All through Miami, the guys who grew up with me hitting at the place I hit, they all call me Flaco. Nobody calls me J.D. It's like, 'Hey, Flaco.'

Obviously, I have to do what's best for me and my family; I've got to put that first. But I definitely want to be on a team that's in contention.

I've always loved hitting, and even as a kid, I always hit.

I just want to go deep in the playoffs and be put in that situation where I'm locked in and the game and the season is on the line.

I think I'm a funny guy.

I love the game and I love to play. You have to admire fans who are the same way.

I found a place in Boston, a home in Boston, and I'm pretty happy here.

You can ask every coach from Ron Gardenhire to Dave Clark, anyone who has seen me play, they don't know why they say I'm a bad defender.

My preparation and my routine are the foundations to my success.

My parents taught me that in life, you get out what you put in.

My teammate Torii Hunter taught me how to lead and provide encouragement to the locker room.

Paul Goldschmidt, who gave me the confidence to lead as one of the game's greatest players, acknowledged that what I had to say was valuable to my teammates and crucial to winning.

I'm usually rough during Spring Training. My Spring Training numbers aren't very good, but I never expect them to be.

Just kind of finding it, that's what Spring Training is for, to work on stuff and get ready.

I played street basketball for a while and wanted to play competitively, but I was so used to the street-style of game that I would have fouled out by the end of the first quarter.

I started playing ball when I was 4 years old.

I have so many memories of going fishing and camping as a kid, and my dad had season tickets to watch the Marlins - and that's where I fell in love with the game.

Starting in middle school, I would play on two or three baseball teams at the same time, because that's just how things worked in south Florida. I would practice six or seven days each week. I honestly don't know how my parents did it, but my dad always found a way to make it to each and every game.

It's easy to sit there in the dugout when the game's going on and talk, chitchat about this and that. But I think paying attention, watching the pitcher, watching the game develop, putting yourself in situations you're not even in yet, anticipating the game, stuff like that, I think that really helps you take that extra step.

Learning how to slow the game down is the biggest thing.

I'd say the challenge of DHing is going to be learning the routine and to stay loose and stay warm and kind of be ready for it.

The last thing I wanted to do was get buried in Triple-A behind prospects.

It's so hard to win a World Series.

That's why, to me, Spring Training is so hard, because every time you go up there, there's a new pitcher, and you have to come up with a new plan.

Any time you go into the playoff game everyone's adrenaline is high and tensions are going, stuff like that.

Contrary to everyone's belief of 'J.D. is a launch-angle guy. He wants to get the ball in the air and this and that.' This is true, but you're not trying to force situations, trying to force things.

I don't go up there and try to hit home runs.

I believe that you're a hitter first and you're a slugger second type deal.

To me grinding out a good at-bat is pretty much fighting. And it's not trying to do too much with pitches, just finding a way to spoil a good pitcher's pitches, really.

If a pitcher goes up there and he's throwing a ball and it's a breaking ball down and away or a fastball up and in, a perfect pitcher's pitch, and you're able to just foul it off and stay alive in the at-bat, just keep grinding, keep working through the at-bat and hoping for that mistake that he's going to make. And if he doesn't, then you walk.

I think my failures in Houston is what made me who I am. I think it's given me that drive, that drive to keep working, because you never know what can happen type deal.

I always talk about it like I'm a hitter first and if I'm doing things right and my body's in the right place, I drive the baseball.

Detroit will always have a special place in my heart.

I really judge me on me.

I'm going to tell you right now, no one is harder on me than me. The fact that fans sit there and boo me, I'm booing myself when I'm walking in.

Obviously, I love Boston. I love the passion. It kind of matches my personality. The fans, I almost feel like they're just as passionate as me.

I'm always just grinding and figuring out what adjustment I need to make and how to tweak my swing to where I want it to be for that game and that pitcher.

I preach about getting the ball in the air.

Whenever you see me and I'm hitting ground ball after ground ball, you know I'm not feeling right.

Kids want to see relevant teams.

You want to see the team that is in the playoffs.

I think about my journey sometimes.

You play 162 games so let's say 100 of them come down to the end where you see the game is out of reach one way or the other. I feel like the other 62 are close games so you're going to be into those at-bats. If you do that, that's 100 at-bats. That's almost a month worth of at-bats where you're not as focused as you might be in those 62.

Man, it literally starts from after the game. I get every at-bat sent to me from the game. I'll go home, I'll watch every at-bat, kind of break down the game, kind of see, OK, what did I do? Why'd I miss this pitch? Why'd I hit that pitch?

I think I've grown over the years and learned about who I am and what I can do and what I can't do.

I was able to play alongside, in my opinion, the best hitter with Miguel Cabrera and kind of watch the way he goes about it and the way he looks at situations, when to try to drive a ball versus when to shoot a ball.

I never pressure anyone to believe what I believe. It's their choice. But when guys ask me, I'm always open, and I share.

I love to talk about hitting. It's a passion of mine.

I never go a day without talking to either my mom or dad, and my sister is one of the smartest people I know.

I had to make baseball work. I threw myself into it.