Tim Hudson/braves Pitcher

ON BEING TRADED TO ATLANTA AFTER SIX YEARS WITH THE A'S My wife, Kim, and I loved Oakland so much: the relationships we built with teammates, with fans. I had a pretty hard time with the trade the first few days. Kim had a really hard time. All the wives were calling her and crying, she was crying. But Atlanta was the one place that, if I was going to get traded, I would be happiest. It makes the transition a little easier. [ Hudson grew up in Alabama, near the Georgia border, and was a Braves fan.]

ON WHAT HE'LL MISS MOST The camaraderie, the joking around. The players were like little kids, always into toys. One year we had remote-control cars, and everybody got to the park early to drive them around the field. Guys played [the combat video game] Halo, guys played guitars. Last year we'd get to the clubhouse and have a big Texas hold 'em tournament.

ON OAKLAND G.M. BILLY BEANE'S OFF-SEASON TRADES OF HIM AND LEFTHANDER MARK MULDER He's taken a lot of heat, but he's made the right decisions for the future of the organization. He's brought in good, young talent, and in the long term [the A's] will probably be better off, if you look at their finances. The guys in those trades could be studs, and who knows, me and Mulder could be washed up. I always wondered if Billy knew something I didn't.

ON BEING JOHN SMOLTZ'S TEAMMATE I grew up a huge fan of his, so it's weird. I'd never met him. I don't know what to call him. Sir? Mr. Smoltz?

ON HIS HOMETOWN, SALEM, ALA. There's one four-way stop sign in the middle of town. I grew up in the country on five acres of land. [ Hudson's father, Ronnie, was a supervisor at a factory that made cereal boxes.] Me and kids from the neighborhood, we were always out in the woods or riding bicycles or playing baseball. Not a lot of trouble to get into. We played baseball in a cow pasture.

ON HIS WIFE, KIM, WHOM HE MET AT AUBURN, WHERE HE WAS AN ALL-SEC OUTFIELDER AND PITCHER We sat beside each other in a class, World History 101. She's really smart, made straight A's. She was the notetaker while I was busy goofing off.

ON KIM'S LAW CAREER (SHE PASSED THE BAR IN ALABAMA) She's my subagent. I have my agent, and she checks my agent out, makes sure he's on top of things. She's sharp. I hope our kids get her brains and my athletic ability.

ON HIS DECLINING STRIKEOUT RATE When I first came up, like any young pitcher, I loved strikeouts. It shows dominance. Everybody wants to be Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson. I've learned that I've got a great sinker, I get a lot of ground balls, and it's easy to get a ground ball double play. I've matured as a pitcher. I understand what my strengths are.

ON FORMER A'S TEAMMATE JASON GIAMBI He's one of the best guys, one of the best teammates I've ever been around. I feel sorry for him as a person because I don't want him to get dragged through a lot of mud. He has to understand that he's a great player, with or without steroids.

ON BARRY BONDS Barry is probably the best hitter in the history of the game, and I don't think he needs steroids to put up those numbers.