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.

So much happened (in 1968) it was hard to keep up with everything. We had Denny McLain's thirty-one victories, Gates Brown's great pinch-hitting in the clutch, Tom Matchick's home run to beat Baltimore in the ninth inning, then Daryl Patterson striking out the side to beat them in the ninth. Excitement every day in the ballpark.

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.

I've found that if you wear a beret, people think you're either a cabdriver or a producer of dirty movies.

Baseball is a tongue-tied kid from Georgia growing up to be an announcer and praising the Lord for showing him the way to Cooperstown. This is a game for America. Still a game for America, this baseball!

But most of all, I'm a part of you people out there who have listened to me, because especially you people in Michigan, you Tiger fans, you've given me so much warmth, so much affection and so much love.

Baseball is a rookie, his experience no bigger than the lump in his throat as he begins fulfillment of his dream.