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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.
Oh good, I feel much better now
"I'm very confident about the Mets' future. I have a lot of faith, of course, in the Wilpons. A lot of faith. And it's justified. And it's been justified in the last year again, not that I needed that. I also have a lot of faith in Sandy Alderson. He's an outstanding baseball man. I think they're very much on the right track. Look, rebuilding jobs take time. I've watched it. I've watched it myself. I know how difficult they are. I'm telling you right now: The New York Mets, I have absolutely complete confidence they'll be a very competitive baseball team in the years to come." —Bud Selig [ESPN]
Lots of tough pressure pitching in this tight playoff race
"[Bullpen coach] Ricky [Bones] said [Jeurys Familia’s] getting better, and I think that’s due to the fact he wants to get in some games. He’s getting himself ready fast because he wants to get in there. And I will tell you, in my discussion with Sandy today, we’ve got to start putting him in some pretty tough situations. I want to see how he reacts." —Terry Collins [ESPN]
If the Mets were in the race, I’d say this quote would be more controversial
“I was privileged to watch one of the great players, if not the greatest player, in the game play for five years in Barry Bonds. Guess what? Once in a while, they got him. And once in a while he got them. That’s what made the game great.” —Terry Collins [ESPN]
Dickey should pretty much go to every class
"When I have something that I want to share, I will find the [reporter] that I trust the most in the clubhouse. And the way that I gauge that is how the person has asked questions. How he has been curious. What has he been curious about? What has he done with some of my teammates? How has he presented an argument? The smarter players, the players you're going to want the stories from mostly, will pay attention to that kind of stuff." —R.A. Dickey [Newsday]
I think it’s safe to say Howard consumes every one he sees
"It was up -- middle up. That's what he's paid to do. He's a big guy, paid to hit home runs. I give him a meatball, so he's going to do it." [ESPN]
That prorated major league minimum is pretty sweet too
"Part of the reason I don't want to stop pitching is because I have so much fun with these guys. Even though we're struggling a little bit right now, it's still a big league ballclub. And being up here for the first time and seeing how everybody plays the game, it's been the biggest excitement for me. I'm going to miss it. The last two weeks are going to be tough. I want to be a part of it, but it's been fun." —Matt Harvey [ESPN]
Shut him down
"My body feels great. I'm not feeling any signs of fatigue or wear and tear. Nothing. I feel better now than I have all year." —Matt Harvey [ESPN]
Unlike Pelfrey
"I'm still here. I'm still part of the team. And if I'm not on the mound, I'm going to do everything I can to help the team no matter what. I'll be in here and I'll be in the dugout early and cheer the guys on.” —Matt Harvey [ESPN]
Yeah, the WBC rules are weird...
“I’m happy to be playing for Israel, but it’s kind of bizarre, too. No one from my family has even been there." —Josh Satin [New York Times]
...Yes, weird enough that this is 100% true
"If we only could get a nice Jewish girl to marry Albert Pujols, he could be at first base for us.” —Peter Kurz, the secretary general of the Israel Association of Baseball [New York Times]
Nick Swisher doesn’t have to deal with this
"I don't know what 'late' is, because when you leave the ballpark at 12 [midnight] and you get back to your place at 12:30, if you watch a movie it's 2:30. Is that late? It's up to everyone to decide what late is. If I had a job where I had to wake up at 6 in the morning, it would probably be late. But it's not. Our lifestyle is a little different.” —Ike Davis [ESPN]
Spin Paul Spin
"The Mets have been in the PCL before -- not quite this far out West -- but I think it will be good. There are a lot of direct flights to New York from Las Vegas. It adds a little flavor to our development system. We play at a lot of pitcher-friendly parks throughout our system ... It will be a challenge for us and our fans not to get too distracted by some of the statistics and focus on the development of the player. On the other hand, our hitters might have a field day." —Paul DePodesta [Las Vegas Review-Journal]
Going to be weird when Niese has the most years with the club on the team
“I signed that deal because I thought it was in everybody’s best interest, including myself. That’s what I wanted to do, I wanted that financial security and that feeling of not having to worry about anything besides pitching, and I think that’s helped me out a lot this year. Obviously, with R. A.’s situation and David’s situation, I am curious to see what’s going to happen. And even beyond R. A. and David, I’m kind of interested to see what else we do to improve the team.” —Jonathan Niese [New York Times]
Mike from Buffalo, you’re on the FAN
"I would never question the Mets' effort, especially this year. They made a real effort to sign players, to keep our roster full. They did a lot of things to make us successful. It didn't just translate to victories. ... We get a bad rap that we're demanding a championship team. That's not what we're saying. We need a competitive team. Win more than you lose. Play some games in August that mean something." —Bisons GM Mike Buczkowski [Buffalo News]
Forgot which game this quote was pulled from
“He kept us in the game. Two hits isn’t going to get us very far.” —Terry Collins [ESPN]
Dan, weren’t we supposed to be working on not doing this
“I think that he works hard to throw the baseball. It’s my opinion. With that, it is hard for me to fathom that he is able to go out there and year after year throw 200 innings.” —Dan Warthen [New York Daily News]