But there was also a little of that thing they say about New Englanders: Being from here doesn't prevent me from doing anything, it just prevents me from enjoying it.

I always looked up there, because I remember a time when the only things on the walls in Fenway were the Jimmy Fund sign and the retired numbers. Never in a million years did you think you'd ever be up there with those guys.

And then after that, running around the bases, it was just one of those things. You couldn't believe what happened to you. And I look back on it, it's almost like it happened to somebody else.

It's funny. Some people remember that a lot more than I do. I remember certain parts of it, and if everybody who mentioned that to me had been to the game who said they were at the game, there'd be 800,000 people at that game, I think.

The '70s were a time of turmoil and turnover. But I grew up here. I always wanted to play here.

But there was also a little of that thing they say about New Englanders: Being from here doesn't prevent me from doing anything, it just prevents me from enjoying it.

It's not what you achieve, it's what you overcome. That's what defines your career.