I knew I wasn't a baseball writer. I was scared to death. I really was afraid to talk to players, and I didn't want to go into the press box because I thought I was faking it.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I was showing early symptoms of becoming a professional baseball man. I was lying to the press.
I was a baseball fan myself, I wanted to play baseball.
It was so difficult for the fans to understand my problems with baseball.
I knew I'd never make it back to the major leagues as a player. Lee MacPhail came to me and asked if I wanted to manage the Yankees' Fort Lauderdale club. I thought about it for a day or two and decided to take the job. That was the turning point. I knew it was what I wanted to do.
I'm not a sportswriter.
I always thought that there was going to be life after baseball, and so I designed that in my life I would have other interests after baseball that I would be able to step into. And I didn't realize the grip that baseball had on me and on my family.
I enjoy being out with the fans, I enjoy talking baseball, but to get up and tell my life story... I'm not comfortable doing that.
I was sports editor for my high school newspaper, but I think I shied away from journalism.
I never thought about being a writer as I grew up. A writer wasn't something I wanted to be. An outfielder was something to be. Most of what I know about style I learned from Roberto Clemente.
I'm a baseball freak.