Tommy Pham

It ain't like I had a dad out there to play catch with me or throw me batting practice. I'm proud of myself.

I enjoyed my time as a Ray. My teammates helped me open up and have fun as a professional.

I play baseball, but I'm still a fan.

I play this game to win. And I play this game to have success.

The guys that are really good in this game, they know how to put it together. And when you showcase it consistently, you get the great you.

I have a lot of ability. The key to this game is just putting it all together.

I said a lot of good things about Tampa, playing here and the team.

If you have a team that's going to be winning 90-plus games, competing in that division, and you don't have any fan support, then that's a huge problem.

St. Louis, they're one of the few teams to where day in and day out they have 40,000 fans at every game, and that's something that I miss.

It sucks going from playing in front of a great fan base to a team with really no fan base at all.

I remember throwing a ball against the wall playing catch with myself. Throwing a ball up hitting it. Throwing batting practice to myself.

I believed in myself from a young age.

I'm a tougher out.

I come from a background where my mom was getting evicted out of houses, getting her car repo-ed, stuff like that. She always had to work for stuff that people take for granted. I used to see her work so hard.

I want to be able to say at the end of my career that I gave everything I possibly could to be the best player I could possibly be for as long as I did it.

I'm not your typical baseball player.

I don't do Muay Thai, Kung Fu and box for no reason.

I'm a very good fighter.

The curse words, I have a problem with because that's not something you would say to me face to face. Where I'm from, in the state of Nevada, it's labeled as assault. Someone comes up to me, cursing at me like that, I could defend myself.

I'm a big dog in Vegas.

I just have to make sure that I am controlling the strike zone and my swing is on time so I give myself the best chance for having success.

My dad's been in prison my whole life. If I wanted to play catch, I had to play catch with a brick wall with a tennis ball. If I wanted to work on my hitting, I had to throw a whiffle ball up and hit by myself.

I help others when I'm in the lineup, whether I'm getting on base or if there's guys on base they have to pitch to me different.

I'm a high roller at many casinos. You can look at my credit line.

When you are looked upon to play every day, there's an element of consistency that your team looks for.

I've played in Venezuela, the Dominican. I've gotten booed there.

You know one thing about good pitching - you have to do your best job not making it easier for them.

I don't want to be an out where I feel like they can make a pitch and they can get me out or I chase pitches out of the zone.

I just want to be a tough out.

My production always said I belonged in the big leagues. I don't care what anyone said, the numbers backed it up.

You can say what you want about me, but this is a business. This is an industry based off production.

I won't sell myself short.

When I step on the field, I expect to produce. That's just my mindset.

I'm different. I'm different, man. I'm just trying to be the best player that I can be.

That's the name of the game: preventing runs and scoring runs.

If I'm faster, I'm going to catch more balls. If I catch more balls, I save more runs for the team.

When you start cursing at me, it's one thing. It's different from 'Pham sucks.' That's perfectly acceptable.

I play with intensity. That's just how I've always been.

I have very big plans for myself in this game.

It's good to make history, because you can't take that from me.

I'm just a hard worker.

I have a lot to prove.

I show up, and I work.

Strikeouts are part of the game.

St. Louis is a city where kids look up to you so much. Especially young black kids - when they see someone like myself, a black athlete, a black St. Louis Cardinal, that's something that they relish. I go to the community just to say what's up to them, bring some smiles to their faces.

It's a long season, and this is a game built for strong individuals.

It's definitely fun when you're winning and you're hitting home runs because it just makes you feel like you contributed that much more.

If I'm on base a guy might get a little bit more fastballs. Or if someone else is on base everyone knows I'm going to be a tough out - I get on base 40 percent of the time and that helps any lineup.