He's that kind of guy. I knew this from playing against him. When he was in Kansas City, Oakland, you'd see him in All-Star Games, and he was a very respectful person. I'm excited about having him on our club.

I've always been happy playing in Kansas City.

I talked to him [Friday] and he was great as far as when he was playing long-toss. I feel better about him this year than I did last year. Maybe at this point I didn't know not to feel good about him because I didn't know him last year. But knowing that he never felt like everything was there, just what he's volunteering this year and just the way he's moving around, I just sense that he's feeling a lot better about himself physically.

When you set up your rotation and you have a guy like Randy Johnson, you certainly have a great deal of confidence. He just wasn't able to locate his pitches ... It just didn't get any easier for him.

I guess it kind of stemmed from my father. He was a union guy working for the meat plant down in Kansas City. He was a union guy, and I guess it was just in my blood.

If you're playing for the Kansas City Royals, ... about all you can do is beat your head against the wall.