I've always favored kids as a player. If I walked out of the locker room and there were 100 people there and 50 of them were kids, I'd sign the 50 kids before anything else. Chili Davis More Quotes by Chili Davis More Quotes From Chili Davis Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional. Chili Davis happy-birthday happiness love The toughest thing in hitting shouldn't be deciding when to swing. It is, for me, deciding when not to swing. You should be swinging from the time you get into the batter's box until something says don't swing. Chili Davis hitting boxes swings When you go to other parks, they hang banners for the wild-card or Eastern Division or Western Division champions. Around here, they don't hang anything unless its for being world champions. Chili Davis champion yankees world Professionalism is not sportsmanship. If you don't succeed, you won't be in your profession for long. In our society, it's not about good or bad. It's about who's on top. Chili Davis sportsmanship our-society long You fool around with different pitches playing catch, but it's not the same when you've got to face some guy with a bat in his hand. Chili Davis bats guy hands I don't think much about whether fans will remember me. Chili Davis fans remember thinking I think hitting is more a mentality than a philosophy. A philosophy is somebody telling you the way they think it should be. Well, different people believe in different things. My thing is this: Be ready to hit. Chili Davis philosophy believe thinking My dad gave me a haircut... and it wasn't a very good one. When I went out of the house, my friends got on my case and said it looked like someone put a chili bowl over my head and cut around it. Chili Davis dad cutting house You know, the other day I gave all of my old Angels gear to Goodwill...and Goodwill gave it back. Chili Davis yankees gears angel Individual statistics, plate time and everything tend to come, but the most enjoyment I get out of baseball is actually winning. Chili Davis statistics baseball winning I'm at the point in my career where to be a winner is more important than any individual things. Chili Davis winner careers important For me, I tend to sit back sometimes and just count my blessings because of how long I've played. Chili Davis blessing sometimes long I used to lead off when I was a rookie. I've always been able to bunt. Chili Davis rookies able used There are certain things I can't do, certain pitches I can't hit. You stay away from them. You try to wait for pitches you can hit. The bat speed isn't what it used to be. You make up for it by using your head, working counts, getting ahead in counts and getting pitches to hit and hitting them hard. Chili Davis bats waiting trying The first time I picked up a bat in a professional game, I hit a ball hard left-handed, and my first home run was so effortless, it surprised me. Chili Davis games home running You don't get old being stupid. Chili Davis being-stupid stupid I have always loved the Bay Area. I spent a lot of time in the Bay Area. I started my career there. That's a huge part of the excitement for me. Chili Davis bay-area excitement careers I've got a fastball, change-up, forkball, curve, slider, knuckle-slider, knuckle-curve, I had about seven pitches I could have used at any time. Chili Davis knuckles seven curves I've been on teams that lost a hundred games in a season. I've been on teams that had a shot to make the playoffs and fizzled out at the end. Chili Davis team games lost It's good to know you're working for someone you're familiar with, who's a friend and he has your back and you have his back also. Chili Davis familiar knows