I was very, very shocked about Cooperstown. I thought my chances were fairly good, but I tried to stay low key about it, not too high and not too low. That was the way I played, too.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
They developed a platform for me to put up another 12 years, and that was my ticket to Cooperstown. Those were the best years of my life. It was like magic.
I was a starter and did some good things there, and then I got a chance to prove myself as a closer. Because of that opportunity, I was blessed with the honor of being elected to the Hall of Fame.
To wind up in Cooperstown is surreal for me. To go into the Hall of Fame is one thing. When you think of all the other Yankees that are in here, it's pretty special. This is just a shrine. To visit it, much less be inducted, it's still sort of unbelievable to me.
I'm not really a popular fan of the whole Hall of Fame thing. I've had a lot of ups and downs, and I don't feel deserving a lot of times.
A couple of weeks before the 1992 Houston Open, I was probably as low as I could get confidence-wise. I didn't think I was going to go any further, and then, out of nowhere, I won that week. That kind of got me going.
Regarding the Hall of Fame, when they decided I was going to be one of the possible candidates, when I heard that, I was so thrilled. You're always hoping for something like that.
I'm just trying to get those marquee victories and continue to get those accomplishments so when the time comes and the vote is cast, hopefully my spot is secured in the Boxing Hall of Fame.
It's a great honor to me to be named to the Hall of Fame. It's very hard for me to even imagine that I would ever be elected to it.
It's rare that anybody gets in the Hall of Fame, and to be nominated is good enough for me.
When I started playing the game of baseball, the more I played and the better numbers I got, the more I started thinking about the Hall of Fame. But I never thought I had a chance to be there.