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So to get to play for the Yankees was really exciting. Really exciting.

I was happy that I was drafted, and then it was the Yankees and that just made it even better.

I just wanted to go play in the big leagues. But possibly playing for the Yankees is very special.

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.

When I became the manager of the New York Yankees, it was an opportunity to realize my lifelong dream of winning the World Series. We were fortunate enough to succeed in our first season in 1996, and in the years that followed, we wrote some great new chapters in Yankee history.

I'm very thankful to the Yankees and to Major League Baseball for allowing me to play this game.

I love being a Yankee, and it's hard not to. It's a special place to play.

The draft is a crapshoot, so I've been very fortunate to be drafted by the Yankees, and to have spent my whole career here.

Even though I was never a Yankee fan until I put on the uniform, when you think about the deep history of this organization, you always knew what the Yankees represented.

I love baseball. As a teenager, I was a contrarian and picked the underdog instead of just rooting for the Yankees. It's a hard team to root for, but there's something that always keeps me hopeful.