Somebody had asked me how it was to be in Atlanta, and I said that Atlanta had always been known as a Braves city, a baseball town.
I've enjoyed my time in the American League, the fans of Southern California and other friendships.
Also I'm a part of the people that I've worked with in baseball that have been so great to me, Mr. Earl Mann of Atlanta, who gave me my first baseball broadcasting job.
I've been lucky. I've met a lot of baseball people, and I've learned to value people who talk - people who talk well and in long sentences and even long paragraphs.
Baseball is this intense subculture that actually doesn't speak very much for the larger culture.
If all of us who love baseball and are doing our jobs, then those who get the game from us will be as proud to be a part of it as we were. And we are. This game is a gift, and I am humbled, very humbled, to accept its greatest honor.
My friends and family know I love playing baseball - Little League through college. And every year in the annual Congressional Baseball Game for charity played at Nationals Stadium.
Baseball is just a game, obviously, but it means a lot to a lot of different people.
I'm grateful that the Buck family, Major League Baseball, and the other Major League clubs have confidence in my ability to lead our franchise into the future.
I think people don't enjoy it as much as they used to. People say, 'Make baseball fun again.' Well, I'm trying.
We have an obligation to spread amateur baseball both at home and abroad. Building up the game at all levels - Little League, Babe Ruth Leagues, the colleges - is in our own self-interest. That's where the pool of talent is - and also of fans.
I realized that I still had a lot to offer the game. My knowledge could maybe help younger guys. I enjoyed being around the clubhouse, on the field.
It's always exciting that you can rub elbows with some of the greatest players who have ever played the game, and just being around the "family" again from baseball.
