58 Quotes by Justin Verlander

When I came into baseball, I had one goal for my career - the Hall of Fame.

Obviously, the first time out, I'm trying to make an impression. It's a little unnerving, so I had to battle through that a little bit. All and all, I think I did OK.

I was really trying to get a ground-ball double play. But once I got to two strikes, my mentality changed over to try to punch these guys out.

I felt like I was in a groove. Obviously, the four runs did help. It gave me a cushion there. But I really feel that having those innings in Spring Training helped me, and I feel a little bit more at ease this year.

Growing up, I played 'Ken Griffey, Jr. Baseball' and just whatever I could get my hands on. When I was really young, I was a big fan of Mario and that type of stuff. I still play videogames now, so it was really cool for me to be able to play as myself on '2K6' or '2K7,' I believe it was, when I was a rookie.

For me, seeing the progression of video games and consoles - whether it be PlayStation, Xbox, or whatever - I think just seeing how good they've gotten from the days when I first started playing is just amazing.

From the get-go, I didn't have what I had last time, or my good stuff in general. I knew it was going to be a rough day, and I tried to battle through it.

When he was pitching in Oakland last week, he'd talk to me between a few of the innings. I remember sitting there, thinking, 'He's in the middle of the game. He's taking the time to explain to me what he's doing in certain situations and why.' It was pretty cool.

I think video games are a huge part of our society now. Having kids play baseball video games helps them understand and love the game. It could actually push them to get out there and play the game for real. That's great for the sport.