Tony Russa Club Quotations

This is one of the toughest losses, and one of the best losses I can remember, just because what the club showed. It was impressive watching them compete like that. I'm just talking about our team. They did the same thing.

What's different about this club, when you have this many setbacks, it's usually part of why you don't win or you barely squeeze by in the last week of the season with a good but not great record. To have this kind of run and play this quality of baseball for this long is why this club deserves a very different kind of credit.

I would think the biggest misconception about our club was we have this powerhouse offensive team.

When something like that happens, you put the other club in a bad position, so it's better not to put the club in a bad position, ... But I think my understanding is they understand it was unintentional.

We worked hard to get here. The club has been so relentless, as strong-minded as you can be.

We worked hard to get here. Our club has been so relentless, and we're in a great position. ... The club has been absolutely relentless, and as strong-minded as you can be. This club is mentally and physically very, very tough.

He fits in. One of the things we believe about our club is we have a bunch of guys who are prime-timers, who are not afraid to take big at-bats.

Mentally, is closing tougher than a hitter going out there with 600 at-bats to produce ... tougher than a starting pitcher? For the great closer, it's as tough. He watches the club for eight innings. Then if he goes out there and screws it up, he's got 24 guys to answer to. It's a heck of a deal. Some guys can't handle it.

In the eighth inning, we missed our location three times, twice when we were ahead in the count. We almost caught a break -- Cabrera's ball was tagged, but it fooled Walker. That would have been an important break to catch. Matt got the ball up with a 1-2 count, and the pitch that Delgado tripled on wasn't where Ray was trying to throw it. Against good clubs in key situations, either you do or you don't, and if you don't, you get penalized most of the time.

He pitched nine innings against a tough offensive club -- that's dominating. He had a 2-0 pitch to a terrific hitter and he hit the ball out of the state. But that's the last run they got. That's outstanding pitching. No disrespect to anybody in either league who's doing great, but there's nobody greater than Chris. He's clutch.

It's just toughness. This club has physical and mental toughness that's special. That's the way I describe it. I just think we have a special mental and physical toughness.

(Opponents) still think he's a dangerous hitter, ... I don't think clubs look forward to facing him. If you think there's somebody who gives you a better chance to win than Larry, you put that person in there. I don't see him.