Guys want to go out here and get the job done. Guys want to fight. We're going to fight and grind every single pitch and try and do anything we can to help win games.

When I think about the future and how I can make a difference in the world, I want to be able to use my love of the game of baseball to be a good example and a good person.

I'll play wherever they want me to play -anywhere on the field. Do anything to help the team win. Whether that's playing left field or third base or wherever, I don't care.

One of the reasons I wear No. 2 is because of him. Yeah, he was ultimate team guy. He was a winner. And just a good guy for a kid to look up to. And I always pretended to be Jeter.

I want to be a professional athlete who plays for the love of the game, never quits trying to give my best and is a good role model for all of the kids who look up to baseball players.

The only thing I have control over is working hard and going about my business the right way, and playing the game how I've always played it. Everything else will just take care of itself.

You grow up always thinking you'd be in pressure situations all the time, and that's why I put pressure on myself in practice, so when those situations come in the game I feel I can be successful.

You watch all those moments that Jeter had for the Yankees. You can tell by the fans' reaction how much he meant to them and how much he meant to the city, how much he meant to the game of baseball.

My agent called me and said, 'You're going to be on the cover of 'R.B.I. Baseball.'' I was like, 'Are you serious?' It's unbelievable. Dream come true. I was yelling into the phone. I was super excited.

A lot of families with kids with autism can't afford speech therapy for their children and can't afford to get them in the best schools for autism. We're trying to help make a difference in those communities.

I think that a lot of teams aren't as close-knit as we are because a lot of the Spanish speakers don't know English and some of the English guys don't care to try and learn Spanish and relate to Latin players.

Does Tiger Woods tee off at 8 A.M. when he's going to win a Masters? Does Floyd Mayweather fight the first fight of the night? No, he's the main event, right? So the 'Stros need to be playing on prime-time television.

It makes everything worth it; every weight that you lifted in the offseason, every swing that you took in the cage. When you feel like you came through for your team, and you see the joy on their faces, there's nothing like it.

I understand that it's a business, but I feel like good business would be wanting to make a player who performed at a high level on your team happy and want to feel like he wanted to be kept and feel like they wanted him to play here forever.

I think there's a lot of trust in being selectively aggressive I guess. Looking for your pitch you can drive, but not swinging if it's not there and not worrying about, 'Oh no, I'm down 0-2.' I feel as comfortable as I do at 0-0. I don't know.

You grow up dreaming about playing in the World Series since you're a little kid. I remember the days in the back yard with my parents playing whiffle ball, saying, 'Hey, it's Game 7 of the World Series, are you gonna win or are you gonna lose?'

Sometimes we're going to take marginal pitches on the edges and get called out on strike, but we want to get a pitch that we can drive and a pitch we can do damage on. I think when you do that, you don't necessarily chase as much out of the zone.

I think the thing with our team is during the postseason, our best games that we've played during the postseason, we strung at-bats together. It's not necessarily going up there trying to hit a home run, but it's trying to put up a good at-bat for the next guy.

If someone's going to throw me in, I'm not gong to try and hit a ground ball to third, you know? I'm going to try and hit it in the air. If someone's going to throw me away, I'm not going to try and hit a ground ball to second, I'm going to drive it to right-center.

When we were playing chess in the house, she would never let me win until I was good enough to beat her. It was always a competition. She was also always there for me. She was a very caring, loving mom, and the sacrifices she made to allow me to get to where I am today, I'll be forever in debt.

All these freshmen have come in here and worked hard from the beginning. I can't say enough good things about them. They were the No. 1 recruiting class in the country and they're confidant. They know they are the best. That doesn't mean they slack off. They work really hard. Now it's time to go out there and compete.

I don't think I've changed very much. I think I'm the same kid that I was when I got here. When I came here all I wanted to do was win games. I wanted to play baseball for LSU and be the ultimate team player. That's all I want to do. If we don't end up being the last team to win the game at the end of the year then I won't be happy. That's all I'm worried about this year.

I'm just worried about winning baseball. I'm only worried about what I can do to help the team win. It's about improving in every facet of the game. I think that's everyone's goals. Whatever we can do to help the team win is what we'll do. I think Andy has done a great job of coming in and helping our offense. AD is getting those pitchers ready. Coach Mainieri is going to coach up some wins this year. We are very excited and working on every facet of the game.

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