I love situations like that. That's why I play baseball, to try to come into big situations and come through. If there's any situation like that, I love it.

I had two strikes on me, so I was really just trying to put the ball in play somehow. I got the bat on it and was able to put it through the six hole. Luckily I got a pitch that I could handle.

Beside her, she can feel each breath he draws. How is it possible to be so close to a person and still not know what you are to each other? With baseball, it's simple. There's no mystery to what happens on the field because everything has a label -- full count, earned run, perfect game -- and there's a certain amount of comfort in this terminology. There's no room for confusion and Ryan wishes now that everything could be so straightforward. But then Nick pulls her closer, and she rests her head on his chest, and nothing seems more important that this right here.

I don't want that to happen again. I'd love to play in the World Baseball Classic. The only way I wouldn't play is if I felt something in my shoulder and body.

All I want to do is play baseball.

It was all I lived for, to play baseball.