Baseball has a funny way to tap you on the shoulder when you least expect it and tells you it's the end.

I'm a terrible singer. I feel lucky to play baseball. You can't be gifted in everything.

Enjoy your sweat because hard work doesn't guarantee success, but without it you don't have a chance.

Always follow your dreams, don't let anyone tell you that you can't be something.

Be respectful. Treat people the way you want to be treated. Respect the lowest rank and the highest rank and you'll never get in trouble.

Fear of failure is what fuels me, keeps me on edge and sharp. I'm not as good when I'm comfortable.

I believe a champion wins in his mind first, then plays the game, not the other way around.

I want to be known as Dominican-that's what I am, 100 percent ... I have a duty and responsibility to continue the legacy of Dominicans in baseball.

There is a difference between image and reputation. Image is nice. Reputation is developed over an entire career. Reputation is what I'm searching for.

You can have fun, respect the game and also play it hard. When you have that combination, you're going to put yourself in a position to be successful.

Some things are meant to be and if it was, you will know it.

Yes, St. Claire. I like you. But I can't say it aloud, because he's my friend. And friends don't let other friends make drunken declarations and expect them to act upon them the next day

Joy sat in my throat like an egg resting on a spoon, quiet and fragile, but real.

It’s sad when friends become enemies. But what’s even worse is when they become strangers.

Don’t hang onto anything too tightly – all things must change and you have to allow room for them to grow and blossom.

That is one thing that in all my years among your folk I have never become accustomed to. The great importance that you attach to what gender one is.

...an age-old patter that seemed like chaos but was not...

Treat all men alike. Give them the same law. Give them an even chance to live and grow.

The healthy man does not torture others.

I begin with songs. They provide a sort of skeleton grammar for me to flesh out. Songs of longing for future tense, songs of regret for past tense, and songs of love for present tense.

You can't just stick with what you know, you have to evolve.