I just have faith. It's just there. It's not any big deal.

I deeply appreciate the people of Michigan. I love their grit. I love the way they face life. I love the family values they have.

Baseball is a spirited race of man against man, reflex against reflex. A game of inches. Every skill is measured. Every heroic, every failing is seen and cheered, or booed. And then becomes a statistic.

Baseball is the president tossing out the first ball of the season. And a scrubby schoolboy playing catch with his dad on a Mississippi farm.

In baseball, democracy shines its clearest. The only race that matters is the race to the bag. The creed is the rule book. And color, merely something to distinguish one team's uniform from another's.

Whatever happens, I'm ready to face it.

I'd like to be remembered as someone who showed up for the job. I consider myself a worker.