This Week In Mets Quotes: Collins On Duda, Duda On Duda, Wright On Home Run #200

Lots of interesting, funny, idiotic, and insightful things were said by the Mets — and about them — over the past week. Here are some of our favorites.

And good for New York and good for America

"Good for him, and good for us." —Terry Collins regarding Luca Duda’s home run [ESPN]

Pretty sure Duda mumbled this in a loop over and over

"That was just a play I should have made, and I did. It was not anything spectacular. It was a play that needs to be made." —Lucas Duda [ESPN]

Wright regarding getting his 200th HR ball back…I hope

"A sophomore in high school, so it was pretty easy." —David Wright [ESPN]

Our bullpen might be spending too much time on their appearance

"We want them to be the aggressor all the time. We want them to get on the mound, throw the baseball and at least have the appearance of, 'We're going after you. This is our game, and you have to hit me.'" —Dan Warthen [Wall Street Journal]

Obviously, you get a t-shirt when you finish .500 though

"You know, it's not a goal [finishing in third.] I don't know where that's coming from. It's not a goal. The goal is to play as good as we can for as long as we can. For me, our goal should be to try to get back to .500. That should be our goal. Wherever that puts us at the end of the year, it puts us at the end of the year. But, believe me, we are not playing for third place. We’re trying to win as many games as we can. Where that puts us, that puts us. I don't want these guys coming in here every day looking at the box score, seeing who is in fourth. That does nothing for me. What are we getting for third? Are we getting a sweater? A blanket with our logo on it? T-shirt, 'We finished third?'" —Terry Collins [ESPN]

Bro, you totally just burned the entire pitching staff

“I’ve been working hard to get to know these guys. For me, it’s more getting to know their personalities, understanding how they tick. They are all talented, but trying to know what they do well is a challenge.” —Kelly Shoppach [New York Times]

Maybe they should try to play for the love of the game instead

"This team has been accused of folding it up. I disagree with that. I disagreed when I heard it. I know those guys in that locker room. I know what they're made of. I know what their personalities are. And when you don't hit, it looks like you don't care. That's just the nature of the game. When you don't hit, there's no action going on. It looks like you've folded it up. And they have not. They're going to play it out. There's guys playing for jobs. There's guys playing for careers. And there's still a lot of fight. Hopefully in the next 34 games, or 33 games -- whatever we've got left – we'll see it." —Terry Collins [ESPN]

I wonder if my high school still talks about that killer mixtape I made for the music club

“The separation happened when [Matt Harvey went to college. All the showcases that he had gone to, they wouldn't let him hit. They were all afraid he was going to get hurt. He always wanted to hit. He told me he asked the coaches a few times to let him hit, and of course they said, 'No, no, no, no. We can't afford to get you hurt swinging a bat.' "He's a real good first baseman, too. He didn't hit a lot of home runs in high school, but he hit some tape-measure jobs. One of the towns that we played [East Lyme], they still talk about when he hit one three-quarters of the way up a light pole out in left field." —Ed Harvey [Newsday]

Sorry Ted Quarters, but blog of the year has to go to Collin McHugh

“I sat and stared at my phone, trying to summon up the courage to call my wife (then girlfriend) and tell her that I was a failure. As I was losing the nerve, she called me. When she heard my dejected tone and asked what the matter was, I told her the bad news. I had thrown pretty poorly and was 100 percent convinced the team wouldn't want me back come sunrise. Self pity turned to tears, which turned to anger, which made me tired ... which led to sleep. Once I had woken up and realized the new day had not brought my release papers, I learned my first important lesson of pro ball: Don't be dramatic. It's just one outing.” —Collin McHugh [ESPN]

Love that confidence regarding next year

“This year has been so weird because I’ve never hit like this, really, but I actually kind of like where I’m at because I can see off-speed a lot better. I don’t chase as much, I’m seeing the ball better from more of a squatter position. Before I was really tall and really only hit fastballs for home runs or inside sliders. Now I have chances where if he hangs a curveball to hit it out or drive it. Next year, who knows where I’ll be. But right now this is what I feel comfortable doing." —Ike Davis [NJ.com]

Who am I to question Dickey, but I would’ve had my doubts regarding this pen

"I thought there were guys down there [in the bullpen] that could seal the deal. [Collins] could make whatever decision he wanted to after that, but we've got a good relationship. I've always been honest with him. And it worked out. He made the right moves and we won." —R.A. Dickey [ESPN]

Sounds like a perfect fit for our Mets

"The honest truth is right now we're in a 30-year-old stadium with no player amenities and because of that we're going to be at a disadvantage. Someone's always going to have a disenfranchised, geographically unsatisfactory team." —Las Vegas GM Chuck Johnson [lvrj.com]

A 3 and half star Yelp rating says otherwise

"We had a fun night. We went out and had a good dinner and saw some of the great city and just had a really good time." —Collin McHugh regarding celebrating his debut at LAVO [ESPN]