They haven't given too many gamblers a second chances in the world of baseball.

Mr. Selig looked at me and said, 'I want to know one thing. Did you bet on baseball?' ... I looked him in the eye. 'Sir, my daddy taught me two things in life -- how to play baseball and how to take responsibility for my actions. I learned the first one pretty well. The other, I've had some trouble with. Yes, sir, I did bet on baseball.'

I had an addiction to play baseball.

Playing baseball for a living is like having a license to steal.

I should have had the opportunity to get help, but baseball had no fancy rehab for gamblers like they do for drug addicts, ... If I had admitted my guilt, it would have been the same as putting my head on the chopping block -- lifetime ban. Death penalty. I spent my entire life on the baseball fields of America, and I was not going to give up my profession without first seeing some hard evidence. ... Right or wrong, the punishment didn't fit the crime -- so I denied the crime.

I'd walk through hell in a gasoline suit to play baseball.