It's a shame, ... because all he cares about is winning. He comes to the ballpark and all he talks about is baseball. He's got a long way to go here. [Rodriguez is signed through the 2010 season.] He has a chance to win four or five championships.

These guys are proven hitters in the major leagues. There really wasn't much to do. They're our best hitters and I wasn't going to sit them on the bench or put them at the bottom of the order.

The Venezuelan reporters, they don't interview you, they want to tell you their way, 'You've got to put this guy here, play this guy.' But it was great. I got to manage all those [top players], it was a good experience for me. And I had a great time.

He hates mental mistakes. Errors, you're going to make those mistakes every day. But the fact that you make a mental one was really bad to him. In 10 years, I've never seen him that mad.

He blamed himself. I think he took it personal. ... He said, 'I'm sorry, guys.' ... He felt like he let us down.

To end the way it [did], he blames himself. This is a team effort. Everybody's got a lot of expectations and he's supposed to better than everybody else. It's not going to work like that. You just have to come to the ballpark and do your job and do the best you can.