I said earlier in the day that when we score first, we have a chance. But when you play against that team, if you’re up by 6 runs your heart is still pumping.

I feel for him. I think this man deserves to be there; obviously he’s not. Hopefully, Minnie will know how to handle this and keep working for baseball.

Right now I can’t count on him. We’re going to see what happens, but right now we’ll look for people to replace him.

Was I real upset about it? Yes. Sometimes you have to be careful with who you listen to. Sometimes you listen to the people that think it’s right for them and forget about the kid....

Everybody is chasing us, everybody wants to play good against us. No doubt about it. We have to take the same approach as we have in the past. We have to play the game the...

The last three innings, he was outstanding. His pitch count was low, he was getting people out right away.

In this game, if you perform well, people don’t care (if you are heavy). But if you don’t perform, they’ll blame (the weight).

He made two mistakes, but I think he was outstanding. He threw the ball better and hopefully he continues to progress.

The first inning set the tone. Every time we score early in the game, we seem like we play better baseball.

For me he (Clemens) is one of the greatest pitchers in the game. We’ve got to face the best. To be the best you’ve got to win against the best.

I’m not going to change anything, … We play real well. Hopefully we keep it up back in Houston.

Either way we set the rotation, it’s a lot of guys who are going to have nine days off, 10 days off, … We have to figure out how to get them less days, but...

You know what’s tough; when I’m driving here and I think, ‘God, I have to be Ozzie today,’ and you don’t feel like it, … [Maybe] we’ve lost three games in a row, four in...

A couple of my guys need rest. They’ve been playing a lot of baseball. I gotta rest my players.

Strikes. He makes guys swing bats. He’s not afraid.

It’s a thing when we lose a game, I’m in my office for another hour when everybody goes home. I sit an hour to figure out what we did wrong. … When we win, I’m...

Hey, I’ve got to rest my players, … They’re really drained out the last two weeks.

We’re still thinking about it,

For the franchise it’s great, … Finally we make another big step. I think the people in Chicago should feel proud of these players. They did everything. Every day they come out and became what...

If we win the World Series, I would quit baseball and run for mayor.

Mr. Cooper? He’s over there,

Carl is a veteran. We know what to expect from him. When you play this game long enough and believe in your players, you can’t give up that easily.

To me, this kid is the best pitcher in baseball right now, … He’s been the best the last two years.

I think he’s swinging at better pitches. He’s not trying to pull everything. He’s trying to hit the ball into the middle of the field and right field. We wish this kid would be more...

I think I’ll be the first manager to catch a first pitch in the World Series,

I don’t like it the way it happened. I wonder why he hit for Teixeira that last inning. That’s a Tony La Russa move. That’s a pretty smart move. I’m not going to hit anyone...

We built this team around defense and pitching. When you’ve got good defense, your pitching staff is going to be better because they’re not going to make that many mistakes.

We cannot relax. We have to fight all the way to the end. We have (six) games against Cleveland at the end of the season. It’s not over until it’s over.

Well there is a thing I would say to the mayor. I would say I’ve been in this country for 25 years and I don’t have American citizenship. He should help me do that. I’ll...

He was a tremendous ambassador for the team. I think Dave Winfield said the right thing: He was the only player in the history of baseball everybody loved.

Freddy is supposed to be a big-game pitcher. Everything is in Freddy’s odds. He should be all right.

I like what I see. He throws strikes. He did a tremendous job. Right now he’s going to be the talk of the next couple of days.

He just had a bad game. I expect a better outing next time.

I think that game set everything up for the playoffs.

The [poor] outing before was due to [bad] location and tipping the pitch.

A.J., because they boo A.J. everywhere. Even in his backyard, his wife and kids boo him.

If you told me in April that Jose Contreras was going to be my ace and Bobby Jenks was going to be my closer, I would tell you I don’t think we’re going to win...

You don’t throw strikes, you’re going to get murdered. We came in here and all of a sudden it was like we’re facing Nolan Ryan. You may throw 99 (mph), but you still need to...

I don’t have bodyguards, but the trophy has like five guys taking care of it,

Kenny gave me the best guys, … Not only put the best players on the field, but put the best team players on the field.

All year we play pretty good baseball. Cleveland has played outstanding. We can’t control that. Now, we have a chance to control that.

You’ve got to give credit to a guy when he throws the ball well. (Washburn) kept our whole team off balance.

He makes any lineup stronger. This kid is a professional hitter. He knows what he is doing. I don’t have to worry about him while he is in the lineup.

If his health is good, yes. I’m not worried about his swing. If he’s got good health and he’s ready to run, then he will [start].

[They want to keep calling him one of their own.] I shouldn’t say ‘we’ because I don’t have the money, … but we want him here.

He’s aggressive. He has great instinct, and he isn’t afraid to pull the trigger. There’s a reason why they did so well. People will say they have a great pitching staff, but you have to...

Obviously, we’re disappointed. We had a chance to play better (but) we didn’t do what we did all year long.

I’ve got two people here that drive me crazy. They are all over me, and I’m like ‘Shut up, you drunk.’ It’s easy to make moves when you’re drunk.

The game will dictate whether they will pitch long if I will pinch-hit for him,

If we make the playoffs and if the time is good for him and if he is the best guy to throw the ball, he will be the first pitcher. If not, we will see...