I hate striking out, doesn't matter what time of the game. I just don't like striking out.
My job isn't to strike guys out; it's to get them out - sometimes by striking them out.
Regardless of how long it took or what I had to go through to get there, I had visualizations of throwing no-hitters or throwing shutouts.
It gave me no chance. He (Nolan Ryan) just blew it (strikeout #5,000) by me. But its an honor. I'll have another paragraph in all the baseball books. I'm already in the books three or four times.
It was much more fun playing with him than against him. If you wanted one pitcher to start the seventh game of the World Series, which he did in 1945, you'd pick Hal Newhouser.
I know a little about Hack (Wilson) because his picture is next to my locker. I am lucky to be there at the right time. People will now remember two guys, Hack Wilson and myself, and the season is not over yet.
But I'm not looking forward to trying to strike out a lot of guys.
Being in the same sentence as Bob Gibson, that's incredible.
