I'd have probably gone to Michigan. Only because one of my friends, Vada Murray, who passed away, went to Michigan and as a freshman and sophomore he was my big brother at Moeller.
Just because I made it look easy doesn't mean that it was and you don't work hard and become a Hall of Famer without working day in and day out.
I came up as a number 2 hitter. My first year I hit 16 homers, and I was like, Whoa, I'm rollin'!
I was just putting way too much pressure on myself. I was just trying to get that validation from my dad. It got so bad I remember my high school coach telling him not to show up to games.
My dad had a 'fro, and I didn't. So I wore his hat and it always hit me in the face, so I just turned it around and it just stuck. It wasn't like I was trying to be a tough guy or change the way that baseball is played. It was just that my dad wore a size 7 1/2, and I had a 6 1/4. It was just too big.
I've been swinging the same way since I was born. It's always worked.
