Q. What players did you look up to as a kid?

A. Oh man, you asked a tough one already. I grew up in South Carolina and we didn’t have baseball. There was no Major League team or anything like that. Back then baseball only came on on weekends and I was playing, so I didn’t have a baseball player to look up to. I heard some names like Carl Yastrzemski because he was a household name, but that’s about it.

Q. Who was the best player you ever played with?

A. Keith Hernandez.

Q. Who was the funniest person in the clubhouse?

A.Roger McDowell.                                   

Q. Who was the toughest catcher to steal off?

A. I'm going to pick two guys because there were two different eras. In my prime, Tony Peña, and when I got older and I went over to Toronto, Pudge.

Q. What is the biggest difference that you see between baseball now and when you played?

A. The lack of discipline. No discipline when you play the game, period. Every at bat, the little details and stuff like that. Back then guys were more concerned with being a complete ball player. Now there isn’t as much emphasis on being a complete ball player. You can just do one thing really, really well.

Q. Do you think baseball has become too soft?  For instance, pitchers are thrown out of the game if they throw too close to batters.

A. I don’t think it has become too soft.  I think people have become more conscious of the investment and are trying to protect the investment they have in players. Some pitchers try to throw it inside and sometimes it gets away from them. I don’t think it is ever intentional; no pitcher intentionally tries to hurt someone. But, that attitude that "I'm going to put it up and in to get the batter scared," has gone away a little because pitchers are a little more cautious now.

Q. What do you think about elbow pads and shin guards?

A. My personal opinion is that I'd like to see those things removed or have tight restrictions on it. I know the safety issue, but there is risk in every sport and I think it gives some guys an unfair sense of security. So, I think it should be removed.

Q. What do you think of Barry Bonds breaking the home run record?

A. I think it's great, I'm glad it has happened. I know there has been a lot of controversy over the whole issue. The fact of the matter is, the guy hit 756 homers and I don’t care under what circumstances. That is a lot of homers.

Q. What was going through your mind when you saw your ground ball go under the glove of Bill Buckner?

A. I was in shock and I had a few choice words when I first hit it, but those quickly went away. I was in shock and disbelief.

Q. Do you ever get tired of answering questions about that play?

A. Nope, because when you talk about that play, you start talking about the game of baseball and it always opens up the conversation. But, no, I don’t get tired of it. It is nice to be remembered.  Everybody wants to be remembered.

Q. What are some of your favorite things to do not baseball related?

A. I am a music nut. When I was playing baseball, I spent the whole morning shopping for music at record shops. Some cities have good shops and some cities have none. Houston was good. Chicago was awesome. St. Louis was bad. That’s one of the things I've done. I love other sports, too, like ping pong. I love messing around with basketball. I'm not really good at it, but I'm okay. I love fishing.

Q. What advice can you give to aspiring baseball players?

A. The first thing is to enjoy the game. If don't you enjoy the game, all of this other stuff isn’t going to matter. You can forget about the big paycheck. A lot of athletes focus on the contract, and if that is your motivation, then you're not going to make it. If you're going to play the game, enjoy it. Once you get a little more advanced in the game, then you can talk about other things.

Q. What is it like to see your son playing professional baseball?

A. Well, the first thing I look at is I'm watching to see if he is enjoying the game. If he is enjoying it then the results I don’t care about. You have to enjoy it and so far I've seen that.  I love to see kids play with passion. The day you lose passion for the game, just quit, just stop. 

Q. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?