Well, you know, I left Cuba as a kid when I was 6 years old back in 1971.

There's a lot of history in Boston and a lot of history, obviously, in New York with all the championships.

Let me start by telling you this: I have never used steroids. Period. I don't know how to say it any more clearly than that. Never.

You know, my family stood for something that they believed in, and I wasn't about to turn my back on them.

Yeah, I'm going to go back (after hitting his 500th home run, but commenting on reaching the 3,000 hit plateau) to my Punch-and-Judy days, hit the ball the other way, start bunting the ball a little bit.

I don't know what else I can say. I have never taken steroids. For people who think I took steroids intentionally, I'm never going to convince them. But I hope the voters judge my career fairly and don't look at one mistake.

I wish that they had the freedoms like the Japanese and the Koreans and the Mexicans and everybody else that has that freedom to come over here and play the game, because I know Cuba has a very strong baseball history.