What made me sign with the Cardinals? Because they used salesmanship, the personal touch.

I started to crouch because that way I could guard the plate better, and I always wanted to hit .300 in the big leagues.

Always wanted to be a Major League player. Loved baseball. Followed it. Loved to play. Plus, I could always hit.

What I try to do is never to hurt anybody else and figure if I don't, then I'm not likely to get hurt myself.

I think I had the smallest handle around. When I got my bats, I even trimmed them down. I used to scrape them. Some years later when I started getting older, I used to start with a 33 and in the summer it got down to 31 and then probably in September got down to 30.

Hitting is like swimming. Once you learn the stroke, you never forget it.

Back in my day, we didn't think about money as much. We enjoyed playing the game. We loved baseball. I didn't think about anybody else but the Cardinals.