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I heard Tony Bennett say that when you're a big deal early on, you have to maintain that level forever, and it's very scary. You have to keep hitting those home runs, turning out hits.

I am not merely a baseball player. I am a black man who has done what he wants, gotten what he wanted, and will continue to get it.

I'm sure people will wonder if I could have hit all those home runs had I never taken steroids.

I was afraid if I started to hit home runs, my average would drop.

Kids are our future, and we hope baseball has given them some idea of what it is to live together and how we can get along, whether you be black or white.

Ability is the art of getting credit for all the home runs somebody else hits.

We all know that players will hit a few more home runs than usual in some years and a few less in others. But the mathematics of chance also predicts that some years they'll hit a lot more, and some years a lot less.

Do I want someone to get more hits than me? No. Do I want someone to hit more home runs than me? No. Do I want someone to have more RBI than me? No. I get a kick out of seeing the all-time leaders and my name's on top of every one, with the exception of strikeouts. I get a kick out of that.

Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.

I always tried to be Mark McGwire and hit homers like he did. I was kind of following his race, too, when he was trying to break the record.