When I started finishing games and coming off the field shaking hands, it was a beautiful thing. I mean, you start seeing that you're an important part of the team.

But more important than personal awards is winning the World Series. That's the max that anyone could ask for. Let alone to have the ball in your in your glove for the final out of the World Series. That was the ultimate.

When I first came up, the bullpen was pretty much where they put the guys who couldn't start.

Later, I could take something off my slider and I could make my fastball sink, so I really had four pitches.

The thing that got me over the hump was accepting that I had to do whatever I could to stay in the game

I was a starter and did some good things there, and then I got a chance to prove myself as a closer. Because of that opportunity, I was blessed with the honor of being elected to the Hall of Fame.

When I started finishing games and coming off the field shaking hands, it was a beautiful thing. I mean, you start seeing that you're an important part of the team.