Theo Epstein Quotes

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Theo Epstein

Profession : Businessman

Birth : December 29, 1973

Scouting and player development is the key to year-in and year-out success, not the occasional lucky hit. There are no definitive answers in this game, no shortcuts. When you think you've got it all figured out, you can get humbled very quickly.

Theo Epstein

Baseball is a game based on adversity. It's a game that's going to test you repeatedly. It's going to find your weaknesses and vulnerabilities and force you to adjust. That adversity, in the big picture, is a really good thing because it shows you where your weaknesses are. It gives you the opportunity to improve.

Theo Epstein

There are a lot of ways to make a positive impact on the community without necessarily being a politician.

Theo Epstein

I don't want to be buried in a Red Sox casket.

Theo Epstein

Failure happens to everyone in this game. It's not something worth harping on. What is worth focusing on is how you respond to that failure.

Theo Epstein

When something goes wrong on the field, we expect our players to take the blame, step up, and proactively assume the blame for it, even if it's not their fault. That's the way to be a good teammate.

Theo Epstein

I don't think I'm a chameleon. I can feel where people are coming from, what makes them tick, where they are vulnerable, what makes them feel good about themselves. I get just as much out of it as they do. I love connecting.

Theo Epstein

Whoever your boss is, or your bosses are, they have 20 percent of their job that they just don't like.

Theo Epstein

Communication is different in the clubhouse than it is in a boardroom. The heartbeat that exists in the clubhouse, you don't find that same type of heartbeat in the front office.

Theo Epstein

There's nothing I hate more than someone who speaks in the draft room with absolute conviction, but they have nothing to back it up.

Theo Epstein

Typically, it takes young players years to adjust to life in the big leagues and to start performing up to their capabilities. Most of the blame for this rests on these ridiculous old baseball norms that say young players are to be seen and not heard.

Theo Epstein

If the seller has a player that they think is going to have a lot of value, they're aware of it, protect that value. You have to go get it. That's the way the trade market works.

Theo Epstein

Failure is inherent in the game. So if you don't respond well to adversity, you're probably not going to have a long career.

Theo Epstein

The Cubs, we built one of best farm systems - I think for a while there, it was the best farm system in baseball. And that was great. It got a lot of attention. But we didn't want the credit for the farm system. What we wanted was to see if we could do the tricky part, which was turn a lauded farm system into a World Series champion.

Theo Epstein

If you reach a point where your entire farm system is in the big leagues, you've traded a couple guys for players who are now in the big leagues, you know what you do? You start over in your farm system, and you keep developing the talented players you have.

Theo Epstein

If I let my brain follow its path unfettered, it would be kinda ugly.

Theo Epstein

It's a human phenomenon that there has to be a reason for everything. There almost never is.

Theo Epstein

I used to follow people home. I just like being anonymous so much that I would follow people home because they didn't know who I was, and I could watch them. I know how that sounds. I could not exist but observe.

Theo Epstein

The 2011 Cubs were the oldest team in the division, the most expensive team in the division, and the worst team in the division. And we really needed to start over.

Theo Epstein

Players that tend to respond to adversity the right way and triumph in the end are players with strong character. If you have enough guys like that in the clubhouse, you have an edge on the other team.

Theo Epstein