A lot of people have been telling me that I was going to be in the Hall of Fame and those are nice words and I try not to think about it, but when the call came, it made it real. It was a pretty darned good feeling.

I had a marvelous baseball career and after my baseball career, there is an abundance of opportunity out there.

If you do a job, do it right or there is no point.

The reality is that players can't play forever.

The streak has become my identity; it's who I've become.

Whether your name is (Lou) Gehrig or (Cal) Ripken, (Joe) DiMaggio or (Jackie) Robinson, or that of some youngster who picks up his bat or puts on his glove, you are challenged by the game of baseball to do your very best day in and day out. That's all I've ever tried to do.

If you really think about it, the stadium can't last forever. There is going to have to come a time when it replaces.