People like us are afraid to leave ball. What else is there to do? When baseball has been your whole life, you can't think about a future without it, so you hang on as long as you can.
I loved to hit with men on base and with the game on the line.
Baseball for me was instinctive, born within me, given to me as a gift from God.
I was always a self-proclaimed poor slider.
I was the most powerful left-handed hitter in the Alameda area.
There's nothing I value more than the closeness of friends and family, a smile as I pass someone on the street.