“I think it comes easy to work hard. I was always taught, don’t short-change yourself. Keep working to get better.”

When it was time for parent-teacher conferences, I remember that I was always embarrassed about what my parents would hear about me!

Your image isn’t your character. Character is what you are as a person.

I can see how people work out to feel better.

So many people are insanely busy nowadays, and it’s easy to say, ‘Ah, I’ll workout tomorrow.’ But you have to set aside a time and stick to that schedule.

I get nervous watching teammates. I get nervous for them. Late in the game, pressure situation, I’m nervous for them.

Everyone fears rejection.

If you’re going to play at all, you’re out to win. Baseball, board games, playing Jeopardy, I hate to lose.

When I was younger, I was always taught not to make excuses.

You have to take the good with the bad. Some players only talk to the press when they are doing good. When you’re doing bad you shouldn’t shy away from them and when doing good, don’t run up to them.

I think sometimes people need to get used to an idea.

My grandmother asks me to race down the street, I’m going to try to beat her. And I’ll probably enjoy it. Competitive to a fault, sometimes.

We just want to win. That’s the bottom line. I think a lot of times people may become content with one championship or a little bit of success, but we don’t really reflect on what we’ve done in the past. We focus on the present.

The one thing I always said to myself was that when baseball started to feel more like a job, it would be time to move forward.

What kind of influence did my parents have on my life? Well, they had the most influence. These are the people who are closest to me. My parents are very positive people. They’ve been supportive. They’re always there.

Athletics keeps us healthy, gets us up and running around. It also gives you an opportunity to meet a lot of different people, which is very important.

I always take criticism as a challenge. It’s the way I’ve always looked at it.