Being involved in competition is a privilege and an opportunity. Seek to make the most of that opportunity by pushing yourself to the limit of your abilities. When it is over, you will have earned the respect of your opponents, your coaches, and yourself.

Just because you're down to your last strike, you're not out yet. You can always do more. You'll always have more at-bats to take. That's true in baseball, in rescuing animals, and in life generally.

It's a really neat and special coincidence, but it's nothing but a coincidence. This wasn't set up to give Matt that honor. It's just the way it worked out. It's a neat extra.

Even when you have three strikes, you're still not out. There is always something else you can do.

Toughest thing for me as a young manager is that a lot of my players saw me play. They know how bad I was.

Being involved in competition is a privilege and an opportunity. Seek to make the most of that opportunity by pushing yourself to the limit of your abilities. When it is over, you will have earned the respect of your opponents, your coaches, and yourself.

I'm ready to do something different.