I can't do it every day. They're not going to give me much to hit right now. They're pitching me real well. If I get there, fine.
Every year I try to keep in excellent shape and improve some part of my game. I play in the offseason overseas to keep my game tuned up and hopefully improve a little in some area.
For me, being a starter doesn't matter. Of course, I'd like to be in at the end of the game, to be a big part of the team, and to play as many minutes as I can play. But starting and coming off the bench are two different challenges.
Rookies are also coming in from college programs as big stars, whereas when we came in, we were just happy to be there. We were happy to be playing in a big gym, to be on television, to be playing in America.
I think in any organization you want your manager to have a strong opinion. You don't want them to just say, 'Yes, sir' to things they don't believe in.
Obviously, when I had the scare with the blood clots, I mean, that's the kind of thing that you don't want to have happen, obviously, and you worry about what it means for the rest of your career.
I'm not devastated over a baseball game. If somebody came to me and said, 'Your wife is terminally ill.' Or, if my kids and wife get on a plane and I got a call that said, 'Something happened with the plane,' that's devastating.
In a hockey fight, barring the occasional brawl, there's actually some etiquette that goes into it. Honor, too, absolutely. Most of those guys that do it, that's their job, and they follow a certain code of conduct in doing it.
I was a contact hitter my whole career but I learned how to handle the ball inside. And Ted Williams played a big part in that. He gave me the advice on how to handle inside pitches.
A lot of kids are broken, and it's hard for them to believe in anything. But you have to have an imaginative mind and tell yourself, 'Hey, I can do whatever I want to.'
I believe managing is like holding a dove in your hand. If you hold it too tightly you kill it, but if you hold it too loosely, you lose it.
I didn't even graduate from high school. I've never told anybody that before. I got my degree later, when I was in the army.
I still dream about everything I achieved. I dream about my career, dream about playing baseball, meeting so many people, traveling so much.
My mind is just a product of 50 years of being taught. I'm no smarter than anyone else, but I've been taught by some wonderful people.
You can't manage by memo. You can't stand up there and just send out edicts. I think you just gotta really personalize your relationships.
Take a look at all of them: Marichal, Jenkins, Spahn - what do you think made them successful? They conditioned their arms by pitching more, not less, starting from when they signed their first contract.
I didn't think I was going to play that day. I'd have to thank the training staff for getting me on the field that day. They made a bigger deal than I thought it was.
But I think anybody who believes I could force coach Sloan to resign is crazy. He's stronger than that and personally if I said that to him, he'd probably go tell me to go do something.
For me to be here tonight, everything had to be perfect. I had to get drafted by Utah, had to play with a point guard like John Stockton, and had to be coached by Jerry Sloan and Frank Layden.
I was told I would never make it because I'm too short. Well, I'm still too short. It doesn't matter what your height is, it's what's in your heart.
As far as playing, I didn't care who guarded me - red, yellow, black. I just didn't want a white guy guarding me, because it's disrespect to my game.
