"I was 18 and played in a few spring training games with Detroit. I got lucky and got a few hits, so (then-Tiger manager) Sparky Anderson put the tag on me, saying here's the next Mickey Mantle or Kirk Gibson. Of course I believed it all, which only set me up for disappointment. You don't think you can do anything wrong when you're 20. When you're an All-American high school player, you think you're gonna stay at that level. I thought I'd stay as one of the best everywhere I went. I didn't know how hard I had to work to get better. You have to have the skills and the work ethic to become a major leaguer, but learning the subtleties of the game is the difference between winning and losing. The talent level in the big leagues is amazing. Emotionally, there's a lot of pressure. Until I came to grips with that pressure to perform and win, I didn't become a better player." - Rico Brogna in Christianiaty Today (Ron Mentus | May 1999)