During my 18 years I came to bat almost 10,000 times. I struck out about 1,700 times and walked maybe 1,800 times. You figure a ballplayer will average about 500 at-bats a season. That means I played 7 years without ever hitting the ball.

My views are just about the same as Casey's.

The thing I really liked about Mickey was the way he treated everyone the same.

He foresaw the platooning that managers like Casey Stengel used years before it happened. He told me I had to be a switch-hitter if I was going to play.

When I hit a home run I usually didn't care where it went. So long as it was a home run was all that mattered.

Of course, I didn't tell you about all the times I said I was going to hit one and it didn't happen.

At my best I was as good as anyone.