I was a guy who came to work every day. I was there. When my manager got to the field at 12, I felt like there was no reason for him to ever wonder if I was playing. For me, that's a big deal. I teach that to my kids.

I'm not really in a hurry to ever wear a neck brace. That's why I'm kind of positive about it, because I'm healthy.

You don't need to have a perfect ending to be happy.

A lot of people probably say I'm stupid, and they're probably right, because there are people who take days off who are still in the league, and I'm not.

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

It was pretty hard to actually have to say the words with my teammates, my wife and my boys there. I realized it was going to happen before that day [I announce retirement], but to have to announce it and talk about in front of a lot of people was tougher than I expected. I'm glad that feeling has kind of gone away. That sadness hasn't lingered.

A friend of mine asked me a question at the end of 2015. We were going over my finances and setting things up for the future when she said, "What do you want to do when you retire?" I said, "I always wanted to do a food show."