“What cracks me up is people who think I don’t take baseball seriously. It’s the most important thing in my life. They don’t know how hard it is for me to get a bad game out of my mind. I still can’t, but I’m getting better.”

It’s so funny that people specify that year because in a way it was the biggest battle for me health wise.

Nowadays, they have more trouble packing hair dryers than baseball equipment.

To me, baseball is not a game, but a religion.

Not everybody will become a baseball star and not everybody will make the money I’m making.

Rules are made to be broken, so there won’t be any rules.

I struck out with two men on base. I was so angry, so frustrated, I turned and without even thinking about it, snapped my bat over my thigh.

My father loved baseball and he cultivated my talent. I don’t think he ever had any doubt in his mind that I would play professional baseball someday.

As much as we disliked the Yankees, fans and players alike, they were good for baseball. They consistently unsuccessful teams like the Browns, Senators, and A’s paid a lot of their bills with those big crowds that poured through the gates when the Yankees came to town.

I used to limp around my neighborhood imitating him. I did my Bar Mitzvah with an Oklahoma drawl.