Willie Randolph Quotes (287 Quotes)

He just reminds me of one of those rare kids who understands that they have a great opportunity, and they want to grab hold of it, seize it and not look back. He knows he still has to do it over a consistent period of time.

We worked hard this year, and we want to finish up strong, and that's what we're going to do. I don't believe in playing major-league games to just look at people. That's what spring training's for.

Carlos can hit anywhere. He's one of those guys who can adapt to any situation, I believe.

We need to get him going. That's why you go to a guy early in the season, so he can get his confidence going. He'll be all right. We'll just give him the ball again and he'll make some pitches and get himself going.

I'll assume they just push it back.

I thought we had it, man. He came in there and did a pretty good job. After the full count he had to challenge him, I guess.

We had to. You have guys that tweak a hamstring and walk off the field. But any time you've got to be helped off the field, you're not going to be making your next start. There's no reason to take a chance on hurting him and pushing that. That to me was no question. There's no way in the world he's going to be able to go in time.

Jake is getting his feet wet, not to get crazy. But it's nice that he's doing well.... That's why I like fresh blood, young blood. When the adrenaline starts flowing, sometimes good things can happen. The kid deserves a lot of credit coming up here and keeping his poise and making a contribution to what we're doing right now.

They wanted to make the play. They're both very aggressive and went after it. That happens sometimes when you have two aggressive outfielders. Large crowd and a lot of noise, sometimes you don't hear each other, as far as communication. But it's just the way we play, man, very aggressive, and it's unfortunate to have to collide like that.

We walked the tightrope a little bit, but it was a good game for the fans to watch.

Some guys take a little longer to exhale. It's a natural thing, a human thing. I think that most of the guys I've seen in the league, as time goes on they get more and more comfortable. I hope that's the case with him.

I would hope that when he's ready, he's ready to play,

It's a competition. Let it play out and we'll see what happens when the dust clears.

I just wanted to take his temperature real quick. Let him know what we expect from him.... I still have a lot of confidence in him.

Overall I was pleased. When you think about a lot of guys not being here, having to deal with the World Baseball Classic all in all we dodged a bullet. I feel real good about the team going into the season.

We have 25 games left, and we have to go for it, ... I want to make sure that my next five guys know what they need to do and know that they're going to pitch and they can get themselves ready for the ballgame. This gives them a better chance to just lock in.

Obviously, if you play games like that with the fans, they can come down harder on you. We all have choices to make and reactions to different things.

His hands have been good. I like his approach, I like that he's willing to take a walk. He has a certain poise at the plate with some bat speed at the end of his swing.

I don't ever want that to be on your mind. That's an attitude that means you feel you're not as good as they are. We know where they are in the division. That's obvious. But I want my team to feel like they don't have to take a back seat to anybody.

I've talked to my guys about it. All teams, when they go through a growing process, these things happen before you get to a certain level. I told them to make sure they don't like the taste they have in their mouth. It's going to be a good learning experience for them.

I feel like we deserved this victory. We haven't had a comeback like this in a while. All year long, we've had a lot of heartbreaking losses.

The next batter, Floyd, drove in all the rest of the Mets' runs with his a line-drive homer that landed against the sign banner in right field that proclaims the Mets' 1999 wild card and division series winners. (The grand slam) gave us the lead, ... but the way we've been playing, nothing is totally safe.

His stuff is good. Hey, we're 9-2 and he's a part of our team and as long as we're doing well I don't feel I should waste a lot of energy talking about him.

I felt good about the match-up. Bonds is a great hitter, but my closer is one of the best in the game.

Today, obviously it's pretty much bad game management. Anytime you give up 0-2 home runs, that's not what you want to do. We had that quick 1-2-3 pitcher and then all hell broke loose in that one inning where he should have gotten out of that real easy. He just made bad pitches at the wrong time.

One thing we bring to the table is our aggressive speed. That can also be a factor if you play smart. When I make my lineup card, I put whoever I feel has a chance to help us win that day. I try not to get too deep about it.

We have a long way to go and we're going to see them a lot. If you want to look at it that way a big series, fine, but we're just going to take it one series at a time. This one is next.

It can't hurt. He's been there before, and bottom line, I hope he can produce and help win us some games.

Getting thrown out of the game is protecting my players. I just voiced my opinion and I was thrown out.

He's one of those people you wish you could go have dinner with.

The more work he gets, the better he'll be. His stuff is still good. He's able to make pitches. As long as we're doing well, I don't really see the need to waste a lot of energy talking about him. He's part of the team and the team is doing well.

He would beat you every time but would have an encouraging word for you. He didn't take it so seriously that he didn't have fun.

I've got a lot of learning to do. I still have a lot to learn.

He's so much ahead of a normal guy coming off rehab.

We need bodies. He's here basically because Kaz got hurt.

He's a big guy and has a lot of moving parts. He has to be more consistent. The change in environment can be good for him. Just because you put a label on somebody with one team doesn't mean he'll be the same way with another team.

Everyone is strong early in the season. I think it's best to wait a little longer and see if the trend sticks. I just think some good hitters are off to some good starts.

I said last night I would see how he felt. He had a pretty good game for us but I still didn't even ask him if he wanted to play because he got hit.

When you're in the heat of something, you go with what you've got or what you trust, OK

The challenge is changing the mindset toward winning, ... When you walk out on the field every day, you got to expect to kick butt -- or they're going to kick yours. It's not all about talent.

All the guys came through big-time. We put the pieces of our puzzle together over the winter and solidified our lineup. They are the ingredients we hope will take us to the next level.

We'll continue using everybody who's in camp. It'll be a competition.

There's no time frame yet. We have a Plan B.

For the most part, you hope it's a 24-hour deal. You can't guard against it. It happens all the time. We're like family everyone talking together, spitting ...

I can't really get into his head and know how he feels, but I'm sure he's enjoying this opportunity. He's been doing the job for us. He seems like a pretty solid kid.

We're obviously picking a bad time to go into a little bit of a swoon. And it's hurting us.

It's Spring Training, so you get your work in. But we're still continuing to work toward a certain style of solid play, how we go about our business. I want to see some of that, too. Spring Training isn't just about stats.

I think he understands that he needs to make sure everything is right before he gets out there.

We don't care about that. This is a new team, a new year. We just go out and play.

A lot of wasted opportunities, that's for sure. We had men on base, opportunities to squeeze a couple across. Trachsel pitched a pretty good ballgame. These are games we have to win.