I don't really look at stats or whatever. You see them on the big screen. But other than that, I don't pay too much attention to it. I did know about my dad's home run total. Other than that, I don't like to know. It's pointless. Whether you know or don't know, you don't want to think about it. You just want to go out and play the game.
I was a big sports fan, and I had been closely monitoring Hank Aaron's home run totals since I was a kid playing on the sandlot adjacent to the Foundry and Machine Company in Batavia, Illinois.
If you're not in the game, you can't hit a home run.
I'm the same guy I've always been. I'm the same guy now as when I was hitting 50 home runs. I don't change.
There is stuff going on inside me. But I have always been told to go out there and pitch like you can't tell if you just struck somebody out or just gave up a home run. If something bad happens, I don't dwell on it. Just give me the ball and let me pitch.
Pitching keeps you in the games. Home runs win the game.
In my mind, the home run is paramount because it means instant runs.
I hit a home run in my first game, and they told me to go into the stands and pass my cap around. I made six dollars in nickels, dimes, and quarters.
I don't try to hit home runs. I just try to meet the ball and get base hits.
Nicknames are baseball, names like Zeke and Pie and Kiki and Home Run and Cracker and Dizzy and Dazzy.
