If I put my name on something, I'm going to be involved. I'm not just going to put my name on it and not pay attention.

If you're going to win games, you're going to have to come up with the big hits. That's the bottom line.

You can't quantify everything a player does to win games.

I think sometimes people need to get used to an idea.

My dreams do not end with playing Major League Baseball.

You're playing a game, whether it's Little League or Game 7 of the Word Series. It's impossible to do well unless you're having a good time. People talk about pressure. Yeah, there's pressure. But I just look at it as fun.

I can see how people work out to feel better.

I try to sign for as many kids as possible. Kids come first, and I'll always sign for a kid before an adult. It's funny, because I was never big into autographs as a kid. The only player who I ever wanted an autograph from was Dave Winfield.

I always take criticism as a challenge. It's the way I've always looked at it.

I'm a New Yorker now, and believe me, there's no comparison between the Big Apple and Kalamazoo, no similarity at all. New York City's hectic, always in fast-forward, and Kalamazoo's more laid-back, smaller, slower.

I don't listen to opinions.

I always have tried to treat people with respect, the way I want to be treated.

I like to dance and sing when there's no one around, but, if I'm out, I'm really shy about it. So it takes a lot to get me going, but I enjoy being around music.

Everyone fears rejection.

I'm very, very competitive. If my grandmother asks to race me down the street, I'm going to try to beat her. And I'll probably enjoy it!

The thing that means the most to me is being remembered as a Yankee, because that's what I've always wanted to be, was to be a Yankee.

I think everyone is ticklish. You just gotta find the right spots.

I can have fun anywhere, as long as I'm with good people. But in the offseason, I like to go somewhere warm, a nice spot in the Caribbean.

I always used to get in trouble for talking too much. When it was time for parent-teacher conferences, I remember that I was always embarrassed about what my parents would hear about me!

I get nervous watching teammates. I get nervous for them. Late in the game, pressure situation, I'm nervous for them.

I've been playing baseball since I was 5 or 6 years old. I've been on a schedule, pretty much, since I was in eighth, ninth grade. I look forward to not doing that.

Don't get me wrong; it's not like I didn't go out and have fun. But there's been a lot of players that come to New York and get caught up in the lifestyle, and before you know it, they're sent away to another team because it affected their performance.

I've always been very cautious with what I do. You know, that started at a young age. I always had the approach or the mentality I never wanted to embarrass my parents.

You know what I want to do? Wake up one weekend and not have to go anywhere and do nothing.