Ozzie on Freddy's "If we don't really hit too much, where are we going to be?" comment:
"Well, when you give up five runs ... it's a funny thing, players can say whatever they want to say because it's their right, but we gave the lead to Freddy a couple of times and they tied the games a couple of times. Sometimes people should blame themselves when things happen. When we lose, we lose together. When we win, we win together." Guillen pointed out that Garcia has a 4.87 ERA and the Sox' offense leads the league in scoring. "We've been scoring some runs. I think that comment was unnecessary."
Javy on his pitches (yesterday):
"I'm not using my curve as much as I would like to, just because I haven't had the feel for it as much as I usually do. On the other hand, I have the slider this year, which is a better pitch for me than ever before. I threw it a little bit last year, but it wasn't as consistent. I don't have the same curve ball, but I have a better slider. Usually when I give up a home run, it's about bad location and putting the pitch where I don't want it. It's not the pitch. The good thing is, I still feel confident that I can throw my curve."
Kenny on one of his meetings with Ozzie and Brian Anderson, back when Brian was struglling with the bat:
"Brian left the room and I turned to Ozzie and said, 'You know, he has a lot more confidence than he should for a guy in his spot.' And Ozzie said, 'Yeah, we're going to be in trouble if the guy ever hits .250.'"
Hitting coach Greg Walker saw that Brian was holding the bat flat instead of perpendicular to the ground before swinging:
"He had to change his swing. So when the organization was trying to decide whether to send him down, we made a simple [alteration], and it clicked. Within one day, you could see a textbook swing. It was immediate, and it felt good to him."
And Brian himself:
"I don't want to say I don't care. I realize it's my job. It goes for any job you have. You can't be stressed out and bummed out whether you're going good or bad. If you stay level-headed about what's going on, it makes it a lot easier. But absolutely there were times you just want to go home and sleep. It's tough to wake up, know that even if you go 3-for-4 the next few days, you're going to be hitting under the Mendoza Line. It takes mental strength to go out there every single day, especially when you're struggling. That's when you find out what kind of player you are."