The original Dirt Dog shares his wit and wisdom
From the Nixon Tapes:
The end of The Curse:
"The greatest memory? It's got to be winning the '04 World Series. A tremendous moment. Coming back from what we did against the Yankees against those odds and going into St. Louis, which had a great ball club and just keeping that momentum going. The atmosphere. The 86 years. That was the top as far as on-the-field moment.
"My buddy [Brian] Daubach and me always said if we won the World Series, it's going to be bananas in Boston. They're going to have to put duck boats in the Charles River because they won't be able to fit all the fans. And somehow it all came true. I've got a DVD of all eight games, and someday when I'm done playing, I'm going to sit back and relive it."
The birth of his first son, Chase, on Sept. 11, 2001:
"All the horrible things we went through and how scared everyone was that day. The media reported the [birth] story and it gave people something that wasn't negative and wasn't scary. We're going to tell Chase, 'You brought so much good out of that day on such a difficult time.' He's 6 now, too young to talk about it, but when the time comes, Kathryn and I will explain things about that day."
The ninth-inning, two-run home run to break up a classic scoreless pitching duel between Roger Clemens and Pedro Martínez at Yankee Stadium May 28, 2000:
"It was a huge Yankee-Red Sox game. I think it was Memorial Day and we had an ESPN game. We had two of the best pitchers ever going head to head. Pedro was striking out guy after guy. Clemens the same thing. I always enjoyed facing Roger, a tremendous competitor, one of the greatest pitchers ever, in my book. One of the greatest pitchers I ever faced.
"Is he tarnished? Not in my mind. I still respect him for his body of work. Plus, it's not my job to judge people for this or that."
The 11th-inning walkoff home run in Game 3 of the 2003 American League Division Series against the Oakland A's:
"Against Rich Harden. It was so awesome. I was fired up. Anyone in that situation is going to be so jacked up and swinging out of their mind. Harden was the kind of pitcher I wanted to face even though he had a nasty split. He threw hard. I knew I was probably going to see at least one good fastball. All of a sudden, I felt this calming effect when I got in the batter's box. I wasn't jittery at all. I saw the first pitch well and the next pitch I hit."
The winning single for the Cleveland Indians against the Red Sox in Game 2 of the 2007 AL Championship Series:
"Yeah, it was a game-winner, but in the end, we didn't come out on top. I had some close friends on that Red Sox team, but I developed some great relationships with some of the guys in Cleveland, too."
The Red Sox fans:
"Thanks to all the Red Sox fans out there. It means a lot to any athlete to be remembered that way. Thanks for '04. I miss ya. I may not show it, but it's pretty cool the way they remember you. I was in Portland and one guy had my old No. 7 jersey on and told me he skipped out of work. It really is a Nation."
