Adrian Beltre Quotations

We were aware of their pitching staff and fortunately, we were able to win and this probably bodes well for the (tournament's) next games.

If they'd hit another grounder to me, I'd have had four errors. This is the worst day of my career at third base.

Frankie called my room and told me to turn on ESPN, ... If all you saw was that one clip they had and nothing else, I guess it looked like a fight. That's OK. I don't care what they say.

If the team needs me, I want to do it. If they need me at shortstop, I'll play shortstop.

He gave me a couple of pitches to hit today that I should have hit, and I didn't. But the pitches he made in that at-bat were pretty good.

Guys get frustrated like Frankie did, and I understand that, ... If it had taken place out of sight, that would have been one thing. But there were cameras there. There was no way it was going to end good like that, so something had to be done. And it wasn't just me. It was a couple of guys.

Had a pretty good season if you can isolate it from last year.

He can make the lineup on any team. Especially on our team. If he is able to come back and play with us in Puerto Rico, our team is going to be a lot better.

I would say it has to be Vinny Castilla. Aramis Ramirez would be up there, but Vinny Castilla has put up some big numbers in his career.

Really, this might be my worst year when you consider all the expectations I had coming in. I thought I'd do a lot more. I thought we'd do a lot better.

It doesn't matter how old you are; if you can play, you can play, ... He's something. He does it every day.

I thought it was broken at first. I've got the feeling back in it now, so I know it's going to be OK.

Byrd has always been that kind of pitcher, trying to trick you, keep the ball low, in and out. He threw a lot of strikes, worked it inside and out, threw breaking balls for strikes behind in the count.

But the Twins opened the fifth with their second and third hits, and Beltre helped Hernandez by taking his bullet throw for a force at third on a bunt try. I felt it, ... My only worry was that he didn't throw me a sinker. He threw hard, but a good fastball.

I'm an immigrant myself. I'd probably support it, but I can't do much.

When you go to home plate with a lot of confidence, you feel that you can hit any pitch.

I have to get better, but I can't change the way I play.

I want to be consistent from the first day of the season to the last.

I love hitting-that's my favorite part of the game.

I'm confident, but not so confident that I'm cocky.

I'm not a rookie anymore-no more excuses about being young.

2004 has to be my year. No more excuses.

I work hard on my defense. It's something I take pride in, but it's nothing that I want to brag about. It's part of my game.

I don't like to play slow or softly. I like to play hard. Always.

I'm not perfect. Nobody's perfect. But I love baseball and I love to play hard.

When we knew this game was coming we thought it would be something special, and it was. You have a Hall of Famer against a young pitcher who is something special. In 10-15 years we may look back at this game and say it was a Hall of Famer against a future Hall of Famer.

To me, it was just something different. If Ojeda was hurt, I was up to do it. If we had tied the game, I was going to play short the next inning ... just something the team needed.

Everything he said was true. It's not hard to listen to the truth. It's something we needed to hear.

Don't like them, ... I'm not comfortable with them. When you move, it moves around. I never wear one.

The way I'm hitting, I'd better make those plays. This year, I'm getting paid for my defense. I work hard at it, I take pride in it. In games like this, small plays make a difference.

This has been a totally disappointing year for me, for the team and for the fans. The best any of us can do is put it behind us, finish up strong and start next year fresh.

A lot of people expected a lot of things and they should. Sexson's probably doing better than what people think. I'm not doing close to what people think. But that's baseball.

At first I thought it was broken. But after two or three minutes I started to feel a tingle there, and after a while I was able to move my fingers.

It was good. It's always good to get everybody on the same page. That way it's easier to pull together as a team.

It's not just us. He's crushing everybody. We try to pitch him a certain way, but he's a real good hitter. He'll hit good pitches, he'll hit bad pitches.

It's going to be harder. ... They have more pitching in the playoffs, the bullpens are better, so it's going to be harder, ... But we still believe.

It's not a physical thing; my body's held up fine,

take about 10 days where I don't think about baseball at all. Then I'm going to get ready to come back strong next year.

I have to get better, but I cannot change the way I play. I'm not a rookie anymore. No more excuses about being young. If I don't do it, I will take all the blame.

I prefer to hit 3-4-5, but I'll do whatever the club needs. I started the season in 2004 hitting seventh, and that didn't work out too bad. By the end of the year I was batting fourth.

(Byrd) has always been that kind of pitcher, trying to trick you, keep the ball low, in and out. He threw a lot of strikes, worked it inside and out, threw breaking balls for strikes behind in the count.

He picked me up, and that made me feel great, ... When I ran past him going back to the dugout, I tapped him on the arm to say thanks. I wanted him to know he had picked me up.

And I'm 26 now, so I should be better.

The Dodgers are going to have the first option. I'm happy with the organization. Now is the time I have the choice to stay or go, but I'm not thinking about leaving yet.