Quotes from Sean Doolittle

People really respond when given an opportunity to take part in something.

An A's fan made me a Darth Vader helmet but painted in A's colors.

I feel like I've always believed what I believed. I've just become more vocal about it.

I just like showing people - and this might be at the root of everything that I've done - that I don't want to be looked at as a baseball robot.

You can't have an ego in the bullpen. At the end of the day, we're a group. We're only as good as the sum of our parts. Whatever you're called on to do that day, you've got to be willing to do it for the boys.

By the time I was in first grade, we had settled in New Jersey, and that's where I grew up, outside of Philadelphia, right in the heart of Eagles country.

To baseball players, our caps are sacred. We integrate our caps into our strange routines and superstitions, removing and replacing them on our heads with ritual precision so they sit just so.

If you're going to come to D.C. and it's your first time here, see the view from the bottom of the Washington Monument, looking out over the Reflecting Pool to the Lincoln. And see the Jefferson Memorial. It's so beautiful and such a part of the history of the city.

Maybe I'm biased because I'm a pitcher, but I think that's pretty cool that a guy can throw a ball 100 miles an hour.

I used to care a lot about what other people thought - like teammates.

I've pitched in a lot of different roles in my career. I've been the middle-inning guy. I've been a lefty matchup guy. I've closed. I've kind of done a little bit of everything.

When I was a kid, I remember my parents would say, 'Baseball is what you do, but that's not who you are' - like that might be my job, but that's not the end-all, be-all. I feel like I might even be able to use it to help other people or open some doors or explore more opportunities.

It feels weird to say there's more to me than that, like I'm being overdramatic, and a tear rolls down my cheek. But, no - I do like I feel like there's more to me than just baseball.

If you get mad at something that says 'Love Wins,' I don't know what to tell you.

The old thought process is that you have to respect the game - right? - and act like you've been there before. But I think you can also show how much you respect the game, how much you appreciate the opportunity to play the game and how excited you are to help your team by having fun.

A lot of these guys come to America and baseball was their ticket to give their family a better life... They're incredibly grateful for the opportunity to play this game.

I think it's important to realize that the players who are protesting aren't protesting the anthem. They're not protesting the flag. People kind of move the goalposts on them and try to tell them what they're protesting. But as they keep saying, that's not what they're protesting.

I think it's okay to have fun and show some character and some personality.

Union membership is not the sole guarantor of job security and a living wage, but nonunion factory workers do not enjoy the same protections as union workers. They're subject to exploitation, underpayment and lower standards of workplace safety - which is also often the case for manufacturing workers outside the United States.

When I was a kid, watching All-Star week on TV, the Home Run Derby was a highlight for me.

I don't like the idea of this team won a trade or that team did. I think it commodifies players in an unnecessary way. Let's just go win a World Series. How's that?

As a fan, Kirk Cousins has this very quiet, composed, confident demeanor that seems to be pretty even-keeled. We don't see him show a ton of emotion. I think that's part of what makes him successful, that he's able to not get too high or too low throughout the course of the game and he keeps his head down, keeps plugging away.

Not that it mattered. The people who were dead were still dead.

When I step onto the mound for the first time in a game, I remove my cap and look under the brim to read a message I write to myself with a Sharpie each season. It's a private reminder to stop and reflect on how lucky I am to play professional baseball.