People tried to test me (in 1999) and I came up with some pretty good throws. Everybody on the team calls me 'Bazooka' now. That's kind of like a nickname I gave myself.

Moral values have been thrown out the window. Christianity is out the window. And that's wrong. Parents should be at home, teaching kids right from wrong, making sure they get a great education so they can be a success in life.

I look back over my career and I almost pissed it away. I got a second chance and I've made the most of my opportunity. I play every game like it's the last game of my career.

It's going to be tough (winning the MVP Award). I'm not really considered a media darling.

In baseball, I don't fraternize with players when it's time to hit. I'm preparing for the game. It's the most important time of the day. And I know if I don't hit, I won't have a job in the big leagues. That's why I tend to get very upset when people try to talk to me.

The Indians didn't help me in dealing with the media. I think they wanted to keep my market value down. I'm moody. I know that. I've made some mistakes, but if I was a bad person, would someone want to pay me $55 million, would I have a scholarship fund my mother runs that pays for kids to go to school?

I know the Chicago media will write a lot of bad things, but they'll write a lot of good things too. I can live with that. In Cleveland, all I got was negative press.