Kenny Williams Quotations

We had a whole bunch of starts the last few years and we underachieved,

We were calling ourselves Dog Daze for a while. We didn't really like that. Somehow Whiskey Dog came up, and it seemed to fit. It kind of goes along with our music.

Obviously we've never been in this situation before. I don't know if any of us know what to expect. I'm looking forward to putting a World Series ring on.

One of the reasons we picked each guy on this team is we wanted a bunch of fighters, guys that could be resilient.

I was at home when he was plugging 14-, 16-hour days, when he really didn't want to be there. He couldn't watch me play baseball, ... I see the work he put into turning them around. He's made a couple key moves that have made me very proud.

I grew up a Raider fan. I've seen it work.

I didn't want to play junior college football. I just wanted to go home and focus on basketball. I knew that basketball would be my route to college.

I didn't want to go through a big recruiting process again. I just wanted to sign and get it over with. I knew I wanted to play in a big conference like the Big 12, and I liked my visit up there.

Give me a team of overachievers and let's see what happens.

If it wasn't for my confidence in Cooper, I couldn't consider these things.

Whatever his explanations are as to what he said, he's got to clean up his own house. I'm concerned about what is happening on the field. All the other stuff I can't be concerned about.

His type of game is not something that's going to come easily. A lot of speed guys have trouble learning skills well enough to be hitting first in the major leagues.

Half of our bullpen drives pickup trucks, ... They go hunting. They don't go to South Beach on their off days.

There are so many formulas, equations and theories in this game right now, ... I'm sorry, but I'm getting confused. We had to go back in time and come up with some things that have always been timeless in this game.

Kids who come through and have eaten seem to be really satisfied.

Jose seems to understand the great opportunity he's been given here. And the bottom line is, I want to make sure I have the pitching to support all of the offense we've added. That remains the top priority.

Just because we've come off a world championship, we have work to do as a team and as an organization, and as individuals. Ozzie is still growing into the position and the responsibility of the position as well as I am. We'll just continue to try to evolve in a way that is a first-class and respectable way. We not only want to try to win, we want to try to win in a first-class manner and be known as a first-class organization. Clearly, we have a little bit of work to do, but we will keep at it.

Jerry has done everything over the course of 16 years to protect that man, made accommodations for him, concessions for him. He loaned him money, at times, when he needed money. If he was any kind of a man, he would quit talking about things in the paper and return a phone call or come knock on somebody's door.

I remember when my dad was talking about getting some of these guys and the probable starting lineup in a five-game (playoff) series,

People are being very aggressive and getting right to the point as to what they are willing to do and what they're not willing to do.

People who think they have all of the answers in this game, those are the people I try to stay away as far away from as I can, ... If you ever think you know it all, it's probably time to go and do something else.

Patch it up? There is no patching up.

That could be part of the explanation, ... That maybe we did jump out there and then lose that edge.

I think he needed the vacation. It's been a long winter for him.

Judging from some of the faces I saw last night and early this morning, be careful what you ask for. You might not want the regulars in there.

We'll offer him as much as we can offer him and still have a chance to keep the whole of the team together and win,

We'll never let A.J. get on top of the world. Never. Not one single day.

We don't miss his attitude. We don't miss the whining. ... Good riddance.

This talk could have been had way back when if he'd returned my initial phone call.

You can look at different trends to explain it, a .355 on-base percentage being the benchmark for a successful playoff team,

We talked, he called. And from what I understand, all the things he's been saying since December have been not written as said. He says that he was surprised that what he said has been written bad and the way he has said it. He thinks it's a Chicago writers' problem with him.

We weren't diverse enough, ... We needed to get better in certain areas, pitching primarily and defense secondarily. We didn't go out and try to reinvent the wheel. We just fell back on what has been timeless.

We are certainly pleased with where he is and where we are as a result of what he has done.

You look around at our team and it's tough to find a guy who hasn't been doubted or criticized in some way. They all have that as a common denominator, and it becomes part of your personality as a team.

There's no doubt we've had some games where we've been more lucky than good, ... So what?

The most important thing he taught me was being a student-athlete. He puts your family and your grades first. Then basketball.

It's kind of a floating number, but we want to check in around $90 million.

It's extremely special because we hadn't been (to the World Series) in so long,

It was in spring training that you noticed a bunch of them hanging around together, going out to dinner,

For me, it's dependent upon the guy's history. For a pitcher, always. Always for a pitcher. I don't take chances too much with guys who have physical issues, particularly in the shoulder area. I don't like to touch guys with shoulder problems.

It's very similar, but we haven't won anything yet, ... We need to win four more games and then talk about comparisons.

That's exactly what we needed. I don't want people who are going to tell me what I want to hear.

The interesting thing for me is let's see if we can do it again. That fire is burning even hotter.

I'm going to tell you this. As long as I don't hear another word about this organization or the members of this organization, I won't have another thought about this. And we'll move on.

I'm a very competitive, physical player. I think football helped me with that. I'm not afraid to hit the floor. Coaches like to see tough, physical players. A lot of players aren't like that. You throw a few elbows at a player on a rebound, and they might back off a little bit.

I looked at all of that going into the season and I thought to myself, 'I must have really done a bad job this winter,'

I just don't think you can stand pat, history has shown that. Last year was great and we enjoyed it. But it has no bearing on 2006. You have to go out and prove yourself all over again. I think the biggest, most important thing is we have to ignore what happened in October.

I haven't taken it seriously. Whatever his explanations are as to what he said, he's got to clean up his own house.

But he's been great. He's fit right in. He's one of the guys who has come up big for us.

Hey, I've got a guy, ... I know I'm at the budget, but I've got a guy who will fit into the two hole and play second base and it will really round out the club. And, oh, by the way, I haven't seen this guy play live. But I've got a bunch of video. I'm dizzy from breaking it down over the past two weeks.

He started out slow this spring, but I had to remind everybody that he was playing at 3 o'clock in the morning (Japan time),

I didn't know there were this many of you out there. We are humbled, overwhelmed, grateful. We played the last game of the season and we won it.

He's an Oakland A's problem. He needs to be concerned about Oakland. I don't even know why I'm talking about (the) guy. Play two or three games in a row first before you start popping off.

He's an idiot. He's selfish. That's why we don't miss him. And we've held it in for far too long. And if you go out there and look long and hard enough, you'll find particulars. But I've got something to say directly to him. And I'm holding back as much as I can because, unlike him, I'll say it man-to-man, face-to-face.

He's an idiot. He's selfish. That's why we don't miss him.

Generations of people have not seen us get to this level. I have personally carried that weight on my shoulders, to the degree it's probably not healthy.

He's nasty, with a mean streak. I got a hit off him in Boston and he gave me a look like 'You got a hit???' I looked right back at him like 'Yeah, I did.' I think Roger's tougher now than when he was younger because now he's got that split-finger. I think that's why he's still pitching.

He's nasty, with a mean streak, ... I got a hit off him in Boston and he gave me a look like 'You got a hit???' I looked right back at him like 'Yeah, I did.' I think Roger's tougher now than when he was younger because now he's got that split-finger. I think that's why he's still pitching.

He's not going to do that, and we don't miss him, by the way. And if you go out there and ask any one of my players or staff members, we don't miss him. We don't miss the attitude; we don't miss the whining. We don't miss it. Good riddance. See you later.

I do because my father is connected, ... That's the team I've grown up with all my life. It's pretty much a family thing.

This is a great surprise. I didn't expect this. I'm shocked.

The guys call it 'Pulling an A.J.,' ... Occasionally, you've got to pull an A.J. and let people know where you stand.

You've got a lot of convincing to do.

The day I got hired, I made the statement then that without a World Series title coming to Chicago on the South side, it'll be considered a failed effort. We're at stage one, but unless we finish it out, personally, it will only mean a job unfinished and an opportunity lost.