Season-End Edition: Battle Royale

cubs v. expectations

"I think we all expected it; it started in spring training. The expectations came out and all the polls of where we were supposed to finish before the first day of camp. The expectations and pressure have been there. It comes with the job. We expect to be there, and everyone else is going to expect us to be there. But I don't think it had an effect."
Kerry Wood (Daily Herald - 10/2/04)

"With this team, it's just hard to believe that we're not going to be in the playoffs. I think everyone in this room understands and feels if we were able to make it [into the playoffs] that we could have won it all."
Michael Barrett (Daily Herald - 10/3/04)

"This team was just as good as all the teams I've been on in the past in Atlanta with the exception that we didn't win as many games. That might sound stupid to say but that's the way it is. This team was legit."
Greg Maddux (Cubs.com - 10/3/04)

"Did Florida choke? Did Philly choke? Does that make everybody who didn't win a choker?... I've never had a team that's described as 'choked.' So I'm not going to have one now."
Dusty Baker (Daily Herald - 10/3/04)

cubs v. broadcasters

"You want the truth? You can't handle the truth. Let me tell you something, guys, the truth of this situation is an extremely talented bunch of guys who want to look at all directions except where they should really look, and ... make excuses for what happened. At the end of the day, boys, you don't tell me how rough the water is, you bring in the ship. The best eight go on, the other teams go home. This team should have won the wild-card by six, seven games. No doubt about it."
Steve Stone (Chicago Tribune - 9/30/04)

"If you want to put it delicately, you can say [Dusty Baker] managed a bad game. I thought he managed a very bad baseball game."
Steve Stone (Daily Herald - 10/2/04)

"When you have the job that Steve has, you're entitled to your opinion. We all know that this game is very easy to second-guess and we all realize that the farther we sit from the field, the easier the game looks."
Jim Hendry (Daily Herald - 10/2/04)

"I've know Stone since the 70s. We had talked about the situation before about the team and him. I thought it was done. We talked about it and then shook hands as men. I didn't know where he was coming from in the postgame interview thing."
Dusty Baker (Daily Herald - 10/2/04)

"No one, myself included, would ever expect Steve to not speak his truthful thoughts as a game analyst, whether it's game strategies, managerial moves, player mistakes, front-office decisions."
Jim Hendry (Daily Herald - 10/6/04)

cubs v. sosa

"I felt that even if [Sosa] wasn't playing today, obviously he should have been here in uniform and be with his teammates."
Jim Hendry (Daily Herald - 10/4/04)

"I didn't know [Sammy Sosa] was going to leave. No, I didn't give him permission to leave."
Dusty Baker (Daily Herald - 10/4/04)

"It's inexcusable not to be dressed for the game. He needed permission from the manager or myself to leave, and he didn't have it from either one."
Jim Hendry (Daily Herald - 10/5/04)

"Yeah, I'd want [Sosa] back. He's got to go to work this winter and just get in tip-top, tip-top shape mentally and physically. It's a big year for him next year. So I assume he'll have a very good year, especially since it's his option year."
Dusty Baker (Daily Herald - 10/4/04)

"I'm tired of being blamed by Dusty Baker for all the failures of this club."
Sammy Sosa (Daily Southtown - 10/5/04)

"Have you ever heard me blame Sammy for anything? Where can this emotion be coming from, or where can his comments be coming from? You never heard me say anything blaming Sammy for anything."
Dusty Baker (Daily Herald - 10/5/04)

"I can't figure out where he figured out I blamed him for whatever. I've done nothing but cover the guy. Boy, this is some year."
Dusty Baker (Daily Herald - 10/5/04)

"In this position, I will always do what I feel is in the best interest of the Chicago Cubs. That would be inclusive for all players or personnel."
Jim Hendry, on potentially trading Sosa (Daily Herald - 10/6/04)

cubs v. world

"To tell you the truth, I think [the umpires] are after me."
Moises Alou (Cubs.com - 9/27/04)

"I think [Alou] had a little merit there."
Baker (Cubs.com - 9/27/04)

"Honestly, I think the umpires are not anti-anybody. I don't think they'd hold it against a ballclub. They've been through a lot of stuff with other ballclubs, too."
Jim Hendry (Cubs.com - 9/27/04)

"I've always been outspoken. But when I was in Houston, they always talked to Bagwell and Biggio, and in Florida they talked to Sheffield and Bonilla and everybody else. If I [homered] twice, I got an interview. But here there is so much media, they want to hear from everybody and I've gotten a chance to make a fool out of myself."
Moises Alou (Chicago Tribune - 9/28/04)

"Sometimes I get in trouble, because I'm a person who always says what he feels. And you media guys love to hear that from anybody. Sometimes they want to bury you for what you say. I have to be more careful about what I say now."
Moises Alou (Chicago Sun-Times - 9/29/04)

cubs v. skillz

"Sometimes in Spring Training, you're just going through things. We have to spend more time with [baserunning] and emphasize it more and make it more prevalent in the front of your brain. Sometimes when you've been doing things for so long, you take it that you know how to do these things."
Dusty Baker (Cubs.com - 10/3/04)

"If I knew [why the Cubs can't get a big hit], it wouldn't keep happening. Sometimes you've got the wrong guy at the plate. Sometimes it's a matter of wanting to do it so badly you don't get a good pitch to hit. Sometimes it's a matter of being calm and cool and figuring out what you need."
Dusty Baker (Cubs.com - 10/3/04)

"Yeah, you need on-base percentage guys to put the pitcher in the stretch. I don't agree with going up there looking for a walk unless the game situation dictates it. This isn't Little League."
Dusty Baker (Chicago Sun-Times - 10/4/04)

"The whole thing boils down to that half of on-base percentage is getting a good pitch to hit. Most of the times when guys are striking out, a bad pitch has been swung at during the course of that at-bat."
Dusty Baker (Chicago Sun-Times - 10/4/04)

see ya next year

"As far as [next year's] payroll and budget, that's on Jim. Heck, if he followed my wish list, the payroll would be $200 million."
Dusty Baker (Cubs.com - 10/3/04)

"Without tampering, there are quite a few guys that express interest. They say they'd like to play here or play for me. Let's try to come up with the best solution we can without having a 30 or 40 percent turnover in personnel every year."
Dusty Baker (Chicago Sun-Times - 10/4/04)

"This is definitely a place I'd seriously consider. I love Wrigley, I love the city, I love the fans. The fans have been great and opened their arms as much as my teammates. Do I know what's going to happen or what's going on? That I can't foresee."
Nomar Garciaparra (Cubs.com - 10/3/04)

"Expect better."
Dusty Baker, on next year (Daily Herald - 10/3/04)