This Week(s) in Mets Quotes

While harsh, I think Pelf’s teammates can respect the fact that he said this on record and not as a cowardly anonymous quote

"It's unrealistic for anybody at the end of last year to come in and say, 'The Mets, this is a one-year thing, next year we're going to win it all.' It's unrealistic."  Pelfrey via the post

Or not

"He's cutting his own throat. What's his record, six and nine? He's supposed to be the ace of the (bleeping) staff. Why don't you go and win 12 or 13 games?" Anonymous teammate via the post

Izzy, just wanted to show that this old man is worth a damn

"I wanted to go somewhere and see if I could make a team.  So here we are. It's hard to pass it up because this is where it all started. Full circle."  Izzy on February 2nd via dailynews

Correction, Izzy just wanted to reach an arbitrary career milestone

"It is special.  It's the reason I came back was to get 300 -- and I got it. So now it's time to move on for myself and keep playing baseball and hopefully get some more saves before the end of the year."  Izzy August 16th via espn

But next year, Izzy wants to show that this old man is worth a damn as long as that damn is over $500,000

"If I feel healthy, I'll have my agent talk to some people and see what kind of interest is out there.  I'm not coming back for 500 grand again -- I know that."  Izzy August 18th via nypost

I don’t think Warthen and I have the same definition of stuff

"[Parnell] certainly has much better stuff than K-Rod."  Warthen via nypost

This reminds me of how Al Leiter once got that base hit when showing bunt then taking a cut and started doing that during all his ABs no matter the count or if runners were on

"I remember my first home run. That day, we had no batting practice. (Pirates pitcher) Rick Rhoden hung a slider and I hit it out. The next few starts, I didn’t take batting practice. I thought that would help me hit home runs."  Doc Gooden via espn

My history is a little rusty but I’m pretty sure the same thing happened to Benedict Arnold

"There’s a funny story involving our clubhouse assistant, Vinny Greco. He told us he was going to celebrate and storm the field no matter what. He goes to the Red Sox clubhouse, puts on a Red Sox jacket, and there are pictures of him on the top step with two outs, waiting to celebrate.  Two days later, we win the World Series and we start celebrating on the field. We all started pounding on Vinny Greco." Doc via espn

How did this take so long to happen

"All [Nick Evan’s] done is hit.  He’s hit his whole career. The one thing he hasn’t had an opportunity to do is be an everyday player in the big leagues and see if he can hit here. So as we were getting into this, and we knew we wanted to put Lucas in the outfield, we said, ‘Well, we’ve got a guy on this bench that can produce some runs. He’s done it in the minor leagues. He hits homers. Let’s see what he can do.’ Right now there’s an opportunity."  TC via espn

Consistent play is false hustle

"I think it’s definitely easier to get in a rhythm the more you get to play."  Evans via espn

You can’t teach that kind of veteran leadership

"Go get ’em." Izzy’s advice to Parnell before his first save via espn 

Being 13th in the NL in RA doesn’t help either but no it’s probably the crying

"The Mets are crybabies. That’s why they lose."  Phillies broadcaster Gary Matthews via espn

Let’s go to our resident enforcer for retort

"I don’t care.  I don’t even know who that is, so I don’t care."  Pelfrey via espn

This story starts simple and funny then kind of got sad, like an episode of Louie

[In regards to Matthews comments] Pelfrey lightheartedly noted he was chewed out worse by a Mets fan while warming up in the bullpen before Wednesday’s 7-4 win against the Phillies. The spectator mocked Pelfrey’s tendency to lick his hands.
"I immediately licked my hand just kind of joking around, and he just blew me up.  He didn’t keep it clean. He cursed me out -- I’ve killed this team. Oh, he let me have it. And then somewhere along the line, he said, ‘You might be a nice guy. Try volleyball or something.’ He wore me out.  And then I heard the security guards talking, and that was the end of it. It was a good four or five minutes straight of just yelling and screaming. It was kind of funny." Pelfrey via espn

Um…no…I haven’t heard of Chambersburg…wait, was there a Civil War battle there…oh there was…wait, no, I’m thinking of Chancellorsville

"To be honest with you, it’s in the middle of nowhere.  It’s about 45 minutes from the nearest Walmart. Have you ever heard of Chambersburg? It’s like right in the middle of the state."  Edgin on his hometown of Three Springs, Pa. via espn

Presented without comment

"It's no joke.  It's something that's going to be with me for the rest of my life.  When you have colitis, it's something that's in you -- not only on your inside, but when you're playing, your concentration is not really on the game.  I was having a great year and all of a sudden everything dropped because I was more focused on what was going on inside of me than what I had to do in the game. I had a pain in my belly. I'll be honest: I was just trying to play through it, but there wasn't a way through it. I didn't know that, so I just kept battling and battling and it was getting worse and worse."  Pagan via espn

His honorable, unbiased Judge Jed S. Rakoff

"Judge Jed S. Rakoff’s barb in court late Friday afternoon -- when he thanked the lawyers involved in the suit against Fred Wilpon for giving him tons of paperwork because "otherwise I would have had to watch a Mets game, which would have been a very painful process"  Adam Rubin via espn 

So, after all that, it appears we’re on the same page

"I said, ‘Here’s a guy who I know can throw 95-97 mph, commands three pitches. They don’t really run on him much. And he can go out there five days a week, maybe six.’ It was just a thought I had. And I ran it by Pelf one day talking in the outfield. He said, ‘Yeah, I’ll close if you want me to close.’ It hasn’t gone much farther than that.  [And it probably won’t go farther.]  It’s one thing to say, it’s another thing to replace 200 innings, which he’s going to give you."  TC via espn via espn

I’ll feel sorry for Dickey if he commands it 

"Our moms and our wives are the only ones that are going to feel sorry for us right now. We can’t mope around and feel sorry for ourselves."  Dickey via espn

Frankie kind of put this on a tee but I’ll pass…

"[Parnell] has the tools and the mentality. He might have to get a little bit mean and start bossing people and get a little angry out there. ... When he has the ball they're going to hit whatever he wants, not what the hitter wants."  Frankie via espn

…due to this quote from Dickey

"[Frankie] seemed much different to me [after going through anger management.]  He seemed a lot more approachable and congenial. He smiled more and laughed more. There was a lot about him that was different for the better. I know he did a lot of work therapy-wise. What he presented the team with was a different kind of guy."   Dickey via post

Vegan or not, I would not want to be on the Byrdak end of the conservation

"Just a miscommunication.  [Fielder] had said something coming out of the box that I thought was directed toward me. I said something back. When he hit first base, he came back and asked me who I was talking to. And I asked him who he was talking to. He said he was talking to himself. I said, 'OK.' And I started walking toward the dugout and I see everybody hopping the fence to go back out. It's way blown out of proportion.  It was something, like I said, it was said in passing. I thought it was going to stay that way. But I turned around and everyone was out there and everything, so I was kind of shocked."  Byrdak via espn

"It's all handled now. He said something I didn't like, so I just asked him, and I think we got it solved. ... I guess it came from both of us. I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page. I had a question I had to get off my chest. It's settled now. It's cool."  Fielder via espn

Duda’s friends showing their support but showing up to the games closer to their hometown

 "L.A. was much worse than [buying tickets in San Diego.]  I think I only had to spring for only 15 or so tickets. In L.A., there was like 30 tickets each day."  Duda via espn

Things that make you feel old

"I like all the players, but one guy who has reached out to me and I've spoken to a few times is David Wright.  From a few years ago I have a video game that has his face on the cover. So it's kind of a guy I look up to. When I saw him, it was after a game, he was going to get a workout in before they left. He just showed by example how hard you need to work to make it. So I really have a great appreciation for David Wright."  Nimmo via espn

While it’s easy to get snarky about it, I’ll take this at face value and hope this is a true sign that the organization and the owners are moving forward

"More than a couple of times yesterday when we were talking to (chief operating officer) Jeff (Wilpon), he just said, 'Hey, I want to sign them all.’  And it was very clear we were going to try to do everything we could to try to get every guy that we were chasing down yesterday. It was certainly great to have that support."  DePodesta via espn
"Whether that's a shift in emphasis, I can't really say, because I wasn't here previously. But we're absolutely determined to build the foundation of this organization and create a player-development system that's a true feeder for our major league team -- and not just for role players, but also with potential impact players. That's going to take a little time for us to do. It always takes some years to build. But I think I speak for our entire scouting staff when I say we think this year was a good first step."  DePodesta via espn

An excerpt from Collin McHugh’s excellent blog

"These are just examples, but you get my drift. Personally, I have a few idiosyncrasies of my own. I will only turn glove-side when receiving a ball from the third baseman. I will wipe away the trail of dirt that my foot makes in front of the rubber after each pitch. I won't ever pick up the rosin bag ... only touch it while it's resting on the ground. These started out as fidgets. After some success, though, they turned into superstitions. After enough time passed they turned into habits, which eventually bloom into routines.  Are baseball players superstitious? Yes."  Collin McHugh’s web blog  

Canadian Smacktalk

 "I went from completely lost to feeling as uncomfortable as you could possibly feel in the batter’s box and by no means does the stretch I’ve been on say that it’s all said and done.  There was a lot of thinking going on in the batter’s box."  Bay via espn