Baseball wasn't necessarily my first sport in terms of liking it. I'd never played baseball or softball growing up.

I think any player, as a rookie coming into any sport, has to prove themselves.

I was a tomboy growing up, so I think I naturally take on a little male swagger.

I think pressure is good. Just watching my brother and my dad be professional athletes, I think pressure has driven them and has caused them to excel more.

The surface of American life looks smooth, prosperous, peaceful. But underneath, fault-line shifts in family and work life have led us into what some have called 'advanced insecurity.'

People know more about baseball players' contracts than they do about the policies that govern the fate of our children's lives in twenty years. Think about it. People used to say, the whole time I was growing up, 'Do you want to bring a child into this world?' That's pretty dire.

My mother and stepfather were in Vaudeville. And my stepfather was an alcoholic. It was a lot of roller coaster times. But it's all I knew. I think they did the best they could under the circumstances, with me and all the family.

I'm definitely the most tech-savvy in my family. My wife wouldn't have a clue, as far as getting the computer working. All of my kids, it's amazing. Like everybody's kids, they're more savvy than I am, probably.