This "Week" in Dusty : 5-17 to 6-12 [ouch]

"We got one of our main men back. Anytime you get one of your main men back, that's a tremendous lift. We'll get another main man back [with Prior] and another main man back [with Wade Miller] and then the main man back in [Derrek Lee]. When those main men are here, you have a great chance to win, even before the game starts. That adds a whole bunch of confidence to the team."
- New team name: The Chicago Main Men - 5/17

"He said he felt as if he'd been hit by a truck. He's sore everywhere, which is understandable. He had a lot more adrenaline going than he did down there in Arizona [pitching in rehab games]. He said it's a good, general soreness."
- Yeah, but then Wood went on the DL anyway - 5/19

"These things happen, whether it's the White Sox or Kansas City or whoever's in the league. I can't say our relationship is that tense with the White Sox or theirs with us. We're just playing baseball. These things happen. It's unfortunate. You don't like it; it's not something you teach your kids to do. These are grown men playing a young man's game."
- And you're an old man coaching a young man's game - 5/20

"I saw them talking. It'd be tough for me to talk to somebody after they clocked me like that. Perhaps they did. I wouldn't have been in a conversational mood."
- Maybe you should get clocked more often then - 5/21

"The best way to get out of this is basically to pitch your way out of it. We need success of deep, deep games [by the starting pitcher]. You fall behind early and it ties your hands as to what you can do offensively, especially if you don't have a bunch of three-run homer guys. The main thing we have to do is pitch better, take our walks when they give them to us and stay out of double plays. We've got to cut these walks down. Look at the stats here and we've got a ton of walks. That equals a lot of runs."
- Does any team have "a bunch of three-run homer guys"? - 5/23

"That's my job. During tough times, you've got to be tough. I don't allow any finger pointing. If you're pointing your fingers, there's a good chance you should be pointing at yourself, too."
- Dusty has a "Chicken Soup for the Soul" moment - 5/26

"Reports are that he knows how to pitch. He has three real good pitches that he can control. The whole thing is, can he transfer that to the big leagues with the same relaxed mode that he showed us and pitch the same way he did down there?"
- The answer regarding Jae Kuk Ryu? No - 5/27

"I drive around town, going home, walk around town, and I see people with Cub hats on and Cub T-shirts on. I feel terrible. I feel like we're letting them down. I know our guys are busting their butts. You feel badly not only for the people here in Chicago, but we're kind of like a world team. We're broadcast all over the country. I get letters from all over the world about the Cubs. I really appreciate them, and I've come to enjoy coming to a packed house every day. All in all, they've been very supportive. I don't blame them for being upset and disgruntled, because I probably would be if I was a fan, too. We really appreciate their belief and support. People tell me we still have a chance. This is what I believe. I always believe that. I believe that in the bottom of my heart. I'd love to come back, all the way back, and give the whole town and world an injection of faith."
- Some people want to give you an injection too, of the lethal variety - 5/28

"It's tough. You have to get a lot of hits. That ball was jumping [on Sunday]. I wanted to suit up."
- If you do, we could use you at second base - 5/29

"I like football players as baseball players. They tend to be tougher. I've always said the kids I like to play baseball are football players, basketball players and wrestlers, and water polo guys because they know what hard work and training is all about. I'm not taking anything away from baseball, but you can do sprints and think you had a pretty good workout. I remember those wrestlers, they'd run around the gym when I was playing basketball. I like those mentality guys, to tell you the truth."
- Alright, that's just fucking insane - 6/06

"That's probably the things I hate worst in baseball -- shutouts, walks and errors. When you get shut out, it means you didn't have a chance to win. I don't like shutouts."
- Baker channelling the voice of Yogi Berra - 6/08

"I put Tony at top because Juan's had trouble getting on base. Juan's a leadoff man and Tony's a leadoff man, too, and it's kind of a double leadoff man."
- Wow. Just, wow. - 6/09