Quotes from Billy Butler

I'm not here to be mediocre.

I'm just trying to go out there and play the game the right way and lead by example.

I want to be a guy the Royals build their team around.

If he wasn't so vital in my younger days, I would have never kept up with baseball. At some point, your dad has to motivate you until you actually realize what you're doing.

I definitely enjoy my barbecue.

It's just my job to prove I belong in there. I've been in the league a long time.

We were driving by the local athletic association in Orange Park, Florida, and there was this sign for T-ball signups. I was maybe 6 or 7, and my dad looked at me and said, 'Hey, do you wanna give this a try?'

I want the pitcher to know he can't take a pitch off, or I'm going to damage him.

Winning is definitely contagious.

When I turned 12 or 13 years old, even as a dad, you can't make a kid play anymore, but up until that point, he pushed me to keep playing, and when I turned 13, I didn't want to do anything else. He was just there with me at the cage every day because I wanted him to go with me and throw to me and work on what I needed to work on.

Being a major-league baseball player is tough, so whenever you say 'face of the franchise,' I'm not trying to be that.

The questions don't happen when you hit 30 homers, right? If you hit 30 home runs, you hit 40 doubles, I don't think anybody questions your conditioning or your offseason program.

Once you have come-from-behind wins, you have confidence as a team that you're going to do it.

You can't really explain why things happen.

There's always times when, the organization, we're losing 90 games at a time, and it always feels like we're developing players. But you just continue to grind and continue to do your job.

You have to work hard each day and try to figure out what's going on and try to get better each day.

I'll always be forever tied to the Royals organization and the community there.

I hit balls hard on the ground, and sometimes they are double plays. Other times, you hit it hard, and it's right through a hole.

I'm going to consistently hit anywhere between .290 and .310. Anything above that, I'm catching breaks and finding holes.

You're only as good as what you've been. You can't rely on the past.

That - 2012 - was definitely my best year, and sometimes it's hard to replicate that.

The best compliment you can give a hitter is he's a tough out; that initiates fear in a pitcher.

I offer a proven track record in the big leagues that can hit left-handers or right-handers.

My track record speaks for itself.