I knew I was going to play. This game is already hard. You don’t need other distractions like knowing whether you’re going to play or not. Now I’m very, very comfortable.

Of course, especially because I had money [coming to me]. I was hoping for them to go to the playoffs, because I wanted a full [playoff] share. Of course, I wanted them to win. Once...

Basically, we’re playing to complete the schedule, … We’re not going to the playoffs. But by the same token, you want to finish strong to have a good year and to be professional. This is...

If you’re counting on home runs to win games every day, you’re in bad shape. Home runs don’t come every day.

I’m sure the fans back home are pretty upset. I think the hopes were pretty high.

I knew I had a chance. That’s why I threw it. I didn’t know how accurate it was going to be.

I don’t know how ready he was. Even during the season, sometimes you miss it. But sometimes you crush it. I’m pretty sure Ortiz thought that was a good pitch to hit.

He probably knew I was going to throw it like that, because I knew the bag is there. I have to throw it to the bag. But in this case, he knew I was probably...

If you focus on the statistics, that’s the worst thing you can do in your life as a baseball player,

I see a team that’s committed,

It’s sad to be leaving good friends, but I’m happy because I’m going to play more. I just wanted to play. I wanted to stay here my whole life.

If I didn’t think they have a chance to be good, I wouldn’t have signed here.

Of course I’m excited. It should have been like that every team I played on. It’s good people expect a lot of things from me, and I’ll be thinking of that.

Being a manager is tough because you can only make decisions, but you can’t do anything more,

All I tried to do was make the routine plays and get on base for the big guys.

Win or lose, the manager can’t win.

It was a great experience. Now, I show up here and look at all the runs we’re scoring.

They traded me because they thought it was better for the team. It was better for me because I got a chance to play every day in one position, and then they go and sign...