He was a big Mariner fan being from Anchorage, so he would come down, and we became friends. He definitely led us through a lot of groundwork early on. Anyone who is a minority of any kind, he has been a big inspiration for. Jackie Robinson is talked about all the time in major league clubhouses. About how all of us are beneficiaries of what he did, and how courageous he was.
Parents make the biggest difference.
They don't spend enough time with their kids, giving them confidence and morals. What happened in Colorado was ridiculous. For some reason everyone thinks of retirement as a sad day, but it was a celebration of his career. He overachieved during his career, and I was happy for him. Now he's being a GM in Puerto Rico.