I did enjoy football, but the injury factor for me, you know, I had so many issues. I don't know how long my career would've been.
My message to a lot of guys is, if you like school and you like education, baseball is gonna be there, and you can get some of the same great competition in college that you do in the low minor leagues.
What people don't realize is that professionals are sensational because of the fundamentals.
I love boxing. I like to see the strategizing. Watching the warriors go to work. I like that struggle, going out there and fighting.
I have a love for Shea Stadium and its fans. I had so much fun with the fans. Yeah, they booed me. I was like, 'I know, I know.'
I see it as a responsibility of mine to teach others.
What people don't realize is that professionals are sensational because of the fundamentals. The sensationalism has taken over the professionalism.
If you can prove a guy did cheat, then I don't believe he belongs. I don't believe that there are any guys that did cheat, in that respect, that are in the Hall of Fame. So I think opening up the doors to guys that admittedly cheated or are proven that they did cheat, it kills the integrity of what the Hall of Fame stands for.
I think every player wants to be acknowledged for what they have done. I think every player eligible for the Hall Of Fame feels that the ultimate validation is enshrinement.
I remember playing on pretty much an all-minority youth team and going to some of the tournaments north of Cincinnati and not being able to stay with host families where all the other teams were staying with host families.
The stance I took was there is no room for racial bias anywhere in sports. I believe that was basically all I said about it. Certainly I was cast as an abolitionist. Death threats came. Hate mail came.
I wanted to go to college and play football.
I'm glad that I just played baseball, because I'm sure I had a much longer baseball career than I would've had a football career. I did miss football, but I didn't miss some of the injuries from football.
