Being able to walk in [team offices] in the winter and even say hello is important. I don't believe in managing and going home.

I do feel bad. I think it could have meant a lot to him. He's very team-oriented. I know he's very proud.

I think it's rare where any team goes through a stretch where you have everyone available, everybody's working. And I think he probably fills that role for us, because he can hit anywhere.

I talked to Johnny and talked to [team medical director] Dr. [Thomas] Gill just now, and Dr. Gill said he's already improving, which is real good news. I don't doubt this will be a few games, but that's a heck of a lot better than the rest of the year.

I believe in these guys, and I believe if you stay the course you get paid dividends. I believe it's better.

The one thing that I'm really excited about is when he hits the ball, he runs like his pants are on fire. I love that. Our team is not very fast. ... But when [Crisp] comes out of the box, they better get it in or he's going to go to second. That's an aspect that we haven't had a lot. That will be fun to watch. You can already tell by the way he plays the game. He's going to do it every time. It's part of his game.