Tony Russa
Tony Russa
certainly excited great high
Just look at him, he's in great shape. I don't know if he's more excited than he's ever been, but certainly he's not any less. I think he's high quality.
baseball character great happy miss remarkable
He's a remarkable baseball man, a remarkable character and a remarkable friend. Yeah, I miss him, but I feel great because he's as happy as he can be.
compensate great hanging pieces year
It's been a great story all year long, how we've been able to compensate for some really important pieces that have not been available, ... He's an important piece and we're still hanging in there.
answer closing club eight goes great guys handle heck hitter produce screws starting tougher watches
Mentally, is closing tougher than a hitter going out there with 600 at-bats to produce ... tougher than a starting pitcher? For the great closer, it's as tough. He watches the club for eight innings. Then if he goes out there and screws it up, he's got 24 guys to answer to. It's a heck of a deal. Some guys can't handle it.
certainly excited gotten great happened
Just look at him. He's in great shape. There isn't a thing that has happened to him that has gotten in the way of preparation. I don't know if he's more excited than he's ever been, but he certainly isn't less.
affected against ball concentration fell game great guy incident looks night pitch screws soon talked
My whole concentration on the game is affected by a pitch that got away. You know, that looks so terrible. The guy is a great pro. I just talked to Julian in there for a long time. Nothing against him, as soon as he fell out of his delivery...the ball has to get down. He's a sinker ball pitcher. That incident screws up the whole night for me.
concentration feels good great majority physically pressure
I think physically he feels good and I think the pressure of the postseason has got his concentration back to where it was a great, great majority of the season.
coming great himself shape situation slow
He got himself into great shape coming into camp. He's not in a situation where he has to slow this down or that down.
face great guy whoever
It makes it a lot more personal, ... I mean, whoever you're facing, you know professionally what's at stake. But when you face a guy who's been such a great teammate, we have experienced so much together, it makes it a lot more personal.
figure john stuff
There's a lot of stuff (left to figure out). It's not just John Rodriguez.
developing leagues minor wins
I actually think the wins in the minor leagues are more meaningful. You're developing prospects.
league major pitches three throws
He throws strikes, has three pitches -- and his three pitches are major league caliber.
defends nice runs understand
I think he runs well, I understand he defends well and he's got a nice stroke. I think that's enough. He has some credentials and he competes.
feature guys role
Our role guys have become our feature players.