It’s easy for me not to go to Mass on the road. But I’ve made a fundamental decision. I’m going to be dedicated. I’m going to make the time. I’m going to get up, if that means getting up at seven on a Sunday morning before a day game and do it, I’m going to do it.

A pitcher never gets me out. I get myself out. That’s no disrespect to the pitcher, but there should be no excuse for failure. You can’t have an excuse to fail.

I found it hugely insulting that people believed I’d go so far out of my way – living with Playmates, vacationing with actresses, showing up at nightclubs – to act out a lifestyle that would amount to a charade. If I was gay, I’d be gay all the way.

Please don’t quote me.

I have gone from a player who thought he would spend his whole career with one organization to a player who’s been with three organizations in a week. It’s like rotisserie baseball.

One thing anyone can go through is a slump. Unless you’re Greg Maddux, it’s going to happen to everybody.

You can’t get real happy or real depressed when you play baseball. Baseball is a great sport in that it offers a player a lot of opportunities for atonement.

I’m playing baseball because I love it, not because I need the money or attention. That is why I’ve been so dedicated. I’ve accomplished a lot of things no one ever thought I could, and I’ve done it from hard work.

When you’re 25, you can eat hamburgers and pizza and drink beer and stay out all night and come out the next day and drink a couple cups of coffee and just play. If I did that today, my heart would stop and I’d need a stretcher and an IV.

I feel pretty good. My body actually looks like an old banana, but it’s fine.