Metslog’s Matthew Cerrone has posted an exceptional Q&A with Keith Hernandez today…and I’m sure I’m not alone in wondering just how much longer we’re gonna have to wait to read about Chris Cotter’s Turn On’s and Turn Off’s.

Matthew Cerrone:  I see a guy like Derek Jeter, and there are reports him going out and he lives the life of a 28-year-old guy, as he should, but he balances it. He is able to perform month in and month out and never let it get to him. And there are some players that you hear about who do the same thing, but they just can™t make that balance. Maybe they are going through something in their personal lives, who knows, but that off field starts to creep in.

Keith Hernandez: You can look at Tony Romo from Cowboys, right? He™s going to eat all that because of Jessica Simpson. I just told my wife that he is adding an extra element there and it makes a better story for the media if he looses.

Matthew Cerrone: Exactly. So, how do you clear your head and just focus on the game?

Keith Hernandez: Well, what™s most important? I mean, you can™t sit home. I never felt that you could go home and walk the straight line. You will have a nervous breakdown when you are trying to break in to the league. You have got to have some sort of diversion outside the game. It doesn™t mean that you are just chasing women. I think it™s a natural thing for men to go out with gals “ and vice versa. Most of these kids when they come up are in their twenties. They are not married. So, they are not going to stay home. For me, that™s the worst thing you can do. I am not saying, ˜Go out until 4:00 in the morning.™ But, the focus has always got to be on, it should be on, baseball¦You know, ˜I™m not here to get in to a Met uniform so that I can go out with 1500 girls,™ you know. Instead, my objective is to have a twenty-year career, a fifteen-year career. That™s always got to be the focus.

Matthew Cerrone: And that™s the mental end? Right? On the physical end¦Actually, Ron Darling was telling me how he thought Jose Reyes might have tried to steal too many bases, where his body was getting to a point where maybe it was breaking down¦

Keith Hernandez: Umm, how old is Jose by the way?

Matthew Cerrone: 24 years old.

Keith Hernandez: Lou Brock was 35 when he pulled 118 bases.