People always ask me why I still want to play, but I want to know why no one will give me an opportunity. It's like they put a stamp on me: 'Hall of Fame. You're done. That's it.'
I have friends in Utah who care about me as a person, not for what I am. They'll call to see how my heart is, how my blood pressure is. That's important to me.
I used to get 15-20 bunt hits a season. Now, I'm down to five or six. Infielders still play me in, but I'm always looking if the opportunity is there.
To be perfectly honest, it isn't fair that people have used my personality, and the sacrifices I make because I want to, as an indication that I want to be in a political office.
Just from being with my grandmother, my maturity escalated. And now I'm in tune to the needs of people. It was a large responsibility, taking care of a human being.
I enjoy baseball more than anything and would like to be involved with it forever, but the reality is your survival is determined by how well you compete, not by your fondness for the game.
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.
