Q: A lot has been made about the Mets signing you instead of Nelson Cruz. What would you say to Mets fans?
A: All I can do as a player is do the best that I can, and that’s the only thing that I can focus on. If I start focusing on what other players are out there, what other teams did, things like that can drive yourself crazy. There’s a lot of great players out there. Everybody gets different contracts and different opportunities with different teams, and as a player all you can do is go with whatever situation you feel is best for you, and that’s what I did. I’m excited to be here as a Met, and I’m gonna do everything that I can to the best of my abilities to help this team win.
Q: What do you think of general manager Sandy Alderson’s 90-win goal?
A: I believe the sky is the limit. Before the season starts, you have no clue what can happen. And, honestly, there’s no team that should go into the season saying that they should be a losing ballclub. I mean, everybody should believe in their teammates and believe in the group that you’re going out there and going to war with. I believe in my teammates, I believe in myself, and there’s no reason that I don’t think that we can’t win any amount of ballgames. The goal is to win the division, and I think that’s the goal going into every season no matter what team you’re with. And until something changes, that has to always be your plan and your approach going into the year.
Q: What do you think of playing in the New York market?
A: I’ve always been a guy — whether a big-game moment, any kind of pressure situation in a game — I want to be that guy. I feel like playing in a New York-style market, kinda puts you in that mental state all the time, that you feel like every game’s a big game. … For some reason, I think you get a little bit of a different adrenaline flow when a little more pressure is on you, and people have high expectations for you, and at the same time you have high expectations for yourself. And there’s no better place to shine than in a place like New York. I feel like I’m a small-town person coming to a big city, even though Houston (chuckle) is the fourth-, fifth-largest city in the U.S. I’ve been looking forward to something like this.
Q: Tell Mets fans what kind of a player they’ll be watching.
A: I feel like from watching me play, you’ll know that the work is being put in, and hopefully that translates with the production, and I feel like it will. And if everything goes well, I hope to be a player that the fans love. I’m a fan of the sport as well, I’m a fan of all sports. When I watch games, when I watch basketball games, you can see players who care, you can see players who put it all out there, you can see players who are really trying to improve on their stuff. And you can see players who are slacking. You can see a player who doesn’t hustle, you can see a player who’s extremely selfish, you can see all those things just from watching a player play day in, day out, and I don’t want to have any of those qualities when somebody watches me play. When somebody watches me play, I want them to say, “Now this guy really wants to win. This guy’s No. 1 goal is winning, and he’s doing everything out there on the field that he can do to help his team win the ball game.” And if that is what they see, I would think they will love me.
Q: Can you be a 30-home run, 25-stolen base guy again?
A: I believe so. I’ve hit 20-odd home runs [four] times in my career, and sometimes you’re just a hot streak away from getting up to that 30 mark again. I don’t see any reason why it’s not possible for me to hit 30 home runs, but I’m not setting a goal of 30 home runs in my head, because then in turn you start to think about home runs, and sometimes you’ll get frustrated a little bit. My approach this year is gonna be a lot more basehit-oriented, and line drive-oriented, and normally, when I have that approach, I actually hit more home runs in turn. Because my home run power has never been a high, deep flyball home run off the bat, it’s always been a low- or mid-line drive that happens to sneak out of the ballpark. I’m not clearing stadiums with my home runs, but if I able to keep my path and my approach consistent, I’m not gonna say that it’s not possible. But I’m not gonna say that I’m going for it either.
Q: Describe your offseason talk with Rod Carew.
A: When you talk to great hitters, you still have to find a way to apply it to your game. I’m not gonna be a Rod Carew — but not too many people can be a Rod Carew or Tony Gwynn, guys like that. But what you can do is kinda listen to their approach and the type of things that they thought about while hitting, and in turn apply it to your swing.
Q: How would you feel about opening in right field?
A: I’d be the best right fielder that I could be. That’s all it really comes down to. When you’re out there, nobody cares about your feelings, and how you feel about this situation, how you feel about that situation. All that matters is when the game starts, that your teammates know that you have their back no matter where you’re at, and that’s something that I’ve always taken pride in. It’s something that I’m always gonna stick to, is that when I’m out there competing, that’s exactly what I’m gonna do, I’m not gonna let anything mentally break me down. I have a lot of confidence in my ability in center field. As a player on the professional level, you have to find a way to get that same feel in a different position. No matter where it is, if you’re gonna be out there, you want to represent yourself and your team well, so you need to take pride in it, and try to be great at it. So that’s the kind of mentality that I would take into it if that were to happen.
Q: Have you always been a center fielder?
A: Ever since I was probably about 10 years old. I remember the day, I was in Little League — I was a shortstop — and my coach told me to leave shortstop and go to center field, and I cried and I cried and I cried. I did not want to go to the outfield for anything. I saw him a few years ago, and I told him he probably made the right decision by moving me (chuckle) to the outfield. I definitely don’t have shortstop hands.
Q: Describe David Wright.
A: He’s basically everything and more from what you hear about him. Having been here over 10 years, he’s always been a guy when you think about the New York Mets, the first person you think about is David Wright. He’s always been the face of the organization. I kinda put him on the same level as a Derek Jeter for the Yankees. He always carries himself with class. … It’s real easy to get caught up in things here and there, and he’s always been able to keep his same image off the field. But in the clubhouse, I think he’s more of a leader by example, just from what I’ve experienced right now. He’s a pretty talkative guy, he likes to joke around a lot and talk a little bit of trash when he gets a chance, but when it comes to taking care of his business, he’s one of the first ones there. And he carries himself in a way, especially with younger guys, that you want to follow what he’s doing and watch the way he goes about his business and take notes pretty much.
Q: Curtis Granderson.
A: Educated guy, well-spoken, carries himself with the same type of class that I was saying about David Wright. I’m in the cage with him every day, he’s my workout partner, talk to him to see first-hand the way that he does things, and I think it’s helped me out a lot as well.
Q: Travis d’Arnaud.
A: He’s in my hitting group, so I’ve gotten to know him just as much as anybody else. And the one thing that I’ve noticed about him was the first conversation that he and I had — it was the first or second day of camp — and it was me congratulating him, and the first thing he said to me was, “Yeah we just gotta keep going. We just gotta keep getting better, make it to the playoffs.” He completely removed himself from the compliment that I was trying to give him, and put his attention right on the team. And, from a catcher, that’s a real fine leadership quality, and I thought that was impressive for, especially a young guy, to not be so focused on himself, and his only focus is winning.
Q: How about his bat?
A: He has a really easy stroke, amazing hands, and the ball absolutely jumps off of his bat. We have a little hitting competition every day, and try to put a little pressure on each other, kinda put ourself in game mode, and he’s been handling it well, and letting me know that pressure doesn’t get to him at all.
Q: Terry Collins.
A: He’s extremely vocal, which is something that I like from a manager. It’s something that helps you feel comfortable as a player, that you have a manager that you feel like you can go into his office at any time if you need to and not be intimidated, and understand that he’s there to help you be the best that you can be because he wants the team to win.
Q: What was his opening address like?
A: I thought it was amazing. We’re in New York, and people expect to win. That’s what everybody’s goal is, and that’s the mentality we have to have going into the season.
Q: What did you think of Derek Jeter announcing his retirement?
A: He’s a guy that you look up to as a player. Not just for the numbers and what he accomplished on the field, but just the way that he carried himself throughout probably his entire life, but definitely for the past 20 years. He’s really set an example that I feel like is gonna stick for 100 years. I feel like people are gonna go back to talk about Jeter and try to mold themselves to carry themselves and learn a lot about character from watching the way that he ran his career, in a city like New York.
Q: Describe your Game 2 home run off Ted Lilly in the Diamondbacks’ 2007 NLDS sweep of the Cubs.
A: That was probably my most memorable moment, just because of Lilly’s reaction [after the three-run shot in the second inning] … and it was my first playoff experience as well, and to be able to do something on a big stage like that, it’s something that sticks with me. So I always treat myself to that moment when I’m in a big-game situation, ’cause it kinda reminds me that if I did it then, I could definitely do it now. I can’t get any more amped-up than I was in that situation, so I’ve learned to kinda thrive for those moments and calm myself down and try to lock myself in when I’m in big-time situations like that.
Q: You have five career walk-off home runs.
A: It’s weird, I’ve never had like a walkoff base hit. I don’t know why it is (chuckle) when I get in that situation, I don’t know if it’s all-or-nothing or what, but when I get in those situations, it’s like you just want to take control as much as you can of the situation and pick the team up, and I’ve been able to do it quite a few times in my short career.
Q: You were the first rookie to hit 30 home runs (32) and steal 25 bases (27) in 2007. Did you think the game was going to be that easy?
A: No, I was just out there having fun. I didn’t think about the numbers, I don’t remember thinking one time in the season how many home runs do I have, how many home runs am I gonna finish up with? And next thing you know, I looked up at the end of the season, and all the numbers were there. … I kinda wish I would have looked at it a little bit throughout the year ’cause I would have seen I had 27 stolen bases and I’d have tried to make a push for those three extra bags just to become part of the [30-30] Club. But all in all, it was a great season for me, and it was a season that gave me the confidence to know that I could compete at this level.
Q: Describe the 2010 All-Star game.
A: That was amazing. I couldn’t have any more fun than I had with the whole experience, being able to be in the Home Run Derby, playing in the All-Star Game, catching the final out to get the NL the first win in so many years. … It was a great experience for me, and my family. It was a time that all my hard work had paid off for me, and I was able to bring my family out with me and kinda everybody enjoy the moment together.
Q: Whose autograph did you get?
A: I didn’t walk up to any one person, I kinda just went the group route, and every player from a team signed different items. The autographs I like getting nowadays are pretty much the old-school guys that don’t play anymore. I want to get a Hank Aaron autograph. … I got Griffey, I got Willie Mays.
Q: The low point that tested your belief in yourself?
A: When you’re not playing … when I was in a position to where I wasn’t able to contribute other than moral support — whether that be because I wasn’t in the lineup [2013] or in 2012 where I was injured to the point to where I couldn’t play. That [was] my first time ever being on the disabled list, in seven years … so to have to sit out for [one month] and not be able to contribute, and all you can do is pretty much cheer from the sidelines, that was probably the toughest time for me.
Q: You injured your shoulder crashing into the wall.
A: I hit like [.400]-something in the spring and then came out the first two or three weeks of the season and I was hitting in the .400s as well. Everything was clicking on all cylinders for me. I’ve gone after the same ball a hundred times before, but it was a ball hit to the wall and I’m going after it, and I just timed my jump, just had my timing off just a little bit, to where I came down wrong [suffering a right shoulder contusion]. And as soon as I hit the wall I knew something was wrong, and it was weird hearing the doctor tell you that you’re gonna be out for a little bit when I had never heard that before at the major league level. And then coming back and trying to find everything that I was doing beforehand before the injury, trying to find it all back at one time, and then the next thing I know, I was in and out of the lineup and not being able to find that groove again. That was probably the toughest time for me. I know quite a few players that can be out of the lineup for five days, and come in for a pinch-hit at-bat and feel like they never left the box. I’ve normally been a guy that stays in there, and is able to find that feel, and when I find that feel, I can get extremely hot and really help the squad out.
Q: You were drafted in the 16th round by the White Sox in 2001.
A: It was a dream come true for me. I was a guy, I didn’t get too much exposure in high school … didn’t really start every day until my senior year. I went to a school [Bellaire High in Texas] that was widely known for baseball, we were No. 1 in the nation. But the White Sox believed in me, and the plan initially was, I was thinking around the fourth round or so, that’s what they were thinking. And then, two days or three days before the draft, I ended up breaking my [left] arm, and I thought that was gonna be the end of baseball pretty much, from the way the doctor was saying he didn’t know how it was gonna heal, and going back and forth with that, I didn’t think I would get drafted at all because of my injury.
Q: How did you break your arm?
A: We were actually playing James Loney’s high school team, and James Loney hit a line drive to left center field. And I was going to get it, and I dove, and the left fielder didn’t peel off. Ended up colliding with the left fielder and breaking my arm in half. I thought I was done. I still give Loney [a hard time] about it. He almost messed my entire career up. I probably wouldn’t have never forgave him if I turned out to be a person to talk about what I coulda, shoulda and woulda done (chuckle), if I would have never got hurt.
Q: Didn’t you dream about becoming a doctor?
A: That’s what I thought I was gonna be. I wanted to be in sports medicine. If I didn’t feel like things were working out, I would still have been young enough to go and pursue my other dream.
Q: Athletes in other sports you admire?
A: LeBron [James]and Kobe [Bryant].
Q: You have an English bulldog, Prince.
A: He’ll be with me all season.
Q: Three dinner guests?
A: Will Smith, Muhammad Ali, Sean Combs.
Q: Favorite movie?
A: “Coming to America.”
Q: Favorite actor?
A: Will Smith.
Q: Favorite actress?
A: Angelina Jolie.
Q: Favorite singer/entertainer?
A: Beyonce.
Q: Favorite meal?
A: Pepperoni and bacon pizza.