The tradition you have at the University of Texas is like no other. It helped me in the future where I got to play in 2 cities that were rich in tradition.

Everybody kind of perceives me as being angry. It's not anger, it's motivation.

He's (George Steinbrenner) the one who gave me a chance to get to the World Series. This is where I wanted to be all along. We had a couple of nice offers from other teams, but I tied my agents' hands. I told them I wanted to be a Yankee.

But I'm not looking forward to trying to strike out a lot of guys

I'd be cheating everyone here, the staff and rest of my teammates, if I wasn't able to stay on top of my work. It was almost like therapy, to come back and get in an environment I'm comfortable with.

It's pretty simple, the way I look at it. I became a Hall of Famer here (in New York), with my numbers here and what I've done here, and hopefully three-hundred will be another big part of that. When (former Red Sox general manager Dan) Duquette said that I was done, if I'd have taken his advice and went home, I wouldn't have been a Hall of Famer. So it's a no-brainer. It's definitely pretty easy. Reggie (Jackson) spent five years here, and this will be five for me.

Going to Omaha for the College World Series - the people there are tremendous - huge crowds and a lot of excitement. I still remember those days - you make a lot of friends that you never forget when you win a championship like that.