch-run, play some defense and steal a base for us, ... Gipson's probably Round Rock's most steady player offensively and defensively.

One of our main objectives this off-season was to add a run-producing bat to the middle of our order. Today, we feel that we have done that.

When you've been teammates that long, you're going to go through some ups and downs. They've gone through some down times.

Nothing was wrong with the elbow, but it just didn't feel right, ... There were times when it just didn't feel right.

There's nobody giving up. Nobody is hanging their head. Nobody is saying, 'We were this close to the World Series,'

It was nice to be able to recognize the people who put in the work to put us where we are as an organization.

It's been this way for quite awhile, ... It gets more notice now because you've got more teams in the hunt. You hear a lot more about it with the wild card.

It's kind of an oddity, obviously. It's part of the whole process and nothing nobody is going to get too upset about. He's playing for his country, but we know his heart lies with us.

I really don't have any feeling about his progress, because until he starts doing hardcore baseball activities, it's hard to know. He's diligent, he works hard. You can't ask for anything more that that.

They thought he really swung hard. I think it was a psychological lift for him, coming back the second day and not feeling bad, feeling like he could let it go.

It's really just to evaluate where he's at. Dr. Andrews may give us some ideas, some other things Bagwell could be doing to continue the process.

When he left, he wasn't violently ill. It was just a touch of the flu. I was more worried about his start tomorrow. Now that he will get a full day of rest, I think he should be OK. We don't start playing until Wednesday.

Brandon is probably a little ahead of where we thought he might be,

The freedoms we give him - he has used them to our advantage, ... Baseball can be somewhat monotonous, day after day, the same places, the same people. We get into a grind. I think to break up that grind may be a positive for him.

I do expect him to be limited in some sort. He's coming off major surgery and he's had some major issues over the last several years. I don't expect any player who's going through that type of thing to come on board and just all of a sudden be able to do everything on a full-activity basis.

I think that's kind of the mode you get into in this kind of a role, ... You deal in the present, but you also have to plan for the future. You have to be ready, and you have to be willing to make quick decisions when those are necessary.

We laugh about it now, but that's his mindset -- 'What can I do to make myself better'

It's the same situation we were in last year where we were uncertain as to when we would get an answer. It puts us at somewhat of a disadvantage to build our club.

His last two starts have been much better. His velocity (Thursday), he topped out at 89 (mph) and he averaged 88. His control is much better. ... He's throwing a little bit freer and easier and he's gotten a little bit more out of his arm. Certainly, if he's throwing 88, 89 from the left side he would be able to compete (in the majors).

You can't force a guy to stay there. But also, you want to try to do what's in the best interests of the club. You need a guy who can hit the ball out of the ballpark, not necessarily a guy who can hit a single. But it's a tough deal, being in the Minor Leagues, facing young guys that are out to get you.

He epitomizes the franchise and our blue-collar work ethic. He and Craig kind of coined the phrase, 'Play hard or play elsewhere.' And that's basically what he has done and Craig has done. They're the models of what we look for.

You have to have parameters you're comfortable working with. We have those parameters. We know where we feel we can take our budget, beyond what it is already and do what we need to do to still sustain the club and not put ourselves too much into a financial hole.

Roy, I think in some ways, this is THE game for him. He's doesn't get the media attention that Andy and Roger do.

Andy on occasion has described his elbow as cranky, ... He's probably going to feel that the rest of the year. That's what happens when you have surgery. But I don't think it's anything more than normal.

Certainly he's well deserving of what he's going to make. He was a key component for our seasons the last two years. There was going to come a day when he would get paid like the best of the game. And that day has come. He's well deserving.

It's a huge part of our success here, that we're very careful about what kind of people we bring into the organization as far as their character. We have one of the best clubhouses in baseball and we take that very seriously and I don't want to bring in someone who could disturb that.

I don't want to comment on that, but Roger will make his start tomorrow.

So far, we have traded e-mails and hope to set up a meeting within the next several days.

That attitude starts with Jeff and Craig. The young players follow their example.

Yesterday he came to the ballpark and felt very, very good. Better than expected. He let it loose in all of his at-bats.

We wanted to bring up guys who hadn't had much of an opportunity as a player or a coach at the major-league level,

We take it game by game, day by day. We try to do our best job today, and hopefully that is good enough, and then we go on to tomorrow. I think that's the attitude right now.

He had a much better year last year than he did the year before, hitting .245 in Double-A. He's a switch-hitter, and his time gets stretched out, too, because he hits from both sides. He's still on the radar screen. He's not off by any stretch.