Pete Mackanin Quotations

I don't like the way he's swinging. He says he's 100 percent healthy, but I choose to believe something's bothering him.

With Castillo out, Freddy's shown he's more valuable as an everyday player than part-time. Besides playing well at second and short, he's played excellent third base. It's like having two shortstops on the left side.

When he hit that second one, I took a deep breath.

Mac's a very competitive person and this has been difficult for him the last couple of weeks. It's not easy when you're not winning. ... I don't have a magic bullet, but I'm going to do the best I can to get something positive out of the last three weeks.

I'll tell you: I like having two shortstops on the left side of the infield. What you don't get from him in power, he might make up for you with his defense. You can win with Freddy Sanchez playing third.

I know it's unfortunate, but that's the way things go. It's like when a guy's got a hitting streak and you need to win a game so you pinch-hit him and he doesn't get a hit. He'll have opportunities to have streaks again.

We want to win games and winning is part of development. But we've got to develop the young players. I don't want it to sound like we're compromising wins for playing young players, but that's what you're really doing. We're playing for next year. That's what you've got to do. We have to be good next year.

You just have to be tough enough to do your job and put everything aside. You try to stay upbeat for the players' sake so that they are positive. You've got to make sure that they don't get down. It's not a lot of fun, but you do the best you can.

David and Goliath. I didn't think Roger was at his best, to be honest with you. But I think it is a thrill for us to beat him. I think the guys have got to feel good about themselves. He's a Hall of Fame pitcher, and we beat him.

There's a lot of upheaval. We're vagabonds. We live year to year.