Each new day has a different shape to it. You just roll with it.
Ben Zobrist
For me, it's not so much about picking the right position; it's about the team.
At the end of the day, you can't control the results; you can only control your effort level and your focus.
I can tell there are times when my body's getting tired and I just need to take a day here or there and make sure I'm healthy.
You want to be comfortable, but it's also good to stay on your toes, especially in the midst of a long season.
I'm consistently making adjustments. You're going to have to do that in the postseason, too.
There have been nights I've stayed up late thinking about, 'What's wrong with my swing? What do I need to fix?'
Sometimes, you just feel like you're just surviving for parts of the season.
I did the utility thing at first out of necessity to find a place on the team.
I have family and friends who are strong Cardinal fans, and they are having a tough time since I signed. They want to root for me, but rooting for the Cubs is next to a sin.
Anytime you put your mind on the results, you lose something in the moment.
I'm not the most powerful. I'm not the fastest. I don't have the best arm. I don't have any of that, but put it all together and do the little details well, and you're going to be a very productive player.
I love second base.
I know what I need to do to prepare myself, and I try to do the best I can to take care of my body and prolong my peak years as a baseball player.
You are either good or you're not at whatever your job is. And it is more important that you understand the grace and love and peace you have in Christ, whether you are good or bad at whatever you are doing every day.
One of my best friends, James Miller, managed to find the only Cubs hat that is all red.
I still have a lot to learn about what the love of Christ is like - that it's not just knowledge... but it's allowing the truth to change you - allowing Christ's message of grace and hope and love through the cross, that that message is the message that changes the way we look at everything in our lives.
The best things happen when you're not overthinking it.
You don't get a chance to go to the playoffs and World Series very often, but to be able to experience it with the people you love most in the world is really fun.
I just try to be the player I am.
I love baseball history, and Wrigley Field is as good as it gets when it comes to that.
I can't take 200 hacks in the cage before the game. Not because I'll get tired, but because I'll hurt myself! I can't do that. I might get injured.
If you're free of mechanical thoughts and free of knowing that your body and bat are going to be in the right position at the right time, you can freely focus on the ball. It's a great feeling.
I might have a great game hitting, but if I'm not having a great game fielding, if I feel like I let a guy get an extra base that I could have stopped, that's something I've got to do better, got to get better at.
I grew up in Illinois.
Occasionally, you have to make adjustments and try different things.
I was so engrossed in my sport, I wasn't thinking about the future from God's standpoint. I was thinking about just my sporting future.
My favorite day is relaxing at home with family and friends.
When I left Tampa Bay, I felt like if my career ended at that point, I'd be okay.
There are different angles you have to work with as a hitter. Figuring out with my body what helps me get into those angles... is a constant discovery.
I'm just trying to create a working knowledge of my body. So it knows what to expect.
My dad used to do it when we were little, and I tried it when we played around in the back yard. Eventually, I got a bat and a real ball and played around to see if I could hit left-handed.
It's important to set a tone and get some momentum.
I want to try and get better in every facet of the game.
I've been back to the Kansas City area a lot in the past. My sisters went to college in the area. My brother went to college in the area. I've got friends there, so there's some ties to the area.
You just go through highs and lows as an individual payer and as a team.
I'm not the best athlete.
The one thing is the more I play second base, the more I can work on the intricate movements of that position.
The more I spend at one position, the more I can dive into those details.
We are perfect. According to God, we are perfect, yet we know that we are sinners. We believe in the fact that we are both saints and sinners at the same time as we live in this world.
I had a chance to choose a couple different places and, well, I grew up - I was a small-town kid from Illinois, so No. 1, just trying to win a championship for my home state.
Half the time, I have trouble following our own pitcher's sequence.
It was like a heavyweight fight, man. Just blow for blow, everybody playing their heart out. The Indians never gave up either, and I can't believe we're finally standing, after 108 years, finally able to hoist the trophy.
Like anybody else that goes and does their job, there's a way to do your job with excellence.
You want to represent Christ well with doing you job, first and foremost, because that's what you're there to do.
I never even thought about playing professionally. I didn't think that was a possibility for a little kid from Illinois.
It really comes down to God opening the doors for me, and I'm trying to walk through them doing the best I can.
I didn't ever realize that my ceiling would be this high, that I would be able to play at the major-league level. But here I am. I've been doing it for a while now, so it's certainly a blast. It's something that I want to cherish and make the most of.
I didn't realize the ceiling that I had, and I don't think a lot of players understand what they're capable of. Some of them dream of what they're capable of, but you don't really understand until you get in the moment and you give it everything you got and see in the end where you can end up.
As a ballplayer, there is no Christian way to swing a bat. There is no Christian way to swing or throw.
