This Week in Mets Quotes: Remembering Rusty Staub, first impressions of Mickey Callaway, and more

Rusty Staub: 1944-2018

“My mother’s brother was a policeman killed in the line of duty in New Orleans. I was just a little kid, sitting on my bed with my mom and my brother saying the rosary, and I never got over that. Then, in 1984, I was sitting in my old restaurant when a cop I knew was killed, leaving a wife and three kids. I remember saying to [longtime friend and foundation cofounder] Frank [Brennan]: ‘Someone needs to do something about this.’”-Rusty Staub [New York Daily News]

“For more than thirty years, Rusty dedicated his life to helping others. He worked tirelessly on behalf of the widows, widowers, and children of New York City’s fallen heroes. He cared about each and every family and they felt the same way about him. Rusty started more than just a charity — he started a family. While many admire Rusty for his impressive record as a baseball player, it is his work off the field that truly made him one of the greats. We will miss his laughter, friendship, and leadership but we will work to carry on his mission through our continued stewardship of the charity he founded.” –Stephen Dannhauser, Chairman of the Rusty Staub Foundation [New York Daily News]

“When I was a young player, I wanted to live in the city … but the Mets said no, I certainly could not live in the city. They were telling me where I could live. Rusty marched into Frank’s office and said not only can he live wherever he wants to live, but that he would watch me and take care of me and make sure that I was ready every fifth day. He didn’t need to do that. He barely knew me.” -Ron Darling [New York Post]

”Obviously, this is a sad day for Met-land here. Rusty’s a very dear friend. He’s just been a great friend. But he was in a lot of pain. So it’s better. He’s in a better place.” -Keith Hernandez [Mets]

If the Mets make a community service award named in Rusty’s honor, here’s our first deserving nominee.

“…A couple years back, we were introduced to a company that does work with orphanages in Tijuana. We asked them to do research on every orphanage [there]. I grew up in San Diego. Tijuana is right across the border. They gave us a long list of 10 orphanages, the whole rundown: how the staff is (run), who actually owns it, how it’s done, who donates to them, how much money they get on a yearly basis, what their needs are, what kind of kids that have. We picked three and we’re basically funding three right now.” –Adrian Gonzalez [New York Daily News]

Your 2018 New York Mets: It’s going to be a hell of a fun year.

“It’s going to be a hell of a fun year. I’m ready to hear the crowd, the electricity, and all the fans out there. I’m looking forward to it.” –Noah Syndergaard [Newsday]

First time that the beat writers can recall Cespedes told the translator to take the day off.

“I will try to do this with English. I’ve been so far, in 14 different teams. And for me, this team, this year, is the best team that I’ve been around. So I’m really excited to go outside tomorrow with this team. This team, for me, is way better than the team we had in 2015 and we went to the World Series.” –Yoenis Cespedes [Newsday]

Probably should’ve interview Frazier after lunch.

“It’s just natural after that to be positive and be hungry and ready to go. I think we’re hungry to get some wins and bring a championship back to Flushing. I am pretty hungry to do that.” –Todd Frazier [New York Daily News]

Garbage goes in garbage can, makes sense…

“You have to use your matchups to your advantage, not to the other team’s advantage.” –Mickey Callaway [New York Times]

…but seriously, while I like the rest of the quote, I think Callaway is giving some managers too much credit with regards to use of information.

“You’re really not going to get a manager that is a ton better than another because everybody is getting the same information and it’s so accessible. So what is going to set your team apart? You get a guy like Tito [Terry Francona] who can communicate great, keep players playing hard and create the right culture so you get the maximum out of your players. That’s the edge people are looking for.” –Mickey Callaway [New York Times]

Here’s what his current and former GMs think of Mickey Callaway.

“Today, the manager is not omniscient and not omnipotent.” Sandy Alderson [New York Times]

“Mickey wants input. He wants it from the front office and his coaches. In our case, we’re looking for an opportunity to influence the decision-making. Not to direct it, but to provide whatever we can to support the manager.” Sandy Alderson [New York Times]

“Mickey is a progressive and open-minded guy who collaborates exceptionally well, whether that’s with an old-school traditional baseball guy, to an athletic trainer, to an analyst upstairs in a front office. His ability to integrate all of those things to come up with the best individualized plan for a pitcher is what really took us to the next level.” -Mike Chernoff, the Indians’ general manager [New York Times]

Here’s what his current players think of their new manager Mickey Callaway

“[Callaway’s talk about sloppy play to begin spring] was very honest and very transparent. [Mickey Callaway] wasn’t on the offensive. That’s huge. This isn’t a show for him.” –Jay Bruce [New York Times]

“It’s important when you can talk to your manager as a man and not just as a manager.” –AJ Ramos [New York Times]

“When I got to spring training, it felt like I already knew him.” –Jeurys Familia [New York Times]

“For me, the best thing is he’s really young. He thinks more the way we think, the players. I think that’s a big [plus].” –Yoenis Cespedes [Newsday]

Welcome to playing with the Good Guys.

“I’ll be honest with you, I faced [Syndergaard] four times and he struck me out four times, so he’s filthy on the mound. He’s a bulldog. I think mound presence is huge in baseball. I think when he gets on the mound, he’s raring to go, full tilt, and his pitches are devastating. He throws over 100 miles an hour, he has changeups in the low 90s and he’s got other pitches that pitchers dream of throwing. For me, I’m just glad to be on his team and play behind him.” –Todd Frazier [Newsday]

Br-awwwwwww-ce.

”It felt like I was loaned to a team and just came back and started the new year with my real team.” -Jay Bruce [Twitter]

On to the next one.

”I just wanted to make sure the guys were in a good position to succeed. We wanted to just make sure that we thought everything out when we set that lineup. We’ll try and do that every single time.” -Mickey Callaway [Mets]

Mets Tweet of the Week

SiteBot FacePalm of the Offseason

“Good lord, how many times do we have to go over this? Do you guys even watch the games or do you just look at Fangraphs all day? Great player, super talented. GOT IT. But the inconsistent motor and lack of focus this guy shows sometimes is tiresome. I’m not sure a lot you go to many games and actually see it. He sprints when he feels like it, and that’s absolutely unacceptable, we should not celebrate it, shouldn’t let that crap fly as fans, Mets fans should have higher standards than that. PERIOD END OF STORY.” -4Zero

AA Quote of the Week

“We might never lose again” -newyorksportsfan