“Byrd has always been that kind of pitcher.”

He threw a lot of strikes, worked it inside and out, threw breaking balls for strikes behind in the count.

I’m not perfect. Nobody’s perfect.

No more excuses about being young.

2004 has to be my year. No more excuses.

He threw hard, but a good fastball.

My only worry was that he didn’t throw me a sinker.

I work hard on my defense.

When you go to home plate with a lot of confidence,

I want to be consistent from the first day of the season to the last.

I love hitting-that’s my favorite part of the game.

I’m an immigrant myself.

I don’t like to play slow or softly.

You feel that you can hit any pitch.

I’m confident, but not so confident that I’m cocky.

It’s something I take pride in, but it’s nothing that I want to brag about. It’s part of my game.

Trying to trick you, keep the ball low, in and out.

I always find it incredibly difficult to figure out whether I should reach for the check or not. I don’t want to presume anything, but I don’t want to be a ball-buster.

You just know where to put the ball. You just feel it. It has been computed into your brain so many times ­ it is there.

Usually when we lose a game is because we turn the ball over or not play well enough and usually it is the turnover thing. We have to take care of the ball. It is starts with me and not turning it over.

But, if you miss (the supposedly easy pin) by just a little bit, you’re looking at the next putt from 30 feet. The ball just rolls away.

You only hit a straight ball by accident. The ball is going to move right or left every time you hit it, so you had better make it go one way or the other.

Jesus Christ can’t hit a golf ball straight. It’s virtually impossible – at best it’s an accident.

The crowd think that Todd handled the ball…they must have seen something that nobody else did.

A ball player has to be kept hungry to become a big leaguer. That’s why no boy from a rich family has ever made the big leagues.