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I'm a product of my surroundings. I grew up on Hank Williams Jr., Johnny Cash, Jerry Reed, and also Run-D.M.C., the Beastie Boys, the Fat Boys, and Biz Markie.

As much as I loved Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Junior Gilliam, and Don Newcombe, I loved watching Willie Mays play more than all of them combined, even if he played for the 'bad guys!'

When I was a young kid I loved Don Rickles, Buddy Hackett and Jackie Vernon.

I got to see all these incredible blues players, like Jimmy Reed.

Ted Williams is one of the best hitters ever to play the game, and I didn't get a chance to see him play, so all I could do was read books and look at pictures.

When I was a kid, man, my dad used to buy me the Ted Williams glove at Sears with the Ted Williams shoes with the eight stripes on 'em. I used to play Little League, and I was Ted Williams-ed out.

Willie Wells, Ray Dandridge, Leon Day, Buck Leonard, Quincy Troupe, Satchel Paige - earlier than when he was called up - Oscar Charleston and Josh Gibson. You see what kind of talent we had, and guys in the majors knew it too.