Dave Martinez

“I've had many managers, and learned a lot from them, the good ones always stayed even-keeled, never rode the waves.”

“I can remember having meetings with my coaches when things were going bad. I told them, 'Hey, we've got to be positive. This is the time we need to step up. You've got to make sure they know everything is going to be okay. Keep teaching. Once they see you are down, you lose them and that can't happen.'”

“I utilize my coaches. I value their opinions on a lot of things.”

“I've done everything I could as a bench coach. I'm ready to manage.”

“In my career, I finished in second place six times. I played on teams that were in it to the very end. It's frustrating.”

“Early in my career when I was with Montreal, we had a lot of good outfielders like Otis Nixon, myself, Marquis Grissom and Larry Walker. We all did the platooning thing, although each one of us could have played every day. We got everybody in the lineup, and everybody got to play.”

“Let them know that we care, even when they have a bad game and not a good game, let them know that we always care about them. You'll get the most out of every player.”

“I'm about as honest as I can get.”

“The one thing I've known and I've learned from the best managers, it's to stay positive.”

“In my first press conference I said, 'I'm here to win.' If you don't think that way, or any player thinks that way, why are you playing the game?”

“I love conversations, about anything.”

“Everyone keeps telling me how young I am, but if the right opportunity comes up, I'm ready to manage.”

“When I look back, I think I just never got the opportunity to play every day.”

“In the heat of the moment things get blown out of hand.”

“I prepared myself for years to be where I'm at now, and I try to focus on the here and now.”

“I like to hit with men in scoring position.”

“My job is to be the bench coach with the Rays and help this team succeed. If another opportunity arises, I'd welcome the opportunity.”