I could have played another year, but I would have been playing for the money, and baseball deserves better than that.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
If money titles meant anything, I'd play more tournaments. The only thing that means a lot to me is winning. If I have more wins than anybody else and win more majors than anybody else in the same year, then it's been a good year.
I was a baseball fan myself, I wanted to play baseball.
I had 12 years under my belt of baseball at the amateur level before I got to the big leagues.
It was all I lived for, to play baseball.
I can honestly say it took two full years for me to get over the fact that I was no longer a baseball player.
I don't feel I could've played major league baseball.
The Cubs gave me a chance to play. They signed me as a free agent and brought me to the Major Leagues. The first day I walked into Wrigley Field was one of the best days of my life. And I owe them an awful lot.
For a quarter of a century, I've been playing baseball for pay. It has been pretty good pay, most of the time. The work has been hard, but what of it? It's been risky. I've broken both my legs. I've sprained everything I've got between my ankles and my disposition. I've dislocated my joints and fractured my pride.
I played baseball because I could make more money doing that than I could doing anything else.
Playing baseball was my dream, and no amount of money could sway my opinion.