I grew up in a big Mexican family and... we always were so comfortable in our own skin. So society, the stuff that I think we see a lot now for young girls, didn't really reach me because I had this huge Mexican bubble around me saying, 'You're beautiful. You're amazing. You're strong. And be you.'

I never realized how hurtful people can be. They hate me so much for being a female in a men's sport. And I'm just like, 'Really? It's 2016, people. Women can do anything.'

We see women on the field; we see them interviewing players, we see them coming out of the dugout. But if you put them in the booth - like, hold up, wait a second - you haven't been there before. This is different.

I got my masters in social sciences and education at Stanford, and initially - this is back in 2002 or 2003 when I graduated - I wanted to move to D.C. and work on education reform, specifically with No Child Left Behind.

I've learned to not forecast anything beyond the year, because when I went to Stanford, I originally wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon. So it's just hilarious to look back at all of the things I wanted to do.

There have been so many pivotal moments throughout my career, and I look back and say I really craved big moments - when your heart's pounding and everything is on the line.

I don't filter things really.

My husband actually quit his job as a civil engineer so that he could travel, so we could be together as a family while I played professionally, which was crazy.

I just knew: first-time female on ESPN, there's going to be some backlash, like any change. There's always going to be resistance. There are going to be people that hear a female voice or see a female figure and are completely against it.

If people criticize me because they don't like how I break down one of Giancarlo Stanton's at-bats, OK. If they criticize me because I'm a woman, that's not OK.

I am a very honest person.

After a Sunday night game, what I do is I usually wait like a day and a half before going on Twitter.

Everyone's got advice, everyone's got their two cents. Try to streamline, like, who are the people that I trust the most? Sometimes I call it my board of directors. They're going to challenge you, but they're also going to support you. They're not going to just tell you what you want to hear, either.

If you're going to put me in the booth, make sure it's because I'm good enough to be there.

As much as I want to be like, It's just baseball, I'm just another person,' unfortunately it's not that way.

I don't care about Joe Schmo with two Twitter followers saying bad things to me, but if the guy I'm sitting next to on the telecast thinks that way, that matters a lot to me.

If you take any player in their position, there's nobody better than Mookie Betts in right field. I'll take him over a short stop at their position. That's how good he is.

It's important to be a positive female role model in a world with a lot of Kardashians.

I'd had colleagues tell me, 'You should be calling games.' But to actually have a producer call me and say, 'We want you in the booth,' I was like, What?

If I'm saying something with an intelligent background, then at least it is creating conversation. Whether that conversation is people agreeing or disagreeing, I'm happy.

I'm a big Geena Davis fan. I have a Geena Davis-signed baseball, which is funny because I don't get signatures from most baseball players I meet.

It should be common knowledge that women and men can talk about sports.

I've gotten a lot of comments about how I look and I can't help but think, Is anyone listening to what I'm saying? If I were a guy, no one would be saying, 'Wow, look at those pants' or 'Look at those legs.'

I think all women want to get out of our own little bubble and challenge a man's world. And I love challenges.

I think this is a sport where we can really challenge all of ourselves as baseball fans, as baseball players, even the casual viewers. It's just good to think, What can we do that hasn't been done?

There had never really been a female that was breaking down a swing. So when I'd walk into a clubhouse, I'd have to explain a little bit of who I was.

Stanford opened up a whole different perspective for me. I learned how to take my own passions and apply them to so many different topics, to open up the way I saw things and own the things that made me unique.

I try to challenge myself, each week, to do something that is a little different or something maybe a little more exciting or personalized.

I know that people are going to recognize my voice as being different and they are going to be saying, 'Let me listen a little bit closer to see if she says something that I don't agree with.' They're probably going to pay a little bit more attention.

I really try hard to give consistently good analysis.

Well, my mom actually taught me how to fish. We used to go when I was little, like 5 or 6 years old.

I think there's something to baseball, golf, fishing that there's downtime within all of those sports. Even though you're still doing the sport and everything that's involved, there's still this time to be able to think and have conversations.

I had a baseball swing my whole life. When I was growing up, everyone had a different, very specific softball swing that was very short. And I had a big stride and I had, you know, a baseball swing, and people did not like it.

It started with 'A League of Their Own.' I mean, to me, if you played softball or baseball as a girl growing up, that is the staple movie, like, where girls are portrayed as athletes, and real, like, different, from Madonna, you know, to Geena Davis. I mean, I could quote that movie, every single line.

The most erratic thing I ever did was going blonde.

I'm different. Like, I recognize that, and I need to make sure that I am as prepared, that I understand, that I've done everything I can, knowing that people are gonna wanna say, 'She doesn't belong.' I wanna prove to them I do.

I want to be in the booth any day - Sunday, Monday, Wednesday - it doesn't matter to me. I'm hooked. I love it.

In a perfect world, if I can get conversations done at a batting cage, there's exactly the place I want to be.

My older son, when things were at the peak of attention, comes up to me and says: 'Mom, I know people are saying you're doing stuff that's cool. But I listened, and all you did was talk. It was pretty boring.' Thanks for that.

At the end of the day, what people will give credit for is how Octobers turn out. That's how it works for Yankees managers.

I'm a big Alex Cora fan, as far as aggressiveness, the things that he sees like pitch tipping. His eyes are really good.

As an Olympic athlete, especially a female Olympic athletic, social media's such an amazing place, people are so positive, all these young girls. Anything negative is such a small space, people aren't coming at you for their gender.

To be honest my first memories are getting to know players. I remember being on the bus probably like 3, 4, 5 years old, and my dad would always say go sit with the players in the back.

I've always felt that the more prepared I am, the more confident I would be within the telecast.

I try not to think about it as much when I'm working, it's more just doing my job, but I realize I have more of a responsibility than probably your everyday analyst.

The last thing I want to think of myself as is anything different.

I want to be a role model.

There is nothing more I want to do than impact girls.

I want to be a voice for women, but I've also got two boys at home and my role is important for them, too. Men need to hear a woman who is prepared and understanding.

When you're successful at something, you think that you need to continue to do what you're doing to get the same result. But I think in order to get better, sometimes you need some failures.