Tony Russa Quotes (183 Quotes)


    We've got to get him going. He's one of our key guys, so whatever it takes. If hitting in the middle gets him going, then we'll do something else at second. I hope he gets it going, because he can help us wherever he hits.

    There's a way to win when the other guy is pitching good against you. You've got to pitch and defend well against them. We didn't defend that well today, either.

    That's a very good lineup. He pitched deep into the game and pitched well, too.

    I'm just excited that both of the guys are playing well. That's the best part about second base. The thing about Luna is he's got so much versatility. He can play in the outfield tomorrow if we really want him to.

    I haven't checked with Juan. I don't know why he wouldn't arrive tomorrow.


    The thing I learned when I was playing was that your best way of winning was to make it difficult for the other club to score in the last three innings of the game.

    He had a good throw. We're leaning toward it, (but) we're going to wait and see how he feels tomorrow during the off day. If he comes in feeling great, he starts. If not, we go the other way.

    It wasn't good enough. It looked like he was kind of hurrying to get outs. He missed his location a couple of times, they've got a dangerous lineup and they made him pay.

    What a performance we're watching. It's just been a privilege to watch this kind of excellence.

    We worked hard to get here. The club has been so relentless, as strong-minded as you can be.

    Sometimes you get what you deserve. For 40 to be No. 200 and to make it a grand slam, it's like it's from the movies.

    That was a classic start by Marquis there, as far as competing in a really tight game. Seo was pitching just as well.

    It's a really neat and special coincidence, but it's nothing but a coincidence. This wasn't set up to give Matt that honor. It's just the way it worked out. It's a neat extra.

    He's anxious, he's straining to get out there, and we think if he gets out there he's going to go backwards and hurt himself. We're just trying to give him a little more work and see how he responds.

    The ball Albert hit would've gone out anywhere. There weren't balls that were hit to the warning track that did not go out that would have gone out in other ballparks. I think it's going to play like the other one.

    They have done some really good things, mixed their pitchers or patterns up. I think no matter how good you pitch, we've got so many weapons, there's a way for us to break through and we haven't.

    He's searching. He wants to hit. He believes he can hit. It bothers him when he doesn't hit. But he can separate the game in a classic way, and that says a lot about him.

    He'll be very good for the Atlanta Braves. He didn't quite jell in that Boston situation, but he can play anywhere. So many people have exaggerated that year.

    He turned his ankle. We'll see how he feels tomorrow.

    Ever since he's put on the 'birds on the bat uniform,' that's how he's played. He's such a tough and really good player. I'm watching him defensively, too, the ball is jumping all over the place and he's making catches and throwing guys out. He cranks out tough at-bats every time he goes out there. He's just a really good player.

    I would think the biggest misconception about our club was we have this powerhouse offensive team.

    Someone told me a long time ago a good test in situations like this, ... You ask the guy, 'If this was your free agent year, when could you play'

    Take your hat off to him. He never put the ball over the middle of the plate when we had a chance to hurt him.

    It's a better setup, ... We could have made an adjustment and pitched Matt tomorrow, or Supp tomorrow, whichever, but it's a better setup for us.

    I count that as a quality start. Sometimes you can abuse the stats. Our team won the game, when's the last time the Cardinals lost when he started That's a better stat.

    I've answered this question every time exactly how I believe it, and that is that we had the luxury of a crooked-number lead, and the responsibility of our relievers were No. 1 Get outs. But No. 2 Don't give them any cheap opportunities, which means walking guys because you're being too fine,

    He had a good throw, and we're leaning towards him, but we'll wait and see how he feels tomorrow during the off-day. If he comes in feeling great, he starts. If not, we'll go the other way. But he had a good throw and we expect him to pitch.

    Any pitcher can make a mistake, and we're good enough to capitalize. But (Arroyo) did enough good things. He got a lot of outs in a lot of different parts of the zone. That's good pitching. If we pitch good, I always think there's a chance we're going to break through any particular inning.

    He walks in (to San Diego) and things are already in motion. He's very intelligent, very honest, very tough-minded. I'm very confident he'll be a huge plus for that organization.

    He's done everything. Gotten big hits, played defense well, run the bases. He's playing today, so he's still in the mix.

    He fits in. One of the things we believe about our club is we have a bunch of guys who are prime-timers, who are not afraid to take big at-bats.

    I don't think it's unorthodox. Whenever he does something it's just aggressive and makes good sense. I really respected him (as the manager) in Milwaukee. ... If they have a chance to win, he'll make sure (his players) are in the right place.

    I tip my hat to the decision-makers over there, to Willie, for not overreacting. We apologized.

    It would prove that point that the attention should be on the players and not the managers.

    You're watching the number and go '10-9-8' and get to one and you're going to celebrate Zero is when you celebrate. That's what we're doing to do.

    That was vintage Carpenter. He had first and second, the middle of the lineup, and he gets out of it. That's what he does.

    When we've got into some kind of adversity, when we've had to go left or right, up or down, it's been good for us. And the reason that it's worked that way is that these guys have been very strong-minded, very tough-minded about not conceding anything.

    I'm careful not to give into theatrics when times are tough, I don't like it when somebody gives into outside pressure and puts on a show for others.

    This is one where you'll be lost for words. No thoughts, no description of the game. ... I'm at a loss to describe it, man. There's a new memory for new Busch. ... It'll be tough to top that one.

    We have to get (Juan) going. I think (hitting coach) Hal (McRae) sees the correction that he needs to make.

    We've just gotten so lucky. Like Gretchen saying she would help. She's going to do our show on Sunday night. On Monday, she goes to Dallas to open her first national tour as a headliner. That she would do this, donate her time, is incredible.

    I believe Major League Baseball is here in force, ... I know what they tell us about certain latitudes you get in postseason play because you're supposed to be emotional and try and win this.


    He pitched the game he was capable of, but we actually had three, four, five chances with some of our best RBI guys, and he made pitches, ... So take your hat off to him. He pitched very well. We had our chances.

    I think my first understanding of the significance of Gibson's home run is the drama of what he did that day, as hurt as he was, that being his only at-bat. And if you saw him foul those pitches off and how gimpy he was, it was an incredibly heroic kind o

    He just didn't have it. I just don't think that it's a good idea to pat a guy on the back for getting to the sixth inning when he was ineffective for three innings. ... He's capable of so much better than that.

    What a performance we're watching. It's been a privilege to watch this kind of excellence. A lot like our first baseman. ... He's had a great, great year. Nobody has had a greater one.

    Those two swings were sweet Jim Edmonds swings. A couple of others times, he probably put a little too much into it.

    He hasn't started working out hard yet. I don't know enough about his stroke. He missed a lot of playing time in spring training, so I don't know how quick (his return) can be.

    When you're talking about the best first five years in Major League history, how is that not huge Whether it's the 100 RBIs or .300 batting average or 30 home runs, that's huge. It's historic. We're not going to be cool about that one. We just saw history. How often do you see history in this game When you see it, you applaud it and you appreciate it.


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