I don't have to get a pitch down the middle. If I like the pitch-even if it's 15 inches off the plate, and that's the pitch I wanted-I'm swinging.

I just have to come back tomorrow and try again, ... I have to look at the ball and keep swinging.

I might be shy, but in the field, where I have to do my work, I do it. I let my bat speak for myself.

I dedicate all my time to baseball, because when you come from where I come from, you don't want to risk anything.

I don't think about how many people are watching me. I'm just happy to play baseball for myself.

What I do is see the ball, hit the ball.

When we are youths in the Dominican, we pick up bats and balls because baseball is part of what we grow up with. The fun feeling you get playing keeps your head up when you encounter difficult times.

I'm not as good as I want to be.

I want to win when the whole world is watching, ... I want to win a World Series in an Angels uniform.

I tried to use batting gloves at the beginning of every spring training up until 1999. It just didn't feel good.

As a ballplayer, you just want to feel respected. I like the way Washington presented the team to me and I feel good about what was being said.

Fame is such a waste. It can't even be recycled.

A bambiraptor is a savage baby dear.

I get a special joy in knowing people feel comfortable if they see me in Wal-Mart or in a no-frills section trying to get something on a discount.

People who have a religion should be glad, for not everyone has the gift of believing in heavenly things.

Whenever I write a novel, music just sort of naturally slips in (much like cats do, I suppose).

As an actor, you tell part of a story. As a writer, you get more of telling that story. But as a director, they're seeing the world through your eyes.

I don't read much fiction because I already read a lot of scripts, so I want to learn about the world.

Formula one is very one-dimensional in terms of what we do in the cockpit.

Extend the boundaries of the glowing kingdom of your love, gradually including your family, your neighbors, your community, your country, all countries -- all living sentient creatures.