I love to pitch so much.
Pitching is a priority.
You can't go out to the mound hobbling and take a pitcher out with a cane.
Well, I mean, I like to be pretty athletic off the mound in terms of taking care of my job, which is covering first base, fielding bunts in certain situations, fielding slow rollers to the first base and having to communicate and direct traffic.
I usually stick out my hand and hope he puts the ball in it. Except the one time I went out to take Early Wynn out. I stuck out my hand and he hit me right in the stomach with the ball.
Every time I toe the rubber, it's no different for me than it was in the World Series.
In baseball I was very singularly focused. If I was pitching it was me versus the hitter.
Every time I take the mound, I try to win. So that's what I'm trying to do.
On the mound is Randy Jones, the left-hander with the Karl Marx hairdo.
Lefty Grove could throw a lamb chop past a wolf.
Johnny Sain don't say much, but that don't matter much, because when you're out there on the mound, you got nobody to talk to.
It's just Lord be with me... Winning and losing isn't the most important thing. He's not worried about the outcome of the game. He's worried about how I reflect Him and how I'm pitching... I think every time you pitch and every time you go on the mound you have to understand that it's for Him.
When you get out there on the mound, you've got what you've got, and you got to figure out a way to get outs.
Any time you can go out there and throw 12 pitches in any inning, you give your team some momentum coming in and get some confidence out on the mound.
For me, it's just going up on the mound and trying to get outs.
I think every facet of running has its benefits towards a starting pitcher. I mean, you're explosive off the mound and yet you've got to have endurance.
I think the beard plays a slight factor to my presence on the mound. It's kind of part of the persona now. Everyone in Chicago embraced it, so I got to keep it. I can't ditch it now.
Striking out batters was easy.
I am a baseball player and I enjoy getting batters out and that is what I want to continue doing.
I'm pretty much the one that goes to the mound.
Hitters never showed me up, as hard as I threw. And I was pretty mean out on the mound.
I love being out there on the mound with the ball in my hand. I can control the game. I'm out there. No clock - nothing happens until I throw that thing. Nothing happens. I love that feeling.
