Mark Grudzielanek Quotations

We know we're here for a reason, ... and they believe in us.

Obviously, it's time. You see what the other new parks have done for the cities involved. It's definitely something we're looking forward to.

Right now I believe there's just, on the L-5 disc, a slight tear, real tiny,

If they might have been a little bit closer it would probably be a little more special. But it's one of those things where I don't think they've really got their thing together.

I felt much better yesterday, which was a relief because I was worried about it two days ago. Hopefuly, I don't feel it a lot. Hopefully, I don't feel anything at all.

I felt it. It stung a little bit, but I'm fine now, really. I don't see it swelling.

I felt it growing up, other sports and in the minor leagues, I'd have a great year but at the end there was always something I couldn't do. It just didn't matter, ... Somebody was always going to write something. 'He's not a complete player.' He can't do this or that. We came from the same breed. We pretty much have the same thing following us. Maybe it was true, maybe not. But we strive to make ourselves into better players.

I feel really good right now. It's the healthiest I've been in a long time. Hopefully it shows out there,

We try to get him to go out and he says 'No, I've got a show Tivoed at home. I don't know about this guy.

We talked a lot and we had to get comfortable,

When he's making his pitches, nobody's getting a good, good swing and they're not hitting the ball on the barrel, ... I mean, he's beating them in, he's throwing his cutters and curveballs, and throwing the first pitch for strikes. It's awesome.

His work habits and his drive to play the game are special, ... People talk about him all the time, about his size and his arm strength. Then you see the plays he makes. It's amazing.

We lost three games before you could blink.

He was phenomenal. You can't say enough about the guy.

Just try not to think about it. It's a tough situation. You don't wish it on anybody.

It could be gone, or it could be something that we might have to deal with for a little bit. It's nothing serious. It's not like a bulging disc or anything like that. It's the earliest stages of something like that which could happen, but it's not there.

I think we all know what we need to do and it's just having a little fun while we're getting there.

I think he's a much better player than I anticipated, ... Just being around him every day and seeing what he brings to the table, to the clubhouse and to the field. Just the way he goes about his business.

That we're a good team. It's a great experience for anybody to be involved in something like this. It just doesn't come around too often. Fortunately we have an opportunity to get back where we were last year, and that's our mission.

We do the little things, ... I've never seen so many squeezes in my life.

Yeah, we're leading the division by 15 games but we go out there and play every game just like it's the last,

When you're playing good, ... you just want to carry it and run with it for as long as you can.

The way he works is phenomenal. Between him, (Mark) Mulder and (Matt) Morris, they get up there and throw it and it shows. We're not on our heels ever.

I've played through a lot of pain, broken bones and things like that. But this is something that's centered. When you mess with your core and your back, I don't know how effective I would be out there today or yesterday. The pain there just kind of shocks your whole body.

adjustments to be made during the game, but in most cases (the Duncan-based positioning) is where we stick to it and probably 75 percent to 80 percent of the time it usually works.

Now fans are going to be forced to watch the best teams in the game.

That's how we try to play. We try not to make mistakes. If you're going to beat us, you're going to have to hit. But when you jump out on teams like that, it's tough. We've all been there, but that's hard to come back from. We jumped out on them in Game 1, and just kind of kept it going.

This is a team that strives to do the little things. When we do it out there, like we did tonight, it just looks so good.

This is something where you mess with the core of your (body), your back, it's tough. I don't know how effective I would be out there today or yesterday because the pain there just shocks your whole body. I've never had something like that before. The last few days it's been constant.

A lot of people were waiting for us to fail. That's all you heard: his arm and my injuries. I think we've done a pretty good job. But I'm sure there's still somebody out there who would disagree.

There's a lot more to it than just winning the division.

It's kind of a blind flip. I just needed to get the ball to him, because I knew we had a good chance of getting Berkman. I kind of left it out there a little bit, but I knew I had to keep it outside.

It's a relief. I was worried about it two days ago, but I'm feeling much better. I'm going to go out there and do some light work today and hopefully I won't feel a whole lot. Hopefully I won't feel anything at all.

It was a weird play. He came down the line, and normally, they don't do that.

It showed. It's just of those things. He's trying to make a play. It's a tough play. You don't want a kid getting hurt. I'm just glad it's not anything more serious.

It's been a pretty interesting week, ... First it was one thing, then another. I didn't know what was going on.

It's painful. I've been playing with it for a few weeks now, ... could be gone, or it's something we might have to deal with for a little bit.

That's our mission. We've got to get back there and try to win the thing. That's what it's all about.

That's the first time I've seen him and I was very impressed. That was the only chance I really had to get something out over the plate and hit. ... He's got great stuff.

It's come to a point where it's gotten worse and worse and worse, ... The last few days playing, it was affecting me, I felt.

It was nice to do that in Spring Training, ... I can't stress how important it was to actually get Spring Training under our belts, those four or five weeks there to work together.

I've got to help out our ball club with some offense and I'm not doing it,

It (ticks) you off when you continuously feel you're on the wrong end of things. You try to keep your cool and try to not get involved with the calls. But things got out of hand, unfortunately. Everybody lost their cool there.

The last thing we want to do is give these guys life to get back in the series.

If there's anything lacking now, it's the control Prior has on his off-speed pitches. Once he gets there, he can be one of the best pitchers. He has a lot to learn, but the potential is most definitely there.

I really haven't done anything since last Saturday, ... For two days it was my knee, and then I couldn't move at all for two days.

Hopefully, we're going in the right direction. We're really trying to eliminate this thing so we don't have any more problems.

If he gets through the first or second inning, he's kind of in and out,

I could have walked a few times already and I'm not even doing that, ... Either way, I have to get on base and help out in some way, and it has to be now.

You want to get to the finish line healthy, but you want to get there playing good.

You've got to be ready for it. If it's not going through your mind, all of a sudden it's on you and you're not ready for it. We're thinking like that all the time. 'Here we go, get a ground ball.' Wherever it goes, all of us, the whole infield is thinking like that. We like that and we want that. It's a huge rally-killer.