Quotes: Delgado’s Conference Call
Yesterday, Mets 1B Carlos Delgado spoke with reporters on a conference call to talk about last season, next season and his charity Extra Bases.
Delgado had the following to say about…
…whether his team needs a player like Johan Santana…
“I never use the word ‘need’ just because we really don’t need anything but oxygen, but it would be nice to have a guy like Johan Santana. I’m not going to lie to you. When you bring a guy of that caliber, obviously its going to make a team better. But what is he going to cost you would be the next question….We have a great team. I’m not saying that we wouldn’t like to have him, but if it doesn’t work out, we have to go out and play with what we got. And I believe that we have enough with what we’ve got…If we can get him for the right price, in the right trade, I’m not Omar here, I think it would be great.”
…on his previous comments about the team being bored, turning the page and looking towards next season…
“We need to be able to stay focused for 162 games. I know it sounds like a cliché, but I think that’s what happened…
“We played good baseball from the get-go, we were doing good, we knew we had a good team, we had a good lead, and it got to a point where we didn’t stay focused enough to continue to compete the way we were competing - and I think that’s going to be the biggest lesson for 2008 - nobody is going to hand you anything on a silver platter, you have to go out and get it…
“I know that you learn from the past and learn from your mistakes, but it gets to a point where you have to say, “You know what, enough reflection.” This is a new season and we’ve got to get it going. We’ve got to get 2007 over with, turn the page and start focusing on 2008…it doesn’t make any sense to cry over spilled milk…I think everybody was disappointed, but by the same token, we’re very hungry to get back to where we were.
“It was very disappointing because we know we had the best team. I believe that we still have a great team. The nucleus of our ballclub remains pretty much the same, we’ve done it before, we just have to go out and do it again, but we have to play six months. Actually we’d like to play seven months.”
…more on what he means by a lack of focus…
“I don’t want to say we took it for granted because we don’t really take anything for granted. But we kind of assumed - for lack of a better team - that we were going to win…We kind of didn’t play it out the last three weeks. This is my best guess, because if I knew exactly what had happened, I would have said or done something to not allow it to happen. If I look back, that’s the only thing I can think of. If I see it next year, we’re definitely going to be more aware of it…
“I don’t think it had anything to do with things away from the ballpark. I don’t think it had anything to do with extracurricular activities. You get to a point, and when you’re an athlete at this level, you just got to narrow your mind and go out and do what you’ve got to do. Don’t have any other stuff in your mind. To win that game, instead of thinking, when we get to the playoffs, we might play this or that…We can only control what we can control, which is go out and play good baseball and forget about what other people do…
“Like I said, it doesn’t end on Aug. 30 or Sept. 15. We have to go all the way into October and that’s what we’re going to do in 2008…We can talk about 2007 all we want and try to figure out exactly what happened. But you know what? It doesn’t really change anything. I’m not saying that to minimize it, but if we continue to talk about 2007 in 2008 chances are we’re going to be thinking about something we shouldn’t be thinking about, which is going out and playing good baseball and trying to win as many games as we can…Essentially that’s the message for our team, that’s the message for our fans…We’re going to make it better in 2008 and that’s the bottom line.”
…on whether he is a leader on this team…
“Every time I talk about leadership, it’s a very sensitive issue because being vocal when you don’t need to be vocal, it doesn’t make things great either. We have to deal with each situation as it presents itself. From spring training, we’ve got to get our common goal, which is to win and try to get everybody on the same page and try to get everybody to buy into that. If something needs to be said from that point, obviously I’m not afraid to say it…I feel confident enough if I have to go up to somebody and tell them whatever, I feel confident enough in saying that…If I see something, I will definitely point it out. Unfortunately for you guys, you’ll never hear it from me, but it will be done.”
…his poor performance…
“I had a horrible year, and I don’t think I have an excuse…I did not make the adjustments when I needed to make the adjustments. It got to a point where I was thinking too much about what I was doing wrong instead of just going out and playing the game.”
Delgado fractured his hand after being hit by a pitch during the season’s final game.
He said the hand is doing well and he expects to be at full strength when he reports to Port St. Lucie next month, adding, “I’m back to where I want to be, where I was before the injury.”
For more on Delgado, read the Star-Ledger, the Daily News, the Associated Press, Newsday, and New York Times.
