Here is a great quote from Chapter 19 in Josh’s book, which I certainly hope (a) was true when he wrote it, and (b) he remembers when he considers signing somewhere else (the important part is in CAPS at the end):
“But at some point during the press conference (after he first came to the Rangers), I looked to the back of the room, past the reporters in their seats and the television cameras on their tripods, to see three people sitting in folding chairs. In street clothes, there were three of my new teammates - second baseman Ian Kinsler, shortstop Michael Young, and third baseman Hank Blalock.
These were the three faces of the franchise, leaders on the field and in the clubhouse. At some point, the reporters noticed them there as well, and one of them asked me a series of questions.
“Josh, how many of these press conferences would you say you have done?”
“A lot.”
“Have you ever had teammates show up to support you?”
I was a little confused by the question. I said, “No,” kind of hesitantly, because that was the truth. With the Reds, I gave a press conference much like this one during spring training and I followed it by giving one at the beginning of every series on the road, to allow the local reporters to all ask their questions and get stories before the first game.
With the Reds, none of my teammates had attended any of those sessions, but I never thought anything of it. I never expected them to sit there and listen to me tell my story for the millionth time.
And in this case, it never occurred to me that Ian, Michael, and Hank were there to support me. I just assumed they were having their own press conferences after mine, so when I saw them back there I figured they were waiting for me to hurry up and get it over with.
ONCE I HEARD THE QUESTION AND UNDERSTOOD WHY THEY WERE THERE, I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO SAY. I LOOKED AT THEM AND FELT TEARS WELLING UP. THIS WAS A TOUCHING MOMENT. I’D BECOME ACCUSTOMED TO BEING SOMEWHAT OF A LONER IN MY LIFE, SET APART BY THE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT FORCED ME TO SET MYSELF APART. BUT THIS FELT LIKE TOGETHERNESS. THIS FELT LIKE A TEAM. THESE GUYS WERE INTERESTED IN HEARING MY STORY SO THEY COULD BETTER UNDERSTAND WHAT I’VE GONE THROUGH AND THE BATTLE I STILL FIGHT. MORE THAN ANYTHING, I WAS HUMBLED BY THEIR PRESENCE.”