My only problem is the fear that opposition bowlers might go for my fingers and that's why I was scared of the short ball. Now I am struggling with the ball pitching up and swinging away. I just keep nicking that one.

I don't think I'll ever feel as famous or as popular as I felt when I was a 17-year-old soccer player in Modle. Only about 20 000 people live there and 12 000 of them come to every game. Running onto the pitch each week was just the most fantastic feeling. Nothing can beat that.

You ask any moviemaker what their favorite movie experience was and they'll say it was one of the first ones where everyone had to pitch in and do everything together and you had to struggle.

I developed a mechanism so that whatever mistakes I made I would bounce straight back. Whatever was happening off the pitch I could put it to one side and maintain my form. Call it mental resilience or a strong mind but that is what we mean when we talk about experience in a football team.

When I was four years old my mother put me into a school for early music education where you get perfect pitch and harmony and composition.

Before I pitch any game from spring training to Game 7 of the World Series I'm scared to death.

I can't remember a major league game where I could make eye contact with my dad. I kept wondering if he was going to yell at me for hanging a pitch or something.

All this stuff is so mind-blowing to me that I get to do in my life. Throwing the first pitch out at the White Sox game on a random Wednesday? Like who am I? How did I get this life? I'm glad I'm not jaded and little kids are the least jaded people in the entire world so it's fun to be around people that still find wonder in how cool things are.

I'm constantly pitching one episode where we see life through Castle's eyes. I think Castle's just a little off as far as his perception goes. A very very clever man but I want to see the world as Castle sees it - kind of a rose-colored glasses all the women find him irresistible all the guys find him super cool and do whatever he says.

I'm very proud of my love for Whitney Houston. She really changed my life. She made my life a better life. She was so beautiful in her love for God her love for her family and her love for music. She truly loved her music. She could do everything! She had flawless rhythm flawless pitch flawless feeling and flawless beauty.