Anybody with ability can play in the big leagues. But to be able to trick people year in and year out the way I did, I think that was a much greater feat.

Hey, I think it's easy for guys to hit .300 and stay in the big leagues. Hit .200 and try to stick around as long as I did; I think it's a much greater accomplishment. That's hard.

Before broadcasting for 50-some years, I did TV, played 10 years in the big leagues, won a world championship - and played a big part in that, too, letting the Cardinals inject me with hepatitis. Takes a big man to do that.

You have to hit the fastball to play in the big leagues.

That was a very aha moment. It was, 'I'm in the big leagues.'

It was an important game for me. I think it proved I could be starter in the big leagues and it proved that I could compete at the big-league level on a consistent basis.