suuuuurrrre, Greg
"I honestly don't worry about (300 wins). I worry about just trying to do what I can to locate my fastball and change speeds, and when I'm not doing that I enjoy the game and enjoy the time away from the park."
Greg Maddux (Cubs.com, 5/31/04)

a sad tale
"I had the bases loaded twice and couldn't get the job done. But I'm never going to apologize for being aggressive. Yeah, I went out of the zone. You have to do a little better, and I know I could do better. But I'm never going to apologize for being aggressive."
Corey Patterson (Cubs.com, 6/1/04)
"I'd rather swing at a ball in the dirt or out of the zone than take one right in the middle. You've got to be aggressive in the zone. That's what you have to do."
Patterson (Cubs.com, 6/1/04)
"The last at-bat, I didn't change anything from the first three at-bats and I got a base hit and felt great. It's not like I'm hitting .180 or .150."
Patterson (Cubs.com, 6/1/04)
"It's just a matter of getting a good pitch to hit in the zone, and most of those balls were out of the zone."
Dusty Baker, on Patterson's at-bats (Cubs.com, 6/1/04)
"He's supposed to be aggressive, but you have to be aggressive with strikes. They don't call it balls and strikes for nothing."
Baker (Cubs.com, 6/2/04)
"I feel badly that everybody is bashing [Patterson]. This guy only played 318 minor league games. That's nothing. He's only 24 years old. By all rights, he shouldn't have been here until last year, maybe."
Baker (Cubs.com, 6/4/04)
"He was here out of necessity. He shouldn't have even been here. Two, three years from now, if the same thing exists, then we have a problem."
Baker (Cubs.com, 6/4/04)

a sadder tale
"I didn't get it done, plain and simple. No excuses. I'm going out there believing I can get the guys out, but it's not happening. I keep plugging away, hoping I can get it done."
Joe Borowski, after blowing a save (Cubs.com, 6/4/04)
"It seems like I'm in a bad dream and I can't get out of it. I'm not going to worry about what can happen or what might happen. Whatever is best for the team is fine."
Borowski (Cubs.com, 6/4/04)
"Something's wrong and we don't know yet."
Baker, on Borowski (Cubs.com, 6/6/04)
"It's not like a sharp pain or anything like that. It's more a dull feeling, like you're carrying a weight around with you. I just started noticing it was taking longer to come back."
Borowski, on his arm (Cubs.com, 6/6/04)
"I've been asking him the whole time, and Larry [Rothschild] has been asking the whole time. Joe, being the warrior that he is, [said] nothing hurts."
Baker, on Borowski (Cubs.com, 6/6/04)
"Joe's not a complainer, and that's probably a little to his detriment in all this. He doesn't want to come in. [But] it got to a point where we started asking him questions."
Cubs trainer Dave Groeschner on Borowski (Cubs.com, 6/6/04)

miscellanea
"I'm surprised I'm sitting on five home runs. I don't worry too much about average. I haven't been hitting the ball out of the ballpark. I wouldn't say it's a concern but I'd like to contribute more on the power end of it."
Derrek Lee (Cubs.com, 5/31/04)
"If (Dusty Baker) gives me the bunt sign, I'll bunt."
Lee (Cubs.com, 5/31/04)
"It was his game. We're trying to teach these young guys how to close out their own game, especially if they're still strong. I asked, 'How bad do you want this? Are you still strong?' He said yes, and I said, 'Let's go.'"
Baker on his visit to Zambrano in the eighth inning of the Cubs' 6-1 win (Cubs.com, 6/5/04)
"Wasn't that so Cub."
A fan, after the Cubs lost Prior's season debut, 2-1 (New York Times, 6/5/04)