I played with the Birmingham Black Barons. I was making 500 at 14. That was a lot of money in those days.

I remember the last season I played. I went home after a ballgame one day, lay down on my bed, and tears came to my eyes. How can you explain that? It's like crying for your mother after she's gone. You cry because you love her. I cried, I guess, because I loved baseball, and I knew I had to leave it.

I think I was programmed to do good things when I came into the majors. I knew how to play.

What's tough is being good every day.

That's how easy baseball was for me. I'm not trying to brag or anything, but I had the knowledge before I became a professional baseball player to do all these things and know what each guy would hit.

Maybe I was born to play ball. Maybe I truly was.

I don't mean to be bashful, but I was