The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
03.25.2014 | Baseball
Quotes from head coach Augie Garrido and Texas players
Head coach Augie Garrido
On his historic 1,894th career win: One thing 1,894 wins proves is that you are old. Even though I don't feel it, and even though I do look it, it still feels good. A lot of you have been around me a long time, I am not modest, and I am not a martyr, I am basically as realistic as I can be, and this belongs to everyone.
Baseball is the ultimate team sport, it really is. That goes for the coaching staffs, all the guys on the support staff, whether it is the trainers, it doesn't matter what role you have on the team. Anyone can upset the players, and if you do, they don't play well. Everyone is responsible for making their best effort to help the players reach their full potential. The players play the games, the rest of us, we are all supporting the players in the different roles we have. So, I can't tell you what percentage belongs to me, and you can't tell me … you know you can't tell what percent of the winning belongs to whom. That means it belongs to everyone, it has to. That's really the truth about it, I understand that, I respect it, again it is hard for me to deal with those things, but it would be disrespectful to all the people who worked with me, for me, helped me, sacrificed a lot of their lives … I do mean all that, because I know it is true. So out of respect for everyone, all the players for all the years, all the people I have worked with, I must stand in front of you and say this means a lot to me, because of them. I get the credit, my name is on it, but it belongs to everybody.
On how significant the win was for his current players: I think it is something we can all remember for the rest of our lives, that they did something that no one can take away from them, that's pretty cool. They just happened to be at the right place at the right time.
On if he will take time to reflect on this historic moment sometime after the season: Maybe. I like what I do, I like it, I look forward to doing it, I like the relationships involved with it, I like the teacher's role that I have in it, and so that's where all the rewards are for me, they really are. It doesn't redefine who I am, it really does not.
On being the inspiration for the performance tonight: I don't know that I was the inspiration, all we did was play the game. I think that Tommy Nicholson was the inspiration, and Ryan Russ was the inspiration, they are the two that spend the most time with them over the hitting. [The players] came out and hit the ball hard, they really did, they lit it up, they have been lighting it up for about two weeks now, and they are making progress and they are maturing. Those are the things I look at, not the results, the results are what they are, but those [coaches] are the making the progress that's making this team move forward. [Pitching coach] Skip [Johnson] already has his house in order, the defense is playing at a very high level now, all of the positions, so there has been a lot of teamwork in the coaching to get all the positions playing well defensively, and to bring the hitting along to match up with the quality pitching. It is starting to come together. There will be bumps in the road before then, but so far every time we have hit one of those bumps, we have improved. And when you have that, you are getting somewhere. We have all seen that, everybody that has been there a lot has seen that to be true. That is a different kind of spirit than the past couple of years, that is what we are really happy about.
Junior pitcher Lukas Schiraldi
On Garrido setting a new college win record: That's awesome that he's been able to do that with a few schools. I'm glad he got it here too. It's incredible. I'm extremely happy for him.
On being the starting pitcher during Garrido's record-setting night: It meant a lot. I actually wasn't sure about it until today because I don't have a Twitter or anything like that. It was pretty nice though, going in. It felt that much better at the end of the game.
On his performance: I just had fun with it. I just do that every week. I know the guys behind me are going to play so I just let them get the ball and then they make the plays.
On if he feels more confident: Absolutely. Working with Skip [Johnson] helps a lot in the midweek bullpens and then I think just getting the experience out there on the mound gets me more comfortable and then ending up relying on the defense, I mean, that I think is the best in the country. Just letting them make the plays is 100 times easier than trying to strike everybody out.
Sophomore outfielder Ben Johnson
On Garrido's milestone night: It's something that I'm going to be able to tell my kids and my grandkids about when I'm older. It's pretty cool to say that I got to play for the greatest college baseball coach of all time, especially being out on the field.
On getting a home run: It felt good. He left a changeup over the plate and a little bit up. It felt good off the bat and as soon as I hit it I knew it was gone.
On what has been different for the team: I think we had a hitters meeting last week and we talked about how guys really weren't going to hit too many home runs here and we need to start getting on top of the ball more. When we play at Disch-Falk we need to use that to our advantage knowing that it's a big field and you have to get on top of the ball. These deep fly balls we're hitting, they sound great off the bat but they're not going out and you're just out. We have to find a way to hit low line drives and just get on base.
On how Garrido is different from coaches he's had in the past: He wants to win more than anyone. He's a competitor, that's what describes him. He's very dedicated, obviously. He's been doing this for who knows how many years. But he wants to win more than anyone. He'll do anything for any of us.
