Cleaning up that lack of the definition between the two, and then leaning on the four-seam, having it become my primary fastball over my two-seam, it's just benefited me as a whole.

In an industry where you don't always get to see your family as much as you would like, getting to hug your mom after the game is nice.

I mean, our job is - we're baseball players, we have to go to work. But when it all boils down, we're just a bunch of kids out there having fun trying to entertain people.

Any time you can get in a position to start to get some of the quality work in as early as possible, I think it gives you a leg up or at least gives you the opportunity to be really prepared for the first time you take the ball.

Every start is an opportunity to get better and to learn how your body is feeling and what you need to do moving forward. It's been an evolution throughout the year.

Every good team is going to have a good culture in the clubhouse.

You can have really good statistics, which are really good, and it's a serious advantage, but when push comes to shove, it's about players communicating and players playing together.

I was hurt in 2016, and it made me look at longevity and sustainability. The stuff that I was doing wasn't working for me long term. So, I had to make a change.

You can't find a bad count to throw a curveball.

My job is to go out there and just, with whatever I got that day, just give my team the best chance to win.

David Price comes and finds me out in the lobby and says, 'Dude, I really enjoy watching you pitch.' I'm just like, 'What's wrong with you? Watch your own games, bro. I just throw fastballs inside. You're painting all over the place, striking the world out.'

I've just got to keep doing what I'm doing, because from all the compliments I've received so far, it sounds like I'm on the right track.

Being able to taste failure, it makes you kind of want to throw up. It makes you just hate the game.

There's a lot of different aspects of the game that I've fine-tuned.

You never want to be in a bases-loaded, no-outs position, but dammit, when you're there, you better enjoy it. You better not sit there and sulk about it. You better rise up and figure it out.

I always wanted to play with the older kids because they were better and it was more fun. It was harder, and I failed more, but it was more fun.

You never want to have Yadier Molina up with the bases loaded in the World Series, but, dammit, you wouldn't want a better hitter up. Maybe that's not the way most people think, I don't know. That's how I think.

I think if we just stay focused on what we focus on, which is ourselves, playing good ballgames, trying to win every day, don't take wins with us, don't take losses with us, if we just stay with that approach the results are going to be what they're going to be.

Strikeouts are something that just happen. You don't go for strikeouts, because your pitch count gets too high. When you do get that opportunity, you have to put them away with whatever is working that day.

I try to get early contact and keep it on the ground. I like to keep the ball down as much as I can.

I've got to keep my pitch count down. If you want to go deep into ballgames, you have to stay under that 100 mark.

I had a great time at school. The experience was quite fulfilling, especially going to the World Series.

I just go out and do my job.

I was sooo skinny.

There's no WAR for being a good teammate, so apparently that means older guys can't get paid.

There's a lot of pageantry involved in opening day, flyovers, extra long TV breaks and stuff. To say that it's not important, more so than some other ones, it is. It's the first game of the year. but I got 30 starts to make. Each win or loss is equally as important.

If I'm not going to make the pitch, then so be it. I'm not going to try to manipulate the ball or muscle the ball over the plate where I want it to go.

Regardless if your career is short or long, I personally would rather win more often than not.

You have more of an opportunity than people think to impact a game through the tone that you can set. You can't control everything, setting that tone is important.

I tremendously value wins.

This is a game of failure, for the most part.

We definitely like to celebrate the wins, that's for sure.

I've had a long, long road with lots of ups and downs. But that's all behind me now.

I'm a real person. I have real feelings. I have real thoughts. It's a quality people like about me. They can reach out and touch me. I wouldn't give it up for anything.

I've spent most of my life in prison. I was a prisoner of my fear and my low self-esteem.

All of the sports have a safety net, but boxing is the only sport that has none. So when the fighter is through, he is through. While he was fighting his management was very excited for him, but now that he is done, that management team is moving on.

I have a Roman nose. It roams all over my face.

The bad press came because they thought I should fight more. I couldn't get the fights because if I would sign to fight one of King's guys I would be signed to him. I chose not to do that. In hindsight, that might have been a mistake.

I grew up in a big Irish, Catholic family. My dad was a pretty rough guy. So one of my brothers left home when he was 15 and found his way to the gym. It gave me the opportunity to go and spend some time with him and work out in the gym.

I had two managers who couldn't stand each other. I had a promoter, Don King, who couldn't get any fights, and I was fighting once a year. I knocked out Norton and then didn't fight for 13 months. Then I fight the heavyweight champion of the world.

I don't overswing any more. I can throw a punch and be right in position to punch again. No more 'Hail Mary' punches, where it took me five minutes to get back in position.

I am seeing all the guys, like Earnie Shavers, Tex Cobb, and Larry Holmes all the time.

Long Island has a great boxing tradition.

You go through pain. You feel uncomfortable, uncomfortable, uncomfortable until you change. I acquired a different outlook.

I saw my brother have an altercation one time. He hit a guy with a left hook to the body and a right hand to the chin. He not only knocked the guy out, but out of wind. That stuck with me. It scared me.

By the time you're 30 years old, you can be on a nowhere street, if you're not careful.

They said if I'd fight a ranked contender, I'd get a title shot. I did that, and the next day they changed the rules.

It's tough waking up in the morning and reading derogatory stories about you.

The fight with Holmes was a plus. I gained so much experience.

You take that walk from the dressing room to the ring and that's when the real man comes out. Then you climb up those four stairs and into the ring. Then finally, you can't wait for the bell to ring.