DARTH vs LUKE '05

Quotes from the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry

"If they want to throw hand grenades, let them throw hand grenades."
-- Brian Cashman, Yankees GM, Associated Press, Feb. 20, 2005

"I played with [Alex Rodriguez] in A-ball, and a couple of years later I saw him again and I don't think he remembered who I was. He was such a big-timer by then."
-- Matt Mantei, Red Sox pitcher, New York Post, Feb. 20, 2005

"As champions you're supposed to act a certain way. But you have to remember, the Red Sox don't have much experience in that department."
-- Anonymous Yankees official, New York Daily News, Feb. 19, 2005

"I remember reading the press conference or something when [A-Rod] went there. He said: 'When we.' He said a 'we' in his comment about like he's won like three or four rings with them and he hadn't, and that kind of disturbed me. He shouldn't put himself in that category. You've got to earn it."
-- David Wells, Red Sox pitcher, AP, Feb. 17, 2005

"Well, I'm not a deadbeat dad, you clown ... What's wrong with me taking my kid to school, and then going to work out?"
-- Trot Nixon, Red Sox right fielder, AP, Feb. 15, 2005, on A-Rod bragging about his workouts

"Waking up at 6 in the morning? There's been many a nights where I haven't been to bed at 6 in the morning."
-- Johnny Damon, Red Sox center fielder, AP, Feb. 21, 2005, also about A-Rod's workouts

"Derek Jeter, he's a Yankee, period. Alex Rodriguez's salary doesn't dictate that he's a Yankee. Just because he's making $25 million doesn't mean he's a Yankee. Jeter, check his fingers out. How many rings does he have? Four? Check his jewelry out, that's not a bad record."
-- Kevin Millar, Red Sox first baseman, New York Post, Feb. 20, 2005

"I know there are 650 or 700 other players who are sleeping this morning. Either that, or they're taking their kids to school. But there's no way they're going to be up running the stairs or doing what I'm doing."
-- Alex Rodriguez, Yankees third baseman, The Record (Bergen County, N.J.), Jan. 30, 2005

"To me it was just odd, because I mean we beat [Curt Schilling] a couple of times during the year and he was crying on the bench. And then he lost Game 1 and he wouldn't talk or anything. And obviously, he wins Game 6 and then he's still talking 'till today.
-- Rodriguez, AP, Jan. 21, 2005

"I saw that bush-league play from the clubhouse. First of all, Bronson was not in the baseline -- his glove was. I've never seen anything like that. Someone in the baseline is one thing, [but] he could break his arm on a play like that last night. That's not the way you play the game. Bottom line: would Derek Jeter ever do that? No chance. It's not unexpected [from Rodriguez], though."
-- Curt Schilling, Red Sox pitcher, ESPN, Oct. 21, 2004, on A-Rod's infamous slap play in the ALCS

"We understand John Henry must be embarrassed, frustrated, and disappointed by his failure in [trading for A-Rod]. Unlike the Yankees, he chose not to go the extra distance for his fans in Boston. It is understandable, but wrong that he would try to deflect the accountability for his mistakes on to others and to a system for which he voted in favor. It is time to get on with life and forget the sour grapes."
-- George Steinbrenner, Feb. 18, 2004

"Baseball doesn't have an answer for the Yankees. Revenue sharing can only accomplish so much. At some point it becomes confiscation. It has not and it will not solve what is a very obvious problem."
-- John Henry, Red Sox owner, Feb. 18, 2004, on the Yankees trading for A-Rod

"That's b.s. That's how a sick person thinks. I've learned this about [Larry] Lucchino: He's baseball's foremost chameleon of all time. He changes colors depending on where's he's standing."
-- Steinbrenner, Boston Globe, Dec. 30, 2002, in response to Lucchino's "evil empire" comment

"It's clear it's sour grapes. I don't know what else to say. [Contreras] said he took less money to come to us. It's unfortunate, the comments that were made, but at the end of the day the player said he wanted to be a Yankee and chose to sign with us."
-- Cashman, Boston Globe, Dec. 28, 2002

"The evil empire extends its tentacles even into Latin America."
-- Larry Lucchino, Red Sox president, New York Times, Dec. 25, 2002, on the Yankees signing free agent Jose Contreras

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