I think the game is so mental. If you sit around and you're mentally strong, you're ready.

What you end up doing is you try to match your guy's strength against a place they can be successful. They're doing the same thing against us. Sometimes they have the edge, sometimes you have the edge.

I was in the American League for 16, 17 years, and I think it's a really tough league to compete in.

If you like to run and the guys can't run, you don't run. If you like power, and you have guys that can't hit it out of the park, then you start moving guys around.

You've got to acknowledge what you did wrong and see if you can fix it to the extent possible, and turn the page.

Ever since I managed with guaranteed contracts and all the media, you know, you can get distracted by fame and fortune. Your values can get distorted. And the way you break through is, you just keep it personal and keep it simple and basic.

I was a lousy player with virtually no experience managing.

I'm not a big 'Moneyball' fan.

Just because you're down to your last strike, you're not out yet. You can always do more. You'll always have more at-bats to take. That's true in baseball, in rescuing animals, and in life, generally.

I can only think of about four players who I do not have anywhere from a good to a great relationship with.