VERNON WELLS

I remember the first time I played the triple-A Yankees when I was 20 years old, and Darryl Strawberry was on that team. It was the first time I actually got goose bumps playing against another team.

My dad was a designer for Upper Deck, and I had hundreds of Ken Griffey Jr. cards. Hundreds. I could have paid for college with them.

There's a fine line between playing through things and sitting out. I was always on the side of, 'I'm going to play through it.' It's probably good at times, bad at times, but for an athlete to always try to be there and play through things, from a teammate's perspective, it speaks volumes. Now that I look back, mentally it makes you tougher.

As hitters, I think we take for granted at times how good our hands are and just how much the value of truly getting the barrel to the ball is. We don't have to do as much as we think we have to.

You get caught up in hitting home runs and seeing how far you can hit them, and your swing changes.

I think hitting's just repetition. The more you hit, the better you're gonna get.

I think I'm a guy who loves to play defense. I have a great time in the outfield. I think it's fun robbing guys on hits - there are plenty of times you're gonna be robbed as a hitter.

You're going to fail. It's how you respond to that failure that kind of defines you as a person, as an athlete.

I keep a lot of things inside. I don't like showing too much emotion. Early in the minor leagues, they wanted me to show more emotion, but it wasn't me.

I think you start hitting home runs, and you start getting caught up in seeing how far you can hit them. They're fun, but you really only have to hit them a foot over the fence. They all count the same.

If I'm going to wind up playing left, I want to be the best left fielder in the game. I'll work to be that.

There's a fine line between playing through things and sitting out. I was always on the side of, 'I'm going to play through it.' It's probably good at times, bad at times, but for an athlete to always try to be there and play through things, from a teammate's perspective, it speaks volumes. Now that I look back, mentally it makes you tougher.

I keep a lot of things inside. I don't like showing too much emotion. Early in the minor leagues, they wanted me to show more emotion, but it wasn't me.

My dad was a designer for Upper Deck, and I had hundreds of Ken Griffey Jr. cards. Hundreds. I could have paid for college with them.

I think I'm a guy who loves to play defense. I have a great time in the outfield. I think it's fun robbing guys on hits - there are plenty of times you're gonna be robbed as a hitter.

I got to the big leagues when I was 20. I thought I had it all figured out. Went to spring training that next year and started off well, got sent down, and I pouted pretty much all of 2000. And it wasn't the right way to handle it.

I think hitting's just repetition. The more you hit, the better you're gonna get.

As hitters, I think we take for granted at times how good our hands are and just how much the value of truly getting the barrel to the ball is. We don't have to do as much as we think we have to.

I never lose confidence. As soon as you lose confidence, you're done.

I think you start hitting home runs, and you start getting caught up in seeing how far you can hit them. They're fun, but you really only have to hit them a foot over the fence. They all count the same.

I've played in Boston and New York, and it doesn't matter if you're sick, aching - once you step on that field, you're a completely different animal.

You're going to fail. It's how you respond to that failure that kind of defines you as a person, as an athlete.

If I could go the ballpark and play the game for three hours and then go home? It would be awesome. But that's not the case.

I guess my name was gonna be Michael Vernon Wells, and I came out, and my dad saw my nose. He always says that my nose right now is the same size as it was when I was born. So he had to name me Vernon. He's got a big schnozz on him, too.

You get caught up in hitting home runs and seeing how far you can hit them, and your swing changes.

I remember the first time I played the triple-A Yankees when I was 20 years old, and Darryl Strawberry was on that team. It was the first time I actually got goose bumps playing against another team.