“Playing third base, you rarely have time to get into a great fielding position. It’s all about reaction.”

“I hope I can always be counted on to get a hit or get a guy in—to be an even keel in the lineup.”

I love a hard-hit ball, a diving-play situation where you realize afterward there was no thinking involved. It was 100 percent reaction."

“To this day, I have friends who think I’m a better basketball player. Well, I may have changed some minds.”

“I had a gun at the back of my head. That’s not something you forget.”

“The College World Series, that’s the end-all deal as a college player. To get a chance to play in the World Series and win it, that was surreal.”

“I’ve always been counted out. I’ve always had people believing I didn't belong. I think that has made me work a little harder."

“I’m not worrying about my mechanics—and that’s a fun feeling. It’s nice to be confident and not worry about where my hands and feet are.”

“I don't know if people know how hard it is to get a hit or how hard it is to field a ground ball. It’s an easy game in principal, but to actually execute the game it’s very difficult.”

“If I go 500 at-bats and hit 10 home runs, then something’s wrong.”