I have the greatest job in the world. Only one person can have it. You have shortstops on other teams – I’m not knocking other teams – but there’s only one shortstop on the Yankees.
You gotta have fun.
God, I hope I wear this jersey forever.
I’ve always been uncomfortable, so to speak, when the focus is on me.
Not everybody’s a baseball fan.
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.
I always used to get in trouble for talking too much. When it was time for parent-teacher conferences, I remember that I was always embarrassed about what my parents would hear about me!
I’m a New Yorker now, and believe me, there’s no comparison between the Big Apple and Kalamazoo, no similarity at all. New York City’s hectic, always in fast-forward, and Kalamazoo’s more laid-back, smaller, slower.
I’ve always had an interest in business, and my interest in business has really expanded over the years.
You have to assume that everything you do is public knowledge. Everything. Because now everyone is a reporter. Everyone is a photographer.
You tell me you want to race down the street, I’m going to try to beat you. My grandmother asks me to race down the street, I’m going to try to beat her. And I’ll probably enjoy it. Competitive to a fault, sometimes.
When I was younger, I was always taught not to make excuses.
So many people are insanely busy nowadays, and it’s easy to say, ‘Ah, I’ll workout tomorrow.’ But you have to set aside a time and stick to that schedule.
You’re a person a lot longer before and after you’re a professional athlete. People always say to me, ‘Your image is this, your image is that.’ Your image isn’t your character. Character is what you are as a person. That’s what I worry about.
That’s how you win – pitching and defense.
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