I've lost a little bit of my fire... I don't want to say I've lost my passion.

The reality is that my stepfather was like a father to me and watching him die from a sudden heart attack was one of the hardest things I have ever gone through.

Some of my finest memories are from my time at the University of Texas. College baseball, I love it.

If I put my mind to it, and I put the work in, I have no doubt I could do it (pitch 4-5 additional years), but I made a promise to the people who've supported me for so many years. It's time to give back to my family.

My only day off is the day I pitch (in regards to how hard he works out during off-days).

If I get two strikes, I'll go to a pitch maybe that will help induce that a little bit.

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.