I'm half-Italian and my name is Portuguese. Michael Young is half-Mexican. There are players from the United States that have heritage elsewhere and it's a great thing to have a world cup to celebrate the whole world. It shows the world that baseball is important and how great the game is.

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 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.

Education is very important to me, as is helping children.

It's not a fun process. There is no need for the team and a player to be on opposing sides a week or two before spring training. It's good to be on the same page.

There's no question that I love playing in Texas. I love the fans. I love everything about Texas.

One thing that I've realized is that you're never going to be 100 percent successful. You're always going to be let down. When you have God in your life and you follow Christ, you're never going to be let down. Every time that you fail, He's there to pick you right back up. Every time you think the world's going to end because you had a couple of bad games, God's there to remind you that's not what it's all about.