Dusty Baker Hard Quotations

Some of it depends on how healthy Todd's legs feel. He is still recuperating from last year. The hard ground down here puts pressure on your legs.

He's healthy. Sometimes he's not swinging well and other times he runs into some hard luck. It's a combination. I can see him getting frustrated. He needs one or two days and he'll get rolling.

He's doing pretty well. We feel very fortunate. It could've been a lot, lot worse. I guess Michael has a hard head.

You learn the hard way then. We had a long discussion last night. The thing about temperament, which you guys don't believe, but I was very similar. You have to constantly work on it as a person.

We didn't have our team, No. 1. A lot of times you get new guys and they have a hard time adjusting to Chicago initially.

We had a hard time holding up our end of the bargain.

We want to get him in the position to give him the best chance to make the club. He worked hard last winter. We know he can help this club. I can tell he's helping some of the young guys and the veteran guys about how to go about their business and how to play this game.

At this point, it's hard to imagine him not pitching forever.

It wouldn't be the worst thing to get rained out today. It's hard to root against the water they need here.

Running is the hard part. It's getting close to having to make a decision.

Back in our day, they called this 'salary drive,' ... Try and continue to have a good year and win as many games as you can win. You are playing for respectability right now. What I'm looking for is you play hard and play for love of the game and respect and try to finish as high as you can.

You're always ready for games. Practice is something that's very necessary to get you ready for games. They've practiced very good and very hard so far.

You're always hoping for a no-hitter when a guy goes that deep in a ballgame. We figured it'd be Eckstein who would break it up. He's a good little ballplayer. It's hard to corral him.

You're always hoping for a no-hitter when a guy goes that deep in a ballgame, ... We figured it'd be Eckstein who would break it up. He's a good little ballplayer. It's hard to corral him.

You don't want to do all this hard work all through Spring Training and during the season and then come out here with nothing to be proud of.

It's just not playing good defense. They're playing hard. Playing hard isn't good enough. You have to play to win and play to win every day, and that's what we're here for.

It was supposed to be a promotional thing, but it's hard to be out there and be good at it and not do something. It's too late now, but I'm sure they won't have any other promotions.

For a while it didn't look too good because we were hitting the ball hard and on the nose, but right at people. We scored when we had to and the bullpen did a good job.

It's better now than later. He's been working out real hard on his lower half all winter, so fortunately this is the time of year when he shouldn't be set back too far.

I've got a game plan. Some of it depends on how healthy Todd feels, how his legs feel. He's still recuperating from last year at the end of the year. With the hard ground down here, it puts pressure on your legs.

No -- I wish he'd gotten better. We all wish he'd gotten better. He wishes he'd gotten better. You don't just lose your skill. Sometimes you can't put your finger on it. He's tried a lot of stuff. It's not through lack of effort or hard work. He's worked hard. Guys around the league ask me, 'What's up?' and I don't know what to tell them.

It was hard real hard. Rem was great about it. He's a real pro.

I'm looking for health, I'm looking for bat speed, I'm looking for leg speed. It's hard to compare a youngster to a veteran player in Spring Training. The advantage always goes to the young player. There are some things I'm looking for. You want to see progress as spring goes on. I've got a pretty good idea of what he can do. I'm looking for what's left.

His main thing is he's trying so hard he's not swinging at strikes. They're not getting him out, he's getting himself out. I've talked to him about it. When they come in the zone, he's not far from it. It's like fishing. You got to get that first one in the boat, everything is cool after that.