You know raising a family in the lifestyle of a professional athlete can be very difficult.

I had dreams of catching the ball for the final out in the World Series and being mobbed by my teammates. Well, I guess all my dreams didn't come true.

But what I'd really like to tell you is I never dreamed of being in the Hall of Fame. Standing here with all these great players was beyond any of my dreams.

You know no one ever accomplishes something like this without a lot of help from good people along the way. And this is certainly true in my case, and I would like to thank some of those people.

You know over 20 years I played for a number of managers and dozens of coaches. I don't know any of them that I didn't learn something from to help make me a better player.

My high school coach was Ray O'Conner. He has coached a lot of players that have signed professional contracts, and many of those have gone on to play in the major leagues.

I never faced a pitcher with better stuff than Nolan Ryan.

I realize now what a great job my wife Michelle did, not only in raising our children, Melissa, Amy, Dustin, and Jenna, but in taking care of me.

And George Brett. I think most people know that George and I have become pretty good friends over the years.

The bullshit detector is the biggest enemyof every religion."From: "Gesels van een imaginaire god"('Scourges of an imaginary god')

Fast, Cheap, Good: Pick Two.

I just thank God that I didn't grow up with so much money or privilege because you had to create ways to make it happen.

More important than a clean house is a close family.

One should practice much sense, not much learning.

Strike one is a big, big pitch-you can do a lot after you get strike one, no matter how you get it.

It's cold out. It's even cold in Florida. So cold today that Katherine Harris put on a third layer of makeup.

Whatever my doubts, however heavy the burden, I feel that I must accept the task of helping to make this nation and this world a better place to live in - for all men, black and white alike.

I get a lot of letters - a lot of letters saying, who knew that you were funny?

Maybe [I care about language] because I'm an editor, maybe because I'm picky, but it's all we got, don't shrink it. Don't dumb it out, make it little.