Brandon Phillips spoke at length with Reds beat reporters at his clubhouse stall today, shortly after it was learned Phillips will get his first day off this season.
Phillips' tone was light and he punctuated his remarks with some smiles, but it was also obvious he wanted to make some points. Here are some of his remarks:
--“I see myself as an everyday player. I’ll just smile and go with it. ...Dusty’s the boss. He makes the decision."
--“I know I can hit. Everybody can’t start off hot like Joey Votto. Some people start real slow.”
--“I’ve been reading up on the stuff that you all say. It’s funny to me. But I know you got to do your jobs. I’m just happy that I’m starting to find the holes.”
--“You all can write this down too. The funny thing is, I love you guys, I have nothing but respect for all of you all. But you know, ever since you all been writing about me not hitting, we haven’t been winning. You all know that? But the thing is though, I hear a lot of people on my team, they’re worried about me instead of everybody worrying about the team. I’m going to hit. That’s how confident I am."
--"At the beginning when I wasn’t doing nothing … next thing you know, people start writing about Phillips is not hitting, Edwin’s not hitting, everybody starts thinking like wow, then everybody starts paying attention to me, and everybody starts paying attention to Edwin, and everybody just lost focus about winning.
--"So, I think we should start writing again about the Reds winning instead of worrying about two players. I think we should do that. But I love reading you all’s articles. I read ‘em all the time. You all make me laugh. You all do a great job.
"There was one comment that (the Enquirer's) John Fay wrote one time, I was kind of mad and disappointed but it was the truth. It was, 'The only reason he’s still playing is ‘cause of his glove.' I was like, wow. I respect you, but there are certain things I wish wouldn’t come out like that."
--"I’ve been hitting. I haven’t been striking out, I’m just not getting hits. … Sometimes when you look at a newspaper it says Phillips this, Edwin this, instead of just saying 'Reds win.' You all can write whatever you want, it don’t bother me. If I’m doing something bad you can write about it, it’s cool. Just make sure you all don’t write it real big because we’ve got a young team, and everybody, they read that and they start worrying about, Brandon you OK? You OK?"
--"We're winning, I'm (happy). We winning, that’s what it’s all about, because I’m gonna hit. It’s just a matter of time when it happens.
I want my team to realize that I’m gonna be OK ... as a team effort, and worry about the Reds winning, like we were doing early, we’re gonna be good ... We’re gonna be in the playoffs.
--“When you play every day, of course you don’t want to sit out, regardless of whether you’re hitting or not hitting. I feel I can do something every game to help the team win, whether it’s with my bat or with my glove.”
--“I don’t worry about the batting average. As long as I go out there and try to produce and try to make the team better, that’s all it’s about.”
NOTE: PHillips was smiling as he said most of this. We just stood back and let the recorders roll.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by reds44
