Al Martin

"I went to Edgar before the game and told him I was going to be Edgar for a day. He laughed. Then, after the home run, I went to him and said, 'See. I'm Edgar today.'" -Al Martin as the DH

"I thought it couldn't get worse than being 0-for-a-thousand, then I make an error that hurts us. What was I thinking at the plate? I was thinking 'Find a way.' I had to do something. I felt like I'd won the lottery when I got to second base." -Al Martin

"The catcher got the ball in time but he braced for a collision and left a corner of the plate open. I got that corner before he tagged me." -Al Martin

"The only thing that scared me was what we were going to do if they didn't change pitchers." -Al Martin

"Rice balls. Boonie's been eating rice balls and I've never seen him play like this. So I started eating them. Ichiro's wife made some the other day. They had plumbs in them. At least I think those were plumbs. Rice balls. I think that's the secret." -Al Martin, on hitting success

"The way my year has been going, I thought he caught it with his great play, and he'd get a standing ovation, and I'd be crying. But it didn't turn out that way, and it's good because that first game sometimes is the kind where a team starts a tailspin." -Al Martin

"I think other teams know that they have a fight on their hands when they play us." -Al Martin

"He thinks he's better than everybody else, even when he's going bad. But now he is better than everybody else. He'll hit a home run and tell us: 'If this guy throws another fastball, I'm going to hit it 500 feet.' And I'll say, 'Well, that one wasn't 500.' And he'll say, 'Nah, it was 520.' He definitely has confidence. But in a good, funny way." -Al Martin on Bret Boone

"You just watch him and say, 'This is unbelievable.' Whatever we need, he gets. If we need a bunt, he gets it. If we need a single, he gets that. And if we need a home run, he gets that, too." -Al Martin on Ichiro

"We keep pushing and we track them down. It's a good feeling to know we're capable of doing that. We play all nine innings." -Al Martin

"It's weird because Lou's reputation is that he'll get you out of there if you're not hitting. It's weird because last year I didn't know if I quite liked him. I wasn't comfortable. But this year it feels like when things couldn't get any worse for me, he was even more understanding. This year, I've grown to understand what a great manager he is. I've really, really come to love Lou. I've been going through the toughest time of my career as a player and he's kept putting my name in the lineup."

"I don't take anything for granted. I check it (the lineup card) every day. When you're not swinging good, you just don't know. And you can't blame the manager. He can't keep putting you out there when you stink."

"I know that I can hit."

"They told me Lou was a player's manager and now I can see why. I want to go out and play good for him. A couple of times I've said to him, `You're crazy. You keep putting me out there.' But he keeps telling me I'm going to hit. For a manager to do that for you, it definitely makes you feel good. I can't say enough good things about him. I just want to go out and make him look like a hero."