When you're not at the top of your game and you feel like the other team is laughing and embarrassing you by doing certain things, it's time to retaliate.
The Capone era. That was my time. Capone was a big baseball fan. He'd walk into the ballpark like the president walking in today, with bodyguards all around him.
I've taken up golf in the past five or six years, and most of the time there aren't too many people out there that can drive a ball further than I can.
It's a pretty sure thing that the player's bat is what speaks loudest when it's contract time, but there are moments when the glove has the last word.
I have always loved the Bay Area. I spent a lot of time in the Bay Area. I started my career there. That's a huge part of the excitement for me.
I was a professional baseball player from the time I was drafted out of high school in 1981 until the time I retired in 2003.
Hitting .400 is something you can do by yourself. But you have to rely on guys getting on base at the right time to drive in that many runs.
That no-hitter stuff was a long time ago; I don't think that has anything to do with it. I'm just going through a tough time.
I'm taking my time. I feel much more confident, and every day I feel like I'm getting better.
And when I went to Houston, they had a conditioning coach by the name of Gene Coleman. And that was the first time I had gone to an organization that had a program with a weight room and designed specifically for pitchers.
I keep active because I have not announced my retirement, because that is something that takes time and you have to plan it. Plus, it is something that the Dominican people expected.
I spend more time in New York than the Dominican. I play here, I live here, so why not become a citizen?
Yes, but I - you know, it's been such a long time, I'm sure that I've got cousins and uncles that I've never met before, you know, that I've left behind.
And I think if you look at any relationship, for the relationship to be productive and to move forward and to grow, sometimes things have to be said that one person or the other person is not going to like to hear.
They will look at my career as the guy who gave it all but at the same time did it with integrity. That's what we all aim for - the respect of the game as well as the honesty that's played a part of that game.
I think some of the pressure comes from the expectations of other people. Like if your father played baseball, they expect you to be the big lifesaver or something when you play a sport.
I was a pretty normal high school kid. I just loved to play sports and had opportunities, and the Lord blessed me with talent, and I just tried to take advantage of it.
At ten I was playing against 18-year-old guys. At 15 I was playing professional ball with the Birmingham Black Barons, so I really came very quickly in all sports.
You know, many of you kids can't relate to what it takes to get to the top rung, the top of the heap, to have success. We're looking for things that come in a minute. It just doesn't happen.
I give everything I have every time I take the ball. With that, I also know that there will always be a risk of injury when playing this game that I love.
I always believed no matter where you are, as long as you're doing what you love doing, you're going to be happy.
