I never want to sit out. I want to play baseball games.

I don't think some athletes understand how big it is to be an athlete, what they can do with just a simple gesture of shaking a kid's hand. It can make a fan's day. It can make a fan's life.

Everybody used to say that baseball players can't dress and athletes can't dress. You know, a lot of athletes now are trying to prove everybody wrong, though there are some athletes that try too hard and try to do over-the-top things. But me, I try to be simple and just make whatever I'm wearing look good.

I get bored real easy. I'm so used to L.A. and the pace that when I go home now I start thinking, 'Something's not right, something's not feelin' right.' I just gotta do what I gotta do in Oklahoma and get back to the fast-paced city.

I've pretty much grown up to hide my emotions for the most part.

I didn't know if I could make it to the big leagues without going through Triple-A.

I'm pretty sure that China is way bigger than the Dominican.

If I could do it over, I'd want to come up to the big leagues like Mike Trout. He's exciting and I like watching him.

Beast Mode doesnt make excuses. It doesnt complain. Whatever youre doing, go out there and get it done. Keep pushing. If I have a bad game, I think about what I have to do to return to form. Figure it out, go to sleep, and wake up a new man.

If I'm in the car after a bad game, I may think about ways I need to improve. But the second I reach home, the game's over. Work doesn't come inside with me. Same thing in reverse - I don't bring my personal life into the ballpark. Learning to keep it all separate has made life easier.

Racism is kinda old. For real.

I don't do stuff to be a star. I do it because I feel it's important for kids, African American kids, to see an African American face that plays baseball.