I play to lift a city, and raise a banner.

It's easier for me to accept that I can't play anymore because I literally gave it all I got. That allows me to be a little bit more at peace.

There are maybe one or two hours a day when I think I can play, but I get over that real quick once I realize the risk and my wife tells me, "Just take a seat."

Obviously I wasn't playing well at the time. But as a player, you lie to yourself. You say, "There's nothing wrong. I'm just not on time [at the plate]." You make something else up because pain is not an option.

If I could even do that [playing] in a softball league, I would never miss anything about baseball.

Once I started getting multiple days off in a row, it was a long year for me. That had never happened, and everybody knew I didn't like it.

We took a family trip to Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia over Christmas and New Year's. Three weeks was a long time, but it was cool, man. We were on the ocean, so that was kind of intense. After a couple of days you realize how far out you are.