I lay a lot of blame at the feet of Dusty Baker for not being more strict about fundamentals, which I think would give the team a stronger day-to-day identity.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
One of the things I noticed more in this draft than in any recent drafts was the importance of the character issue. Players who had baggage, like Justice, fell much farther than his talent dictated. But a lot of coaches didn't want to take the chance.
We create a standard for how we want to do things, and everybody's got to buy into that standard or you really can't have any team chemistry.
I feel like I've always been doubted or slighted. Let's be honest. When you're a walk-on, you don't start for a No. 1 team, a national championship contender. You just don't. A walk-on is a guy who plays scout team, who's just happy to be on the team.
Forever, we all had a real clear understanding of what Parcells' teams looked like and played like: tough as hell and didn't beat themselves.
Coaches aren't concentrating enough of the technical part of this game and that could lead to injuries.
When it's deep into the season and you're not playing well, it's frustrating. This is when it's time to revisit some basics.
We were going to have to experiment, and we needed to develop our younger players. And a lot of the changes were because of injuries. But that's where I give a lot of credit to the group in terms of being able to maintain things.
I don't need to beat Faber, because his ego will always beat him. He's got excuses for every loss he's ever had.
There were times when I'd bench players for their lack of effort. We worked very hard on fundamentals, which was the Dodger way. We needed to be more aggressive.
Baseball fans are collectively the '10th man' and needed most when team performance is shaky. When mistakes are made, there's no need to heckle your team - that's what the other side is for!