Dennis Haysbert. Francois Durand/Getty Images

Last week SI writer Richard Deitsch interviewed actor Dennis Haysbert (Major League, 24) for the magazine's Q&A. The 52-year-old actor plays a special forces operative on CBS's The Unit. Here are additional excerpts from their conversation.

SI: Like the Allstate ads, you should know you're in good hands with this SI.com interview.

Haysbert: Bless you.

SI: How much would Pedro Cerrano, your character in Major League, have commanded on the open market?

Haysbert: He could have gotten Big Papi numbers.

SI: O.J. Simpson is in the news again. A couple of years ago you said in an interview that a serious in-depth look at O.J. would be an interesting film. Has it ever gotten beyond just conceptual thinking?

Haysbert: No, because there is so much negative energy surrounding O.J. in the mind of the public that I don't think people would really be interested. Not now. But I think a young actor coming up in the next five or 10 years can do it. It's something I could produce. I think it would be more of an examination of how athletes are treated, brought up and recruited.

SI: How often are you recognized for the Cerrano role?

Haysbert: Every April, just before the Major League season is about to start, TV stations air Major League, which I think was the best and quite frankly the only one that should have been made (laughs). So every year a new crop of kids get to see it. I remember seeing the University of Miami baseball team in the airport last year and the team came up to me for autographs.

SI: You took your role as a ballplayer seriously, right?

Haysbert: I have always thought of myself as an athlete even at the ripe old age of 52. At the time of filming I was a good right fielder and I had a strong arm. Anybody rounding first had to be willing to pay the price because I could gun them down. The only reason I missed those curveballs was because it was in the script [laughs].

SI: It must have been a dream to play baseball and get paid for it?

Haysbert: When your rehearsal is playing long toss and going to batting practice, taking pitches from Steve Yeager, you have know idea how much fun that is. He used to get pissed when I hit home runs off him. Man, that was such a good time.