Ivan Rodriguez Quotations

My goal is to stay healthy and keep on playing baseball as long as I can. I don't play it for the money. I play it because I love the game.

I don't know what happened on that play,

I hate losing, I'm tired of losing. I'm not used to playing like this. I don't like to play like this. I've been here two years, and I don't see any changes.

I hate losing games. I'm not a loser. It's hard for me to be on a team losing every day. That's not me. That's not the type of player that I am. I love winning.

I hate walks. I'm aggressive. I've been in baseball 15 years, and I'm going to continue being aggressive. I'm going to walk, but for me to get a walk, that's a hard thing to do because I'm a very aggressive hitter. I hit the ball hard pretty much all the time because I'm aggressive. If I go over there to just take walks, I might not produce the way I can produce.

I feel like I can steal 10 bases in September. That's how good I feel.

He's a great man. He's a guy that loves to win. He cares about the players. He cares about the team. He's a great guy. But I don't know what's going to happen.

He's got some serious talent. He'll make us better.

I think what he brings is attitude. I think he's a winner. I've known him for years and I talked to a lot of players who played for him. He loves to win, and he likes to see everything the right way in the field. And that's what we need on the team. If he doesn't like something, he'll come to us or to the player and tell him. It's great for us to have Jim and the coaching staff.

It doesn't matter where I bat in the lineup. If I do my job and we're a healthy team this year, we could win a lot of games.

Who knows? I still have a long way to go. Every player's dream is to start and finish with the same team. I still have a couple of years left in me.

Who knows? I still have a long way to go.

The only thing I can tell you is we didn't miss any. We didn't miss any pitch. We have a great lineup.

When you have a day like this early in the year, it's great. I've been swinging the bat pretty good in spring training, so I just stayed with the same routine, the same philosophy.

Believe me, I don't do this stuff very often, because I like to do things quietly. I think it's a big moment to let the people know I've been doing this for years. It was a hard decision for me to make, but the people around me told me it's time to let people know what you're doing in the community.

I should take more walks. But I'm very aggressive. In the off-season, I'm going to work on taking more pitches and being more selective. If I'm more selective, I can have some better numbers.

I've been doing this for 13 years with my foundation, ... I play here in Detroit, and I think it's a good time to start.

I've been a very aggressive hitter all my career,

Things like that don't happen to me too often. It's been a long time since I made two mistakes in less than a week. But when things aren't going well with a ballclub, anything can happen. We're going through that right now.

Alan and I, we talk a lot about baseball. We talk a lot about things. He's a great man to talk. He knows a lot about baseball, and he's a good guy to have around. He helps me a lot in my situation, and I appreciate what he's doing for me this year. It's something I'm never going to forget. He supports me all the time.

Always better to go 5 for 5 than 4 for 5.

For me, I'm very happy to represent Puerto Rico and to do a good job for my country. It's always very nice when you represent where you're from.

It's not the year that you would expect to see, ... but if you see my numbers, it's not bad after what I've been through all year.

I'm not going back there. The calendar doesn't say 2005. It's a new year, a new team. It's a new start. I'm looking ahead.

I'm really looking forward to playing in that tournament. Every team is the best they have from their country and we hope to prove Puerto Rico is one of the best teams.

I need to be a little more patient, have a little more concentration, and I'll be OK.

I had a good spring so I'm done talking about last year. My mind and body are ready.

He's the manager. If he wants me to DH, I'll DH.

Games like this are very good for us and will be a key for us. That was the game right there: Brandon Inge.

If he asks me to do things, I'm going to. He's the skipper, and you have to follow his rules. Whatever he tells me to do, I'll do.

He brings attitude. He's been in baseball a long time and has worked with a lot of players. He's been to the World Series and stuff like that. And that's what we need. We need a manager who's going to come in and establish a positive attitude in the clubhouse, and that's what we have now.