I have a relationship with Christ. It allows me to handle situations better. It allows me to treat people better and it allows me to have a better mental attitude towards baseball.

I really expect a lot of myself.

I usually don't look at at-bats where I get out. I look at my hits. I look at good swings I put on balls. Because of that good swing or good at-bat, I can see what I need to continue to work on and recreate.

I don't play baseball first. I put Christ first in my life. I put my family behind Him and I put baseball down the line. I obviously want to succeed. I want to do well. I want to perform. But at the same time, I'm at peace that no matter what happens on this earth, the more important part is being a Christian, and being in the Kingdom of Heaven when it's all said and done.

I think everybody out there on the American team is out of their element. That's not an excuse. That's the way it is. It's early in the spring. A lot of guys are not as (locked-in) as they could be.

I was always a neat kid. I never wanted my hands dirty. I wasn't a dirty kid. A lot of kids like to run around. If I was rolling around the dirt, I went home and took a shower. That's just the way I was. I'm not sure. I might have been born with it.

The Red Sox didn't handle negotiations with any kind of respect for me and my family, and the Rangers were the total opposite.