Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
If I see someone that is awesome or is an amazing player, I'm going to say he's an amazing player. If he looks like he sucks, I'm going to say, 'Hey that guy sucks!'
Seeing how the kids react to you is pretty awesome. Not necessarily that they're star struck, but they're shy. They're kids. They don't know how to act to a new person.
Growing up, you think about playing in the big leagues one day. But to this scale, and winning a World Series in your hometown, I don't think you could have planned that.
I have my faith in God. I was told to be humble before him. Don't boast about what you have done. Don't put credit in your own hands. You have to realize He got you there.
I hang around a core group of people, a small group of people. They've been around me for a long time. They know my personality. They know me in and out, same as my family.
Of course, there are times you are excited and happy about whether you have a good game or not. But I don't want to be that person that boasts about himself day in and day out.
You play 162 days, and you play every day, or you try to play every day, and it's going to take a toll on your body. But that's what we're out here for. We're out here to play.
A lot of people go up there and think about what they're going to do - I just hit. I relax and don't think about anything. I just want to hit the ball as hard and as far as I can.
I just happen to know how to hit a baseball and throw a baseball. But I probably couldn't go into somebody else's job and be as good as they are but no one's praising them about it.
That's the hardest part, getting out of my comfort zone and doing more in the public, for the kids or for the team. That's not the type of person I am. I'm trying to mature and work on that.
Everyone always says don't take your defense into hitting and don't take your hitting into defense. If you feel comfortable at one of the other, I think the other is going to feed off the other.
I love the game of baseball. Like I love playing, I'm just not good at - I don't enjoy the media part of it. I don't enjoy all the different aspects that come with it, like the business side of it.
I really just think that we've got to have a positive influence on kids in general. And really understanding people are going to look up to me, so why aren't I doing something to be positive about it?
It's definitely tough seeing your city be devastated. People always give it the most attention when it's actually happening, but then they're not around for all of the relief and all of the rebuilding.
There's kids out there that like me, so why aren't I taking the time to give back to them? If they adore me or they look up to me, just to whatever extent, I've got to show them that I care about them as well.
That's what a lot of people say, especially in college, it looked like I'm lackadaisical out there, like I'm not really paying attention. If I'm always tense, I'm going to be overthinking the game. I try to just go with the flow.
I think it's like any other job. If you want an extension as a reporter or a media guy or whatever you want to do, I think you are going to open up your ears to talking about a raise or whatever it might be. I'm in the same position.
It was hard because every kid from high school wants a chance to make the jump to the minors to see what they can do. But in the end, it wasn't difficult for me because I wanted to come to Rice. I could learn a lot more by coming here.
They always say baseball is 90 percent mental, 10 percent physical, whatever that saying is. I don't even think I know it. But this game is already a game of failure. Going into it not feeling good, battling whatever injuries, tests you even more.
We have our great days and our bad days. No matter what bad day I go through or strike out four times in a row, I still want to have that great attitude and go after the game and go talk to the kids and not worry about the game and let them know that this is what matters.
I've always been open. My whole life. Sometimes I'll get more closed, I'll get even. It's more just comfortability for me. That's where I feel comfortable, then I was always told it doesn't matter where you stand as long as you get in a position to get ready to hit the ball.
Everyone goes through those stretches. Everyone you talk to in this game, old coaches, old teammates, old players, whatnot, they all have those, 'Oh, I was 0-for-25, I was 0-for-30 one time.' I just try to not to get it that far, get it to that point and take it one at-bat as a time.
The word tells us that trials will come ahead and we'll be ridiculed more for our faith. So if you're going to go in as a believer thinking that everything is going to be smooth, you're probably not in the right mind-set. It's going to be tough at times, and has been for me personally.
As a human, yeah, it's awesome. You grow up and you are in Little League, and you want to make the all-star team; you go to college, and you want to make the all-star team. So any normal person would want to do it on the biggest stage and highest level. And I'm a normal person. I haven't changed there.
It's easier to go outside and play basketball. You can shoot around by yourself. Play pick-up. Whereas with baseball, no one likes putting a ball on a tee, hitting it, chasing it and putting it back on a tee. You need more than a few guys. So I was always in the neighborhood playing basketball with my friends.
I think a lot of people look at athletes in general and think they have everything figured out. They made it to the big leagues... We're battling and going through the same stuff everyone else is going through, but just in a different way. Maybe it can be comforting knowing that we have to battle through some of the same stuff.