The national team can do so much for Italian football, as can even lads who no-one knows or who play in the lower Leagues.
I was in the big leagues my first year in pro ball – pretty fast. I really don’t think I had an understanding of what it meant to be a pitcher at that level at that point.
It was always a dream as a footballer to compete in the best leagues in the world and those leagues are here in Europe.
I’ve always said that besides the NBA, the Yugoslavian league and a Russian league were the best basketball leagues in the world.
I guess my critics say, ‘He must be crazy. Nothing can be that beautiful.’ But when you think that there are so many people around the world who have nothing, you realize how lucky you are to be making a living in the big leagues.
I knew after being drafted in the 57th round that I would be swiftly replaced if I wasn’t able to play through a considerable amount of pain in the minor leagues, and ultimately until I established myself as a productive, stable member of MLB.
Since coming to the major leagues, my passion toward baseball had started to decrease.
I’ve never seen radio as the minor leagues, where I’m just really preparing to be in the show that really counts, namely, television, which is, I think, what people often assume. I’ve never felt that way.
In the Negro Leagues, we’d play three games a day on the weekends. Then we’d ride the bus and travel to play the next day someplace else. You’d hang your shirt out the bus window to dry.
I only wish I could have played in the big leagues when I was young enough to show what I could do. When an offer was given to me to join up, I was too old, and I knew it.
For me, there was nothing like my time with the Eagles – ever. We were young, and the world was new to us. It was the happiest time of our lives. They wouldn’t let us play in their big leagues, but we had this game of ours… this marvelous, blessed game… and we just went out and played it.
On the court, Jason Collins is not a huge basketball star, but he has already claimed his place in civil rights history as the first openly gay athlete to play in one of the four major U.S. sports leagues.
I never thought I’d get drafted, let alone make the big leagues.
I got to the big leagues when I was 20. I thought I had it all figured out. Went to spring training that next year and started off well, got sent down, and I pouted pretty much all of 2000. And it wasn’t the right way to handle it.
I don’t want to live in a society where we ask sporting leagues or place of employment to dole out harsher punishment than what the criminal justice system would.
If I could do it over, I’d want to come up to the big leagues like Mike Trout. He’s exciting and I like watching him.
The families of many athletes – incensed at the sports leagues and hoping to make games safer overall – are increasingly making the brains of players who die prematurely and suspiciously available for study. Some athletes are even making the bequest themselves.
Looking ahead, we see the popularity of eSports exploding as competitive gaming becomes more mainstream and eSports leagues like ‘Call of Duty’ World League and Overwatch League driving greater engagement and viewership.
A move to England? I understand why a lot of players are moving there. It’s one of the best leagues in the world. But the same goes for the Bundesliga.
