Quote

I just felt all along that if I could get a certain amount of years in the league, have great years and still have my health when I walked away, that would be great.

Of course, my father was a soccer player. He used to play very good. Then, when I was young, eight or nine years old, ten years old, I just want to be like my father.

My father loved baseball and he cultivated my talent. I don't think he ever had any doubt in his mind that I would play professional baseball someday.

I've put in 63 years now in the big leagues as a player, coach, manager. And now just being around these young guys, it keeps you going pretty good.

It's definitely harder being a dad than a coach.

This is the thing you dream about when you're a kid, even before getting into the league.

My dad was my first coach and drove me extremely hard from a very young age.

I'm only 35, and I felt that the time was right to try to come back and have a chance for him to see me play.

Any time you're in the coaching business or managing in the minor leagues, when you see a player who has made it to the major leagues, you get a thrill out of that.

When you're a kid growing up, you say you want to make it to the Major Leagues, and when you reach that dream, that's what it's all about.