I kept thinking, 'this must be the coolest job - I'd like to be a professional baseball player.' They were getting paid to play a game, and what a cool lifestyle that was.

A lot of people think I had such a rosy career, but I wanted to identify that one of the things that helps you have a long career is learning how to deal with adversity, how to get past it. Once I learned how to get through that, others things didn't seem so hard.

I have goals and ambitions, and I see myself as a lifelong baseball student. I have certain philosophies that I'd like to test at some point at the big league level. The job of manager appeals to me, a coach appeals to me, at a different time frame.

I think Nick Markakis is a perennial All-Star, and nobody knows about him. I think people are learning about how good he is.

Just because you're born in a privileged family and have money doesn't mean you're happy. Happiness you can't buy. Happiness is something you need to work for.

I very rarely laugh. I remember I used to have a joy at comedy. I remember going to see Sean Lock for the first time live, just in some comedy club when I was 18, and again, just guttural, pure laughter. I didn't know what he was doing; I couldn't see the tricks.

I train with joy and fun, because if I'm not persuaded by the squad at my disposal, I try changing things around, moving players into new positions, and trying something different; otherwise, I get bored.

Salman has his own personal equation. I have my own personal equation. We are sometimes not even a part of each other's celebration or happiness. But we are definitely there when somebody is down.