Emotional Puma

Check out these quotes via LoHud:

“I told Andy (Pettitte) that several times over the past day and a half I’ve been about to burst into tears, literally,” Berkman said. “The emotion is incredible. I’ve never felt anything like it. It’s just weird. I’m thrilled to be here. This is a great opportunity… It can fluster you a little bit. I’m sure a couple of weeks from now it won’t be a big deal, but at first there’s a lot of emotions, and there’s a lot of things that go through my mind. I’m dealing with it, and I think it will be great. I’m still excited about everything and wouldn’t change it, but it’s been a tough couple of days emotionally.”

...

“I don’t think I’ve played a meaningful game in like three years,” he said last night. “I hate to put it like that, but you have to learn how to manage your emotions again. When we were going through our little playoff run there in Houston, I learned how to do it. You kind of have to be in the environment and realize it’s the same game, and kind of slow everything down. The tendency is for everything to speed up and be real nervous and be real excited. It takes a little bit of being in that environment to get used to it.”

I can understand his emotions. It can't be easy to leave the only place you've known in this game. But as soon as he mentions the word "fluster," I start to get a little nervous. He better get over that, and soon. Being flustered doesn't help you much when you're in New York.