(Interviewed 7-5-03)

What is your baseball philosophy?
It is like anyone else's job you have to have a commitment to your profession. You have to do it the right way. You have to go about your job hard, a 100% everyday. Those are all ingredients for success.

What is your hitting philosophy?
For me I have always been successful when I take a lot of pitches. At the plate I like to see a lot of pitches. I am not a power hitter so getting on base is part of something that I bring to the table so it is important that I take my walks. I hit the ball the other way better than I pull the ball so I mostly look out over the plate when I am hitting.

What are your strengths?
Without question my defense is probably my strength. I play all three, second, short and third base pretty good I think. So defensively I am probable an above average player for sure.

Pitchers throw inside and outside to set up hitters. Do hitters set up pitchers?
I think they can. I don't think you can necessarily do it in one at bat. I think over the course of the game if you look back on how a guy has pitched you the rest of the game and the swings that you have taken, sometimes a hitter can set up a pitcher without question. You know when you look bad on some pitches that chances are that he is going to go to the well on that pitch again. You can look for that pitch in a certain situation and that is kind of setting him up I would say.

It seems that at times, guys with all the talent don't seem to go as far as guys with lesser talent. Do you think that is true?
I think a lot of times people throw labels on people way to easily. You talent level determining what kind of player you are is irrelevant. You are what you are. You're the player that you are. You can have all the talent in the world but if you are not a good player, you are not a good player. If you don't have talent but you get the job done, you are a good player. I understand that you always look for people with talent because their ceilings are higher, but to me when you get to the major leagues it is about results. It is about helping your team win games. Talent isn't necessarily as important as production.

Do you think that first-round draft picks or high draft picks get more chances?
Without question. That's business. That's the business side of baseball. Make no mistake Major League Baseball is a business. It is a game when you play it on the field, and as you watch it it's a game but also there's a business side to it. If you are going to commit a lot of resources to an individual then you want your investment to pay off. You better give him more chances. If you made him a first round pick that means that you thought he was a really, really good player too. You probably saw something in him, so generally those people are going to get more chances.

In Spring Training a lot of talented guys compete for your spot. How do you approach that situation?
You do have competition every day. That's what athletes thrive on. Competition is what we all love to do. That is why we are at where we are. You never think about it especially with guys on your same team that you are competing against them. You do what you can do and like we say if you can look yourself in the mirror and can say you did everything you could today then you are going to sleep good that night. So that is what you do. You just do everything you can do and then the chips have to fall where they may. There is always going to be competition. There is competition every single day. That never stops as a professional athlete.

How much does the chemistry in the clubhouse effect a team?
That is a tricky question, obviously it is always good on a good team, and always bad on a bad team it seems to me. It is probably a little more overrated then it actually is, but I think it is a factor in good teams and I think the Arizona Diamondbacks are a good example. Right now despite all the injuries a number of young players have come up and have had success. I think the reason for that is the atmosphere that the clubhouse and the manager have created is very accepting and not intimidating for the younger players so they are able to go up there and feel like they belong. They are immediately made part of the group. It makes success easy for them. To me that is something that if you can do that to make life easier for everybody and it helps you win then that is chemistry.

How important is weight lifting?
Weightlifting is important. Strength is important. It is not just weightlifting. At my age, I'm 32, I look at it as wanting to stay young as long as possible. So I want my body to stay at it's peak athletic form as late into my 30's as I can. So it is not necessarily weightlifting, and running, being as agile as I can, so all those things are important because if you loose a step there is someone else that is passing you. It goes back to competition a little bit. It is important, obviously strength is important. People are stronger. Every generation seemingly gets stronger.

Do you read the sports pages, or the scouting reports about you?
I read the sports pages. I read it because I am a sports fan more than anything. Everyday you look at the box scores and see how friends are doing. That is the biggest reason. That's why I look at the box scores for sure.

How you handle the fans', the loud mouths, etc?
That is part of it. During the game it is very easy to focus on the game. It is very easy to block the fans out. You are going to hear people and if people want to yell and scream that's fine. I enjoy interaction with the fans that is good interaction, someone that has something intelligent to say or something funny to say. The people that just want to yell then that is their prerogative. They paid their money they can do that.

How about the umpires? How you handle the bad calls like balls and strikes?
Umpires are professionals and they do a good job generally. You treat them with respect, then they treat you with respect. I never had too many problems with umpires obviously they make mistakes occasionally. They really do get most of the calls right. I don't think people really realize that but most of the time they are right.

The brush back, knockdowns, and retaliation. What do you think about that?
I think it has gotten a little out of hand. I think the charging the mound thing has gotten a little out of hand. That's the generation that we live in. That is just how it works now. It seems like anytime someone is brushed back they want to charge the mound or act like they are going to charge the mound. You can't send a message anymore. You can't just send a message and that be the end of it. Everybody has to get their two cents in. That's how it is and Sportscenter creates a lot of that I think. The highlight shows and stuff like that.

What are your thoughts on being traded?
It is part of the game. I have been traded twice and both times I was traded I was single so it wasn't any big deal. Now if you have a family being traded is a little more difficult. It is part of it and you kind of accept it as part of it.

What would you tell a kid in high school about professional baseball?
I think for any young baseball player, people don't realize that there is a real commitment. If you want to become a professional baseball player you have to make a tremendous commitment of time, of energy, and desire and you have to really enjoy it. All those things. You have to love it. You have to love doing it. It is not easy. The people that reach this level are the very best obviously. The easiest thing is that there is no substitute for hard work. Hard work is going to beat everything else out every time. That is kind of a philosophy I always try to go by.