“I like to be against the odds.”

I know when I’m off alignment. I know when my body is out of adjustment. If your body is there, then mentally, you’ll be there. If your body feels good, then your mind feels good and your are going to feel better about your game.

It’s a relief now to be able to stand next to my godfather and finally feel like I’ve accomplished something in the game of baseball.

I don’t know what you guys say, but at home, life is way different from baseball.

There’s not too many rich black people in this world.

I don’t ever remember having any bad times here in Pittsburgh.

I feel my time in baseball has come and gone. I feel like I had a great career. I had a lot of fun and have a lot of great memories. At one point in time, I’ll be able to tell it all. Right now that’s in the past. I see things differently. I more want to help.

I think of myself as ‘catching’ the ball with my bat and letting the pitcher supply the power.

I was a momma’s boy. I didn’t get anything from Dad, except my body and baseball knowledge. The only time I spent with him was at the ballpark.

My life is in shambles. It is crazy. It couldn’t get any crazier. I’m just trying to stay sane.

But to be the best, you must face the best. And to overcome your fear, you must deal with the best.

I don’t know what my future is.

Age is how you feel. If you take care of yourself, you’ll be able to do the same things. You may not do it as often. But you can still do it.

Young players need to know how to take care of themselves for life after baseball.

I don’t sign for white people.

When I was playing, it would be whatever role I wanted. Now it’s whatever they ask me to do, which I kind of like better.

It’s called talent. I just have it. I can’t explain it. You either have it or you don’t.

I stare into a thin, web-like crack above the urinal’s handle and think to myself that if I were to disappear into that crack, say somehow miniaturize and slip into it, the odds are good that no one would notice I was gone.

I’m always happy when actors get rich, because the odds on it are so long!

I thought I was going to be a ballet dancer for awhile there. I had a good teacher at Interlochen, this arts’ academy in Michigan, who taught me the importance of storytelling, and I really responded to that. It seemed like a long shot, but I always play the long odds.

No matter how careful you are, the one risk no investor can ever eliminate is the risk of being wrong. Only by insisting on what Graham called the “margin of safety” – never overpaying, no matter how exciting an investment seems to be – can you minimize your odds of error.

I’m skeptical of passive learning. If you don’t write down what you’re hearing and learning, what the odds you remember it?

I think everything about my life is magical. I’ve struggled, and against most odds, I’m truly having the experience of living my dreams.

I like to be against the odds. I’m not afraid to be lonely at the top. With me, it’s just the satisfaction of the game. Just performance.

Abhyasa (practice) is a dedicated, unswerving, constant, and vigilant search into a chosen subject pursued against all odds in the face of repeated failures, for indefinitely long periods of time.