Jim Lefebvre Quotations

What he's going to do (in the WBC) is show a lot of people that he can compete at a very high level and elevate everyone's opinion of the baseball talent in China. When he's hitting well, he is a fun guy to watch.

He has tremendous speed and surprising power for a little guy. I've seen him hit a ball over the first-base bag, then hit one over the third-base bag, and then hit a home run.

He is the kind of kid other players respect. He's just a good guy and a good player.

I think that nerves were a factor today. This was a big game for us.

I think our players were a little nervous today. But dealing with pressure is part of being a professional.

We just want to play the game hard and play the game right. The important thing is we are setting our sights on getting better and better.

We didn't do much offensively tonight. We didn't swing the bat well. We didn't make a lot of hard outs. We have to do better than that.

Uehara is an outstanding pitcher. Our goal is to make him throw the ball over the plate, wait for a mistake and hit it.

The only thing I can say is that we're a lot better than we played tonight. It wasn't that we were tired or because of travel. We just played an ugly game tonight, period.

This was the highest level of baseball these guys have ever been exposed to. You only improve by playing against better teams and this was a great experience for our players.

Our team was very nervous as it was a big game. But that's part of being a professional player and they did not handle it well.

People don't expect much from us, but the most important thing is to go out and play hard and enjoy the experience. This is the first time our players have been on the field with such experienced players. You just go out and do the best you can.

Although our team didn't play well, I would like to thank the WBC organizers. Next time we'll be more prepared and play better.

It's hard to say. He's got pretty good control. If you've been in the game long enough, you expect those things.

Sun did well in the Asian games, did great in Italy during our pre-World Cup tour, and was doing great in Holland before he was injured. The better the competition got, the better he got.

If he had had a chance to play Little League, high school, Babe Ruth and so on, there is no telling where he could be right now. His legs alone make him Major League-quality.

I felt we were a little flat coming out of a big game (Friday night). I thought our hitting was flat, our pitcher was a little nervous and they took advantage of it. When you don't get a lot of hits, it always looks like your team is down. We weren't getting anyone on base.

A baseball field must be the most beautiful thing in the world. It's so honest and precise. And we play on it. Every star gets humbled. Every mediocre player has a great moment.