It would have been a helluva lot more fun if I had never hit those 61 homeruns... all it brought me was headaches.

Every day I went to the ballpark in Yankee Stadium as well as on the road people were on my back. The last six years in the American League were mental hell for me. I was drained of all my desire to play baseball.

As a ballplayer, I would be delighted to do it again. As an individual, I doubt if I could possibly go through it again.

I don't know if I want to go to New York. They'll have to pay me a lot more money because I like it here in Kansas City.

I don't want to be Babe Ruth. He was a great ballplayer. I'm not trying to replace him. The record is there and damn right I want to break it, but that isn't replacing Babe Ruth.

Maybe I'm not a great man but I damn well want to break the record.

I never wanted all this hoopla. All I wanted was to be a good ball player and hit twenty-five or thirty homers, drive in a hundred runs, hit .280 and help my club win pennants. I just wanted to be one of the guys, an average player having a good season.