You're not in a horse race with this guy either. For him to come out here today and do the things that he did, get his work in, I think he's going to go home today feeling like he had a very productive day.

This is about the time he should get started. You're not looking for this guy to be out there for two- and three-inning stints. It's completely unnecessary to do that with him.

You don't want to see a guy go 3-2 on a hitter all the time. (Perez) attacked (yesterday) -- that's what I want to see.

For a guy to come in here and work to improve his versatility, to put on that catcher's gear ... I admire that. I had a 15-minute talk with him, and I told him so. Like I told him, it takes a hell of a lot more than nine players to win. ... I appreciate the demeanor he's shown coming into this camp.

It's great to get him back in camp with us. I saw a guy on TV who really liked the arena that he was in.

In a perfect scenario, you'd have Joe hitting sixth. But if it's not perfect, I could see him hitting fifth, somehow behind Casey and Jason Bay. This is a guy who knows how to keep the offense moving, hit to all fields.

I'm very in tune with that. When a guy gets on a roll and stays on a roll for a little while, you ride that out.

I like what he's done, ... The guy can hit, there's no question about it.

He's the same Sean Casey I've watched over the last seven or eight years. We're talking about a guy that knows how to hit. It's just that simple - he knows how to hit.

He pitched like an ace today -- and he had the demeanor of one. I saw a guy who was extremely interested in wanting to be the ace of the staff.

This is a guy that as we go along you're going to find him pitching a lot of very meaningful games, games of major significance. That's who he is. That's who he's going to become. That's going to be a very easy thing for him to do because he's a person who's not the least bit shy about wanting that type of responsibility.

One of the things that young players have to not only learn but gain an admiration for is the respect factor of the game and the people who have participated in previous years, and an understanding of the history of the organization they are playing in. It's an organization very rich in tradition.

People wondered was he ever going to 'get it? ... He got it.

He's a special player, a very special player. People know that in our game.

I think it'll put a few more rear ends in the seats. The fact Washington is still very much in it will add to the intrigue. Obviously people go out to see him, no doubt about that.

I think the mistake people made was, many thought he was a finished product. We wanted to back off for a while. We wanted to watch. We didn't want to attack him.

Pitching and defense has been the name of the game in baseball forever. I don't care what level you're playing at. My philosophy since I started managing has been that, before you can look at any other phases, you've got to feel fairly comfortable that you've got some people who can pitch and you've got to be able to catch the ball. If you can't do either one, your chances of being very good are slim.

(Playing the Dodgers) is kind of special. It was five years that I spent there. In my opinion they were five very special years. There were a lot of very special things we accomplished there. There were things that some people thought we were never going to have a chance to do, but we did.

I was fairly impressed. We couldn't do anything, and he was still out there in the sixth inning and still getting people out.

This says so much about the City of Pittsburgh and their support of their sports teams. You have a group of people who absolutely love this team.

This whole weekend shows how great a sports town Pittsburgh is. The people here really care about these teams.

There are a lot of very special people who are still there. You build relationships with people in this game, and some you build lifelong relationships with. There are a few over there I have done that with.

We were talking about four different people as possibilities for one spot in the rotation. It makes that situation that much more intriguing in my opinion.

Every team needs people like that. It's not just what he does as a third base coach, and I happen to be believe he's very good at what he does. Having this guy as a buffer between my office and the clubhouse ... that's huge.

Think about the ... significance of ... how many at-bats he takes this year with men on base because the guy (Casey) hitting in front of him is going to be on base. There's going to be a number of times that he's going to come up to the plate with people on base and have the opportunity to either extend the inning, put a game away or extend leads. All those possibilities will be there.

I've never seen Curt Schilling go out and start a game with the intention of hurting people. But if you start hitting people in the head... you need to be very careful of that.

I've always felt that honesty is the best way to go. These guys aren't kids anymore. They are men. Sometimes you tell people some things, and they don't want to hear it. We've all been in that position. Deal with it. Here's what it is.

No question in my mind. You are talking about people who have great baseball minds and are tireless workers.

That's how people learn. That's our responsibility to make sure those things are taken care of.

There were periods like that a couple years ago where people might have thought the same thing, and he bounces back,

I like challenges. I like it when people say, 'You don't have a chance to succeed there.'

I'm certainly not the least bit shy or afraid of having young people out there competing,

I'm anxious, but I'm anxious everyday. I want to see this group of people perform.

If you have them, great. If not, there are people in every clubhouse in baseball that every player in the room identifies with. I don't think that he necessarily needs a 'C' on his shoulder or anything like that.

But if you start hitting people in the head, you got to be very careful.

Challenges are something that I like very, very much, ... I like hearing people say or maybe think that this is a situation you don't have a chance to succeed in, I'm very challenged by that.

I don't think Curt Schilling was out there to hurt people. Period. When you start hitting people in the head, you need to be very careful with that.

I am a big believer in the fact that stuff gets people out, not what looks cosmetically correct. Stuff is what gets major league hitters out.

You want this whole environment to be fun for them. You want the game of baseball to be fun. You can have fun and also be involved in a businesslike manner and continue to utilize the techniques that we have been talking about over the course of these four days. You can get something done and have people going into the clubhouse with a good feeling about themselves.

The challenge is something I like very much, ... I take a lot of pride in people saying this is a situation where you don't have a chance to succeed. I'm really challenged by that.

He had a tough time today, but that happens. You have to keep in mind that he's only 22 years old. He isn't going to be great every time out. I thought his mechanics were off a little bit.

He had a tough time today, but that happens. You have to keep in mind that he's only 22 years old. He isn't going to be great every time out. I thought his mechanics were off a little bit.

He has handled the situation very professionally and he's made a big fan out of me because of that. It's great to have a player like him on the bench that you can put into the lineup and the other team knows he's a significant factor to contend with.

He got out of his game. He got out of what helped to get him off to a great start. I saw a much longer swing in Houston. I saw a very short wall in left field and I saw somebody that was trying to reach it way too often.

He makes everyone around him better. It's not going to take him months to resurrect that great hand-eye coordination. It's safe to say he's a weapon depending on where he's at with his rehab situation.

We took great at-bats tonight. We hit four home runs. And the beautiful part of it was the run that we scored to go ahead was something that we worked at very hard in Spring Training.

He's a great athlete and a heck of a baseball player. You've got to like his future.

He's done a great job and he's really shown me he has a chance to be a very special player. He's a tremendous talent.

He's a clubhouse leader, great for young players to be around, knows how to play the game, accepts his role willingly and does it as well as any of the other top flight guys that come off benches and play, that you can think of. What's there not to like about this guy?

I thought they both did a great job (Saturday). They did exactly what you wanted to see and what they would have wanted to do.