As a first baseman, hitting home runs is what's expected of me. But I don't really try to hit home runs.

Sometimes it's more fun to compete with your friends, because you can talk a little trash with them.

If you write in the paper 'Lee stinks,' that's not going to affect me. I'll just laugh. And if you write 'Derrek Lee is the best player in the league,' that won't affect me either. I'll laugh.

Defense is something I take pride in. I feel it's just as important as offense. They should have RBIs for defensive plays.

I want to be on that team that wins the world championship here in Chicago and sees the city go crazy.

You just get better with age. You learn yourself and the league. I'm starting to understand more about hitting every year.

I felt I was good in basketball but I wasn't a blue-chip prospect.