Tim Purpura Quotes

"He has the physical ability to keep playing,"

"The player has an idea how he feels, and the doctors tell us their feedback. This is the only objective way you can measure things like arm speed and different angles on his arm. It should be interesting to hear what Dr. Andrews has to say."

"It's heroic, ... He understands the meaning of duty. His mother taught him about duty."

"Reid was on a walkie-talkie and says, 'Hey, Dad, Tim says that Roy's going back to Kissimmee tomorrow,' ... You hear silence and then you hear Nolan, 'Sounds like I need to make a phone call?' Then I made the phone call and told Gerry, and he said, 'Well, you can't send him back down there.'"

"These things are hard to put a percentage on, and say, yeah with certainty we think it's going to happen or not. But, again, with Roger, I never count him out."

"I think it got him on the inside of his leg. I guess if we didn't have challenges, we wouldn't have jobs."

"I think his commitment to the World Classic is intriguing. That gives me some indication that he thinks that he's got something left that he can go out and participate in that."

"I think his commitment to the [Classic] certainly is intriguing. I think that gives us some indication that he thinks he has something left."

"I think it's certainly been a philosophy of our organization to draft primarily college players. So far, we're doing OK."

"He and I had a conversation in January, when we had some workouts going on. I said, 'You're going to play, and get a chance to play every day here.' We just had a conversation and he told me that made him feel so good."

"They can pass along a lot of information. They are two great examples of what hard work and determination can get you."

"That's the beauty of Brad. He can take it. He can dish it out, but he can take it, too."

"It's a way to remember him and honor him for all he did for Enos."

"You can't force a guy to stay there. But also, you want to try to do what's in the best interests of the club. You need a guy who can hit the ball out of the ballpark, not necessarily a guy who can hit a single. But it's a tough deal, being in the Minor Leagues, facing young guys that are out to get you."

"There's nobody giving up. Nobody is hanging their head. Nobody is saying, 'We were this close to the World Series,'"

"The health is not an issue. It's the willingness of Roger to play, and we just don't know that. To tie up resources for that long of a period of time would really hurt our ability to move forward."

"It's nice to not have to worry about that spot. Catching is the hardest thing to find quality. You look at clubs tying up their catchers -- the Reds with [Jason] LaRue, us with Ausmus -- clubs are trying to hold onto those guys. They're quality guys and they're dependable."

"If he goes three days, and he's making progress, but he doesn't feel he's ready to be activated, then we might extend it."

"He was making progress at the end of last year, too, so it's not like all of a sudden he's just back. He's made a steady progression, he's worked very hard, and he's back at a point where he could be a legitimate contender for these spots [in the rotation]."

"He's making progress. With a young player, there's that adjustment period. It takes time. I give him a lot of credit. He had some tough outings and he's come back from it."