There are a handful of legacy clubs like the Dodgers in each league. They're in major markets and have a history of winning where, if you do things right, there's an enormous upside.
That's what every young kid thinks about when they first put on a uniform - is to play in the Major League and then, ultimately, play in a World Series. To me, that was the ultimate, winning in '86.
But I want you to know that what I'm doing here I'm doing as a ballplayer, a major league ballplayer.
I guess what really made me a Dodgers fan from the beginning was that the team had Jackie Robinson, the first 'Negro' in the major leagues.
Young pitchers don't throw enough in the minor leagues, and when they get to the majors, they don't have the stamina; their arms haven't been built up.
I'd like to help educate kids about the Major Leagues - what to anticipate, what to expect, what they'll need to do to prepare themselves.
Getting into a fight with a popular senior. Pissing off a school teacher and the local chief of police. Hanging with two major-league losers." She slapped my back. "Welcome to high school.
The first intimation I had that the Yankees were for sale was through an item to that effect in the newspapers. The idea instantly occurred to me that here was a prospect to become interested in a major-league club at home.
On the court, Jason Collins is not a huge basketball star, but he has already claimed his place in civil rights history as the first openly gay athlete to play in one of the four major U.S. sports leagues.
My life has changed in many ways, both on an economic and personal level. All major league players are accorded the respect they deserve. In Cuba, it was not that way. National team players were not respected. The treatment was not adequate.
If some guys couldn't stand the heat, then they didn't belong in the major leagues. I don't know anybody who refused the World Series checks I helped them get.
When you're a kid growing up, you say you want to make it to the Major Leagues, and when you reach that dream, that's what it's all about.
I started in for the ball but I just couldn't get it. I should have caught it because I was used to catching everything on the sandlots. But they hit the ball a lot harder in the major leagues and I just couldn't reach the ball this time.
So, who in the media is without sin among us? I am in the media and I am a major league sinner. I don't know anyone except my wife who isn't a big time sinner.
My mom is always with me. When I made my major-league debut I told her, 'That's it. You don't work anymore. I'm going to work and take care of you.'
One of my favorite expressions ever uttered by a player is Roy Campanella's line about how, in order to be a major-league player, you have to have a lot of little boy in you.
The vast majority of people who watch baseball can properly call 95% of all plays that happen on the field. My job is to teach you how to call the other 5%.
In America, we have three major sports - baseball, football and basketball. They get the most coverage. Then there's things like golf which mop up most of what is left. But track and field? We are way at the bottom of the totem pole.
Of course the Premier League is the most difficult league in the world because it's so even. I think you can't really compare other leagues with the Premier League. In the Premier League, every team can beat every team, and in football, that's someth...
The Cubs gave me a chance to play. They signed me as a free agent and brought me to the Major Leagues. The first day I walked into Wrigley Field was one of the best days of my life. And I owe them an awful lot.
I always wanted to say I came out of the cornfields and got to the major leagues. That was my biggest thought. But now I can say I came out of the cornfields and got to the Hall of Fame.
