In an unhealthy way, I found a lot of validity in having always been a very good athlete, a very good baseball player, and I've since grown out of that place into a different perspective and learned how to live differently, thankfully, where baseball is certainly something that's very important to me. It's not who I am, though. It's just what I do.

I had a lot of fear that would motivate me to try to work hard, because I didn't know what I would do if I wasn't a baseball player.

The #‎ knuckleball can be a metaphor of what it's like to let go.

Who doesn’t want a Cy Young Award? What kid didn’t grow up wanting to be the best? I’m no different. I want to be the best. I’ve always wanted to be the best.

I had a wife that did not want me to have a singular regret about chasing my dream, which helped me tremendously. I did not want to have a singular regret. I always held out hope that it was going to turn for the better. That's always what motivated me was hope.

I could never get a real good clear picture of what I could become.

You never go into a season thinking you're going to strike out 200 guys or that you would have the most double-digit strikeout games in the big leagues, or anything like that. You just try to win, and the outing becomes what the outing becomes.