Cliff Politte Quotations

We've all been telling a lot of jokes. I guess we'll all get half a (playoff) share and half a ring. We won't be in the team picture.

When Toronto made me the closer, that was something I had to learn to do. The pressure was a factor. I didn't realize until after the fact that it was about winning the game and getting the save anyway you could.

If something were to come up, yeah I would be fine with it. I want to do whatever I can to help the club.

He takes the heat for us, and that's what everybody says they like about Ozzie. To a certain degree, we have to realize it's us. We're not doing the job for him, and he's taking the blame. We can't allow him to take the blame for everything.

He's picked me up a couple times this year. I've got one or two wins because of him. Everything he does is 120 percent. He'll run into walls. He'll run through walls. He comes in on balls better than a lot of guys I know. When you have that kind of defense behind you, it makes throwing strikes easier.

I think you kick a guy in the butt in a tough situation, it's only gonna make it worse. You shouldn't go out there and say, 'You (stink), it's still a strike.' It's messing with a kid's head.

Just a fastball in the middle. It was down. I didn't expect him to hit it out, especially to left field. I thought for sure if I was going to get beat, I was going to get beat in, it was away. I'm still amazed that it went out, really.

You just can't pinpoint one person's fault. We have to regroup.

We're the team to beat and we're supposed to be the better team than we were last year. It's tough because we know we're a lot better than this.

We all give him trouble about how big he is. But he's a lot bigger than anybody in this clubhouse. You got to watch what you say, you don't want to get him ticked off.

I've been playing professional baseball for 10 years and I've seen everybody do this, and it's exciting for me and my teammates who have battled through thick and thin to finally be a part of it. We struggled for a little bit and for us to pull together at the end here, it's very gratifying for us.

The whole team does that. When I have a bad one on the road and my hotel room phone is ringing, it's a teammate saying he wants to come up and borrow my shoelaces and belt. By no means has it ever been to that point, but they like to have fun a little bit. To be honest, I think that has made it easier for me to deal with.

I've never seen him really down on someone. That's what makes us appreciate him so much.

A lot of us were nervous knowing that it's a big game, a big situation and we haven't thrown, haven't faced a hitter in two weeks. If I have to rest until March or February, so be it. We live with it as long as we win.

It's been something that I've had against myself for a long time. Even growing up, I felt I had more talent than I was out there showing. I've always been tough on myself. I always felt that even if I did something good, I could still do it better.

It's a two-way deal. If we're not pitching, the starters are doing well. But if they need a right-hander in relief, I want it to be me.

I'm just trying to be consistent. Last year, the numbers showed that I was very consistent. I'm to the point right now where I know that I have a huge mountain to climb, but if I take it one step at a time ... I know that the ultimate goal is to help this team win games.

I guess we'll just play it all out.

He's the backbone. I'm glad he's on our side.

I don't think so. We got all that celebration stuff out of our system when we got the trophy at home. We just have to regroup. Fortunately, it's early.

I didn't expect it to go out. I'm still amazed it went out because this is a big ballpark.