SEAN DOOLITTLE

Somehow BB-8 and Chewie are really funny without even speaking English.

If you can get kids excited about reading, maybe that can open up a whole other world for them.

There are some guys that can roll out of bed and they can throw 96 from the very first outing. I've just never been one of those guys.

I love my job, but it can be a little stressful at times. And reading has become a really healthy escape.

You know, I spent parts of six seasons in the minor leagues and I dealt with some injuries there, I saw a lot of things. I had the safety net of being a first-round pick, so I didn't maybe necessarily experience some of that hardship firsthand, but I watched it break a lot of guys. The strain that it puts on you and your family, it's really tough.

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.

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.

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

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.

In an All-Star game the players are having more fun than usual and showing their personalities more than usual. And there are guys in this game - I'm not one of them - who are historically good. First-ballot Hall of Famers.

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

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.

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.

I try to stay involved with veterans' issues. I work with some veterans charities.

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?

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.

Our union helps ensure that we earn fair pay and benefits.

At the end of the day, I'm a huge baseball fan. I love the game.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

One thing that bothers me is the way that people use veterans and troops almost as a shield. They say that's the reason they stand and that veterans deserve to be honored and respected during the anthem. But where is that outrage in taking better care of veterans?

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.