Felipe Alou Last Quotations

With time, we look to him to be a No. 1-type guy. If he's healthy, there's no question he's in the rotation. He won't be overwhelmed by an opening day start at home. That's why it was important for him to get his feet wet last year.

We want starting pitchers to be able to pitch (in the spring), even if they're going to give up runs. We want to get away from the trap we were in last year with a lot of three- and four-inning starts.

I believe that the DH rule is going to be in effect, so Bonds will probably just hit. I think it will be good for him to get those at-bats without having to be in the outfield like he did when he came back late last year on that knee and at least sharpen his swing, which really don't need a whole lot to be sharp, but it will be a help for him and to the Giants and to the tournament, to the U.S. team.

Barry played in the outfield during practice today and looked pretty good. Barry is having fun again. He didn't have any fun last year because he was hurt.

Given the fact that Barry didn't play practically the entire season last year, we'd like to see him here early. But we can't bring a guy here by force before the first of March.

If anything, he threw too many fastballs. He's a ground ball guy. He's still keeping the ball down better than he did last year.

He was a strong pitcher when he left the game. That wasn't a fact last year at this time. It was a very encouraging outing.

He gave him a 96 mph fastball. In his last at-bat, it was a 41-year-old playing a day game after a night game. That was an awesome pitch. It was not easy. But Barry knows how to swing like that on a fastball.

He's a super hitter, but we play in the National League. You've got to practice out in the field, too. I know he's not going to have any problems hitting the baseball. He never did. It's the other parts of the game, after not doing it since October of last year.

He certainly has the package to be an everyday guy, we think. I don't know what will happen with Ray. I'm glad he's here. He had a pretty good season last year. I don't know what will happen next year.

I was afraid of last place, ... There were a lot of fears. Below .500 -- I never thought I'd see that here. Then, losing 100 games seemed like a possibility, then 90 games. All of those things could have been a reality here. The grave seemed like a reality here, but the guys didn't let it happen.

Last year, I saw him favoring his knees. I didn't see him favoring the knee today. I didn't see it when he was batting. When he was swinging the bat, it was OK with me.

I saw it on the scoreboard. I didn't have a lot of time to think about it because I was managing the last two innings. Tomorrow is the big day to make plans. He's been practicing and running around. That's good enough for me, of course.

I said last year that our guys would be a year older. Well, they'll be another year older next season. And we have all those day games.

Winn is a heck of a player and heck of a man. He might be entering the peak of his career right now. The extension is well deserved. He made a tremendous impact on our fans last year and also his teammates.

We had one six-run inning, but that was it. There wasn't a whole lot going on. We did the same thing last night; we scored all our runs in one inning. That being said, I'd like two or three innings of scoring.

We have guarded ourselves against some of the things that hurt us last year.

We said last year the Giants were coming up with position guys who are respectable big-league prospects. These guys are swinging the bat well. Elly is hitting the ball. (Todd) Linden is getting hot. (Steve) Finley looks like he's getting two hits every time he plays. Overall, the hitters are looking pretty good.

We've got to adhere to what the doctors say. He's getting better but not ready to play. There's not a whole lot that we know. We don't see Barry around. We don't see his knee physically. The last time we saw it was over a month ago. We trust the medical people. It's always been up in the air, ever since spring.

(Bench coach) Ron Wotus gives me all the pitches each guy has thrown over the last five days, ... We have a form attached to the lineup card. ... There have been some times a guy gets up even two or three times and doesn't get in the game. We don't forget about that.

It was very difficult. He just hasn't been the same pitcher. His velocity was down, and he had no life on his fastball. That has been missing since last year. Personally, I love him and the way he plays. Everybody likes him.

There were many times last year that I had to wait until the eighth inning to get him that fourth at-bat and get him out of the game.

It's been happening, I've seen it for four years. It may be louder. It's not a whole lot more than the last four years.

It's an entirely different atmosphere than last year when he was limping and had to go back to California. Everything seems to be all right. But it's so early.

I'm really glad for the kid. It probably won't be the last one. I hope he wins the big one one of these years.

I'm not waiting on his swing. I take that for granted. The thing is running the bases. He ran better than in spring training and in the last month of last year. At this time last year, he was limping and complaining about the knee. It's much, much better than a year ago, or in spring training.

If there was any concern, I believe we'd take him out after seven innings last night. He looks healthy and fresh.

His legs look OK. He is swinging with a good base. Last year, I didn't see that very often. I haven't seen any favoring of the knee in two days.

He told me he feels very, very good. Bonds is having fun. Last year he didn't because he was hurt.