"People expect you to play your best, so I go through a routine to prepare myself so that I know I'm physically and mentally ready - prepared for the game."

"People ask me if my shoes were too small when I was a kid and I say it wouldn't matter how fight my shoes were, I just liked that feeling of them being in there. That's how I started tapping my toes."

"You know it as soon as you walk in Yankee Stadium. The electricity is there every time, every day."

"My inspiration was the game itself, not any individual player in it."

"Some people think literature is high culture and that it should only have a small readership. I don't think so... I have to compete with popular culture, including TV, magazines, movies and video games."

"I think most models, when they start out, are insecure. And you become the focus of a lot of people's attention, so outside validation becomes too important."

"I think you need to understand games to write them. There's a learning curve, just like there's a learning curve in anything. It's not precisely the same as film or television, but you're using the same muscles."

"I like the way my heart beats, I like the way I think I don't need or want anything to change that."