David Eckstein Quotations

Watch this. Froze him like you wouldn't believe. Definitely, he has not just a fastball.

What they've gone through, it puts a lot of things in perspective and that perspective will help you handle the situations in that you know win or lose, life is still going to go on,

We held home field advantage. One thing we've got to do, we've got to stay aggressive. We can't wait to get over there.

There is definitely a lot more to it than show up and swing. I'm working on staying inside the ball, working on different hit-and-runs, moving runners, creating situations in your head. So when the game comes up, you're prepared to execute whatever needs to be executed.

When I'm off the field I do absolutely nothing. Everybody thinks I'm a hyperactive kid because of the way I play, but when I go home I'm the calmest, most laid-back person you'd ever want to meet.

We're having excellent at-bats through the whole lineup. When we're playing our best, it's coming from one through nine.

When I have two strikes, I feel free, ... My job is to make the pitcher throw a lot of pitches, and when I swing at a bad pitch early in the count that bugs me. Once I get to two strikes and I swing at a bad pitch, I don't mind it at all.

Scott's a hard-nosed guy who really understands and loves playing the game.

Nobody's talking about that. That's the first I've heard of it. We're just playing each game hard.

Right in that time of day if you hit the ball right there, you can't see it,

One of the biggest things, when you have a pitcher throwing a lot of strikes like that, is to not let him get comfortable throwing strike one. If you let him start to feel like he can just lay it in, lay it in, all of a sudden you're behind.

I feel very confident with two strikes. I feel it's more of a freedom. I get very upset with myself if I make an out on a bad pitch before two strikes. With two strikes, it's all out the window. I feel free.

I found a beautiful, lovely girl and she said yes. So that was pretty amazing.

Getting guys on base in front of the big guys, that's the key to this club.

For some reason, with Albert coming up to the plate, you just felt good about the situation, ... You can sit there and end your season on saying, 'Hey, he got him out' or 'Albert came through.' Fortunately for us, Albert came through for us and it was, 'Hey, we knew the game wasn't over yet either.'

He gave up those two runs and he settled right in. He gets out there and knows how to make his pitches and get the ground balls. He did a great job.

Having gone through this other times, I have full confidence in the surgery. Actually, it'll probably be a day of joy. Because my dad will get a lot of his freedom back.

He'll sit there and go, 'Get on base, I'll hit you in. He puts this team on himself.

He missed so much time with the broken leg and he didn't miss a beat. He's focused on doing his job and being consistent with it. He's a great person to have in the clubhouse.

When he steps on the field, he has a knack for coming up with clutch hits when you need it.

We switched our coverage. You get two outs with one pitch, it's definitely a momentum-changer.

His sinker started working a lot better, and he was able to hit the zone.

He's doing well. The kidney is doing great. He's in some pain from the surgery, but we couldn't ask for anything better.

Guess what? If we're going to be a champion, we've got to come back. We might not be able to sleep tonight, but that's normal.

Guess what, if we're going to be a champion we've got to come back. The bottom line is we still have life.

Knock on wood, I've been hanging in there.

Just stepping to the plate, just understanding it's you vs. him, that's all that really mattered at that point.

Juan has wheels and can handle the bat pretty well. Tony knows what he is doing. Juan is the type of hitter who can do a lot once he settles in and gets in his groove. He has a great stroke down through the zone. He's not the only one who struggled early. I hadn't been swinging the bat that well either. He's going to mean a lot to this lineup over the long run.

I talked to him for 10 minutes. He was alert and knew what was going on. He knew about our comeback win on Friday night and knew what I had done. He knew we had won yesterday and was well aware of all the situations.

I think the one thing, just in talking with him, he said the game wasn't fun. Knowing him, the way he loves the game, the way he loves to come to the park, that's the guy I know. Now, especially in this environment, with these types of guys, I see a good fit. A real good fit.

Just being back home in front of the fans, especially having the opportunity to play the last game in old Busch Stadium and now the first one in the new one, I think that's something I'll remember.

Last year had a lot of tradition and a lot of history and now we're opening up something new -- and it's beautiful. It's a new era of baseball. You definitely miss the old stadium, but now you have something as beautiful as this. You're kind of torn between them both.

That could come down to a 1-0 game with those guys on the mound. So it was very key for us to go out there and get some runs early.

I was in complete control. I knew what I was saying. I had a meaning behind it,

That was the key right there. That extended the inning. He could have just jogged down the line and let them turn a double play. We're fortunate he ran hard and through the base. But this club does that. We're able to score extra runs because of that.

That was the key right there, ... That extended the inning. He could have just jogged down the line and let them turn a double play. We're fortunate he ran hard and through the base. But this club does that. We're able to score extra runs because of that.

That was one time that I was not going to take the extra base. If it was earlier in the game, I probably was going to take the extra base. You've got to give your best guy the opportunity to win the game.

That's the one thing early in the season ... I wasn't being efficient to the pull side. I've gotten pitches, and I need to turn on them. If you ask Hal, I am hitting my best when I'm able to hit the hard line drive to left field. That's something we talk about and work on because if I hit that pitch well and stay on the pitch, I will hit the line drive to right field.

I wasn't really concerned about the people outside the clubhouse and organization. I wanted to develop a reputation with my teammates. I wanted them to respect me. No matter how hard you play or what you do, you can't control what people on the outside think.

You like to win the game but there's something about the squeeze play. It's do or die. I get more opportunity to do that, too.

You just want to find some way to help the team. I know it wasn't really pretty but it just found a hole and I was able to do the job.

You just try to see the ball up ... His ball has so much sink and so much run, I just try to get as close to him as possible and try to take away that late break.

Winning two games means absolutely nothing. We don't get caught up in all that, even when it is the World Series.

Those guys are stepping up big when we lose key guys. They have stepped in and done unbelievable jobs.

Without a doubt, ... His location was unbelievable. You watch the film and he throws the ball up a lot, but today he was throwing the ball down, right at the knees, on the corners. He did a fantastic job tonight.

We played this same game all season. We haven't tried to do anything different here. We're not playing outside our capabilities. This is how we do it.

We had a lot of last-minute planning to do, a lot of things. But her mom did a lot with the wedding and Ashley did a lot, too.

We had our chances. We just didn't hit.

We had our chances. I think his hamstring was bothering him. There was a play when he didn't run to cover first base. There may be something there.

Yeah, that's what people say. We'll see if that's true. But I know that in this lineup, I'm just going to do everything I can to get on base. That's my job.

With Albert coming to the plate, ... you just felt good about the situation.

With a faster runner, I'll backhand it. With a very fast runner, I'll set, plant, catch, and throw.

When my sister has the two kids (and) the two of them look like they're going to have the same problem in life, it just is like, 'Yeah, this can end now. But there are so many worse things that could happen.

When Berkman hit the homer, the place was unbelievable. They were so loud.

We've definitely got a chance to be a lot more consistent than we've been the first 11 games. We did a lot of good things out there today.

When you have a guy like (Pujols) who every single night comes out and with the lineups we've had has the average he has, the homers he has, the RBIs he has ... and plays defense the way he plays defense, that's (the MVP). It's not even a question.

We've got a good opportunity. But we know them; they're going to be ready to play. But we'll show up, too.

We have a couple of guys capable of hitting a lot of home runs that haven't yet.

Twenty or 30 years from now, you're probably going to say you've watched one of the top five players to ever play this game.

Throw Albert in any lineup and it's gonna look great.

We expected to win. I didn't even pack anything (Wednesday) or make any plans for getting home because I thought we would win tonight.

You get a pitcher to throw eight balls in a row like that (actually eight balls in nine pitches), and it can be hard for him to get back in the zone.

We didn't lay back and let things happen today, ... We hit and ran and just pushed the envelope all day, that really show Tony's management style.

Because if he's up we've got at least two guys on and we have a chance.

Double plays are key to winning championships, ... No matter the situation, we try to turn everything.

Don't turn the channel, ... no matter what the score is.

It was very important for us to go out there and set the tone early and find a way to get a win. Every game can change momentum. You definitely don't want to lose that lead.

The thing you don't do is come to a new team and force yourself on people. We walk in here as a bunch of guys but over time we're going to develop into a team. It's going to be interesting to see how it ends up playing out.

Personally, I can handle myself after this, ... but I feel disappointed in letting them down.

The one thing I didn't want to do was get into any type of jumpiness, ... Any type of anything in my body besides just focus on the baseball. And it's pretty calming to step into at the plate in that situation. I have no idea, no reason why.

Anyone, you want to try and put pressure on him as early as possible. He threw very well throughout Spring Training -- his last outing was his toughest.

The bottom of our lineup has done such a great job to provide opportunities, getting on base. The one inning when Nunie had a great at-bat, goes 3-2, draws the walk, and then Carp goes up there and gets another walk, that's with two outs there. And that gives me the opportunity to do something. That's a lot of fun.

That's when we really knew we could beat the best. That woke up everything for us. Confidence doesn't show up in the box score, but it's so important. After that, we knew we could win it all.

That's what we try to do, put pressure on the other pitcher.

You play this game to get a ring, and anything less, it's very dissatisfying (not to get one) once you've tasted it. Our club's hungry because a lot of guys haven't gotten the ring. You can see that in the last three games we played (all victories).

This club is very tough, very resilient, and we're going to be tested.

There will be no letup. We have a week and a half left. We're going to play every game hard, as you can tell by the last two nights.

They're a good bunch of guys. It's hard to dislike them.

It's just a whole different realm of a leadoff man. You've got to be patient.

I try not to say much all year. But when I say something, it's pretty right on.

It was one of those things where we definitely wanted a family friend, ... We didn't want someone from too far outside the family, because sometimes you might not know what the intentions behind it are. With Lorie, she's a great friend to our family, as well as a great person. We've known her a long time. It was perfect.

It's a difficult park to pick up the ball, especially during the day. It's something that if we can get used to it, it will definitely be to our advantage. Especially once it gets closer to 3:30 or 4 o'clock, it gets more difficult.

I told them baseball owed them nothing and wasn't a fair game. I emphasized what a privilege that it is to wear a uniform every day. I challenged them to do something to earn and deserve the right to wear a uniform. I warned them that if they didn't, they might not be wearing one.

It's one of those things. Baseball is a funny game. Every club can beat any club. They come out and play great against us. It's hard to believe to see where they're standing. They've got a great club.

It's the emphasis on one run (in the NL),

It's like when I was playing in the Angels-Oakland games. That's not a rivalry. When fans hate the other fans, that's what makes it a big-time rivalry. These are big games. If we keep doing it over and over again, we can turn it into that, but it takes the fans to raise it to that level.

It's pretty loud. The whole game, there's like a buzz going through (the stands). It's nice, it was fun going out there.

It's pretty calming to step to the plate in that situation.

It's pretty calming to step in there in that situation. I don't know why, but it's a feeling that comes over you. (The fans) are so loud, but you just understand it's you versus him ? that's all that matters at that point.

That's something Tony does a lot. I knew something was going to happen. We weren't going to sit still. We were going to put things in motion. I enjoy it.

That just shows you with our club there's a lot of different ways we can go out there and we can get a victory. Grudzielanek had a great night, but once again you were looking at Nunez.

It's something we preached from Day 1 (of spring training). But you've got to give a lot of credit to Mulder. He wasn't sharp early on and allowed some runners, but then he got the ground balls he needed for the double plays.

Everyone has always told me, 'Oh, you're going to wear out, you're going to wear out. I've never really thought about it. If I go home and get my rest, I'm ready to play.

That is the key. The toughest thing sometimes is getting that ground ball, and they seem to get the ground ball. They might give up a hit. They might give up a walk. But they finally get that key ground ball when it's time to focus in. It's a good thing.

It never gets old having the opportunity to throw some champagne. This is so much fun.

I've hit balls with everything I've got and it doesn't go over the fence. So I definitely run hard. I'll never have the opportunity to sit there and watch one as it goes out because I don't have that kind of pop.

It was one of those things that you just find a way to get Albert up,

They battle. There's no quit over there. After the first two nights, they came back with the same game plan. They definitely play hard. It's very impressive.

It's nice to show that we can score a run off him, but it would have been better to tie. It's definitely something that we've just got to keep battling. If we do our job, we can eliminate him so he doesn't have to come in the game.

It's really not my game. If you ask Tony, he doesn't like me to do it.