Lots of interesting, funny, idiotic, and insightful things were said by the Mets—and about them—recently. Here are some of our favorites.
Comprehensive and concise.
"We need to hit more than the opposition. Right now, that's not happening. That's in part because we're not hitting enough, and in part because we're giving up too many." —Sandy Alderson [Newsday]
Wait, baseball can be fun?
"If we had the answer, we would start doing it, get more base hits, score more runs. That would be fun." —Daniel Murphy [New York Post]
I’ve been re-reading this over and over and have no idea what word the NYP editor replaced with ‘[stinks]’.
"It’s been fine. I’ll see how it feels in the morning. As soon as I felt it hit that spot, it just [stinks] out of my whole back, it had to be that one area." —David Wright [New York Post]
Whoa, where’s the lack of confidence, humble Lucas Duda I’m used too…
"We’re not out of it yet. I think everybody in the room feels like we have a chance and we’re going to go with it." —Lucas Duda [New York Post]
…ah that’s better.
"[Samardzija] had good stuff today. I was lucky enough just to get a ball up." —Lucas Duda [New York Post]
Nope, don’t buy it, old man Alderson just continues to be asleep at the wheel.
"I think it’s a matter of there might be some scouting differences of opinion, and kind of where we are and what we’re going to do in the immediate future, so there are lots of issues involved. We scout [Cuban Players] now, so it’s not as if we’re not aware of what is going on. It’s not like we’re not aware of who is out there. We are not looking at that market necessarily to solve our problems. But you need to be active in all the player-acquisition markets -- participate and be aware that you have those as options." —Sandy Alderson [New York Post]
Hopefully the answer is ‘much more better.’
"It’s been pretty much across the board, starting with the top of our lineup all the way through. When you only get three or four hits a night, there’s a collective issue. We’ve got some young players in the lineup who we’ve got to give some time, but I think it’s been a collective thing. I do believe that offensively we will get better. The question is how much better." —Sandy Alderson [WOR710]
It’s like when you used to fake sick when you didn’t want to go to school.
"My experience being around all those baserunners: Guys who want to run, they’ll run. They’re looking to run. When you put the steal on and guys are iffy, they always come up with reasons why they didn't get a good jump. That’s a bad feeling." —Terry Collins [ESPN]
Personally, I’m not a huge believer in baserunning, I mean I believe it exists but I just have questions, you know.
"I’m a huge believer in baserunning, but sometimes the guys getting on aren't the guys you can run." —Terry Collins [ESPN]
Again, I think I’ll just let this one go.
"Murph needs a blow." —Terry Collins [ESPN]
Oh boy, I assume ‘people’ equals Jason Bay
"I think that you don’t get the results that you want, all of a sudden you start messing with some things. It becomes that grind and that search that you always hear people talk about." —David Wright [ESPN]
Virginian Smack Talk
"The shoulder is not an excuse. Again, when I go tell the manager that I’m good to play, I expect to produce. I’m not thinking about the shoulder. I’m not thinking about bad habits. I’m thinking about going out there and trying to excel and doing what I’m capable of doing, that I’ve proven I can do. When I don’t do that, I’m as frustrated as anybody. I hold myself to a very high standard. I feel like I’ve set a high standard for myself. When I don’t reach that standard, obviously I’m disappointed. There’s no sense in whining and moaning about it now. I’ve got however many weeks to get it going a little bit and hopefully finish strong and let that carry over into the offseason." —David Wright [ESPN]
[crickets]
"We also wanted to get Lucas Duda in against left-handed pitching. I’ve applied to try to get a 10th player out there, but unfortunately it hasn’t been [approved] yet." —Terry Collins [New York Post]
Well, good at least we know it’s ‘adversity’ and David Wright can handle it…
"First of all, no player is ever going to be at the top of his game consistently throughout a season, or over ‘X’ number of seasons. And part of dealing with the adversity is how it’s handled. David handles it very well." —Sandy Alderson [WOR710]
…or maybe not.
"When I think of adversity, I don’t think of playing baseball. I think of adversity in real life. Not getting some hits, to me, is not adversity. You go up there and expect to succeed. And when you don’t succeed the way you’re accustomed to or expect to, there’s disappointment in that. As far as trying to make this overcoming obstacles or things like that, I don’t look at it like that." —David Wright [ESPN]