Diamond Quotes

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1:18-25

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.’ Jeremiah 29, 13-14

“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room on Earth.” “If your mind can believe it, you can achieve it.” Muhammed Ali

“I have always been determined to never compromise my faith or my principles. I always relied on my God-given talent when I took the field. So the idea of using PED’s to enhance my performance was a line I chose not to cross.” Tim Salmon

“How great is our God who not only pursues us, but transforms us as well. This is not to say that Christians are perfect, or have it all figured out, or don’t struggle. But we know that our flaws and shortcomings do not hinder the work God is doing. It is a process, a journey that we are on for the rest of our lives and all we really have to do, is give it up to God and surely we can do all things through Him.” Heath Bell 

“Paul wrote about faith and perseverance and hard work overcoming  adversity, and he didn’t worry about why things had gone against him.  The more I read, the more I realized the one thing that I was to do  during a tough spell, a long slump, a “jinx”: Press on, look forward,  trust the One who truly controls my life.” Gary Carter

“God does not show favor in who wins or loses a ballgame. However, he does have delight in those who honor him during their successes and their failures, on and off the playing field.” Anonymous

“God has taken me a lot of places. Plenty of teams and Japan for a while too. I believe that he was preparing me for this moment and this opportunity. His plan is always better than ours, I give Him all the glory and I am only in this position because of Him.” Ryan Voglesong, following NLCS Game 6

I don’t want to cower at somebody’s interpretation of what I’m about. I’m supposed to be doing it and I’m going to throw this word out there-with excellence. There’s no reason for me to give anything less that all I’ve got in everything I do. That’s scriptural. For me, that’s the foundation of who I am.” Mike Matheny

“When you become a Christian, you learn to lean on Jesus, and now I don’t see how people go through life without him. I’m not legalistic in that. I don’t feel like I can perform for God and adhere to a bunch of rules for God to love me. But Jesus has become my best Friend. I talk to him like that. When I approach God, I call Him “Daddy” like it says we can do in Romans. And that kind of relationship soothes you when things don’t go the way you want them. That’s basically what has helped me get through my crazy career.” Paul Byrd

 In the Dominican Republic, when you’re a baseball player, you’re almost a god. People were telling me, “You’re young. You should be having fun. You might be a millionaire. You don’t need God.” I told them they were wrong. There is more to life than being rich and famous. Baseball stays here. It’s important to me, but I have my priorities. God is first! Matthew 6:33 – Aumary Telemaco

“In 2003 while in Albuquerque I gave my life to Christ for the first time. My wife already a believer gave her life to Christ at the same time as well. Since that day my thoughts, and actions have taken a complete turnaround. In-turn my life has been saved thanks to promises of love and salvation I’m promised by God. I now have a purpose and goal in life and that is to be next to my father, Lord and Savior when my day of judgement comes. I want to be a diciple of Christ and and follow his teachings as well as draw others to follow and dedicate their life to Jesus Christ. Everyday is a new challenge and opportunity to make a difference. Life, baseball and everything is God given and if not for him we wouldn’t be here.” Adrian Gonzalez

God brought me to Himself at about the age of 4. My parents were devout believers and my Dad was in Bible College at the time. I remember hearing the gospel in Sunday School and I talked to my Mom about it one night before bed. It was clear to me that I was a sinner and I was not going to heaven if I died without accepting Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross for me. I was brought to Christ out of fear of going to hell. I didn’t want to go there if I died and there was only one other choice in my mind as a 4 year old. I wanted to go to heaven. It was and is that simple.” Ben Zobrist

“My faith has given me a much different perspective about life. Baseball is not the most important thing in my life. I give baseball to God and I do the best job I can, so as to please Him and serve Him in my play. I’m not real emotional on the field, and some people take that as meaning that I don’t care. I care a great deal about the way that I play, but I realize that God is in control. All He expects out of me is that I do the best I am capable of every time I am on the field.” John Olerud

I need to depend on Someone who is bigger, stronger and wiser than I am. I don’t do it on my own. God is my strength. He gave me a good body and some talent and the freedom to develop it. He helps me when things go wrong. He forgives me when I fall on my face. He lights the way.” Hank Aaron 

“It gives me great peace to know that no matter how good or how bad I do, the Lord loves me. That’s all that really matters to me. Baseball isn’t what everything is about. It’s about the way I’m being a Christian husband, a Christian father, or the way I’m living my life and trying to be a Christian testimony to people.” Andy Pettitte

 “Living the Christian life is also challenging but for different reasons. The same desire to do well exists – to live a consistent life that honors and pleases the Lord. The big difference is that God isn’t evaluating my actions and basing His love on how well I ‘perform’. His love for me is unconditional. Even when I mess up He doesn’t threaten to trade me off His team.” Lance Berkman

 This is our platform, our place to speak our faith and live our faith. This is a special gift from God, to play baseball, and if we can spread God’s word by doing that, then we’ve almost fulfilled our calling.Mike Timlin

“I’m still going to go out and give it all I’ve got. I just don’t play for the records or the popularity anymore. I play for no one other than the Lord now, and when you play only for Him it really removes the pressure you once had. You can go out and have fun and work hard.” John Smoltz 

 “I loved playing baseball but nothing in the world is more important to me than helping people understand what people did for them. Other than spending time with kids, and doing some coaching, this (public speaking) is what I do now. I’ve been able to go all over the world, sharing my faith, and it’s been a blessing for me.” Sid Bream

Honestly, I thought I was going to lose it when I started talking about playing for the jersey, That’s something I hope more people can take pride in, wearing a jersey. For some people it’s just a jersey. For me it was my life.” John Smoltz

“For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4:8

There’s the pressure of being a father, a family man, raising children. I mentioned my faith in an interview once, and a couple weeks later, received a letter from a person who was thankful for what I said, and told me I was a role model for her children. We all need the pressure of being good role models, of setting a good example. I would hope other people would set a good example for my children as well. But sometimes, the pressure is overwhelming. That’s when I rely on God. I’ve learned that every time I’m done, when I seem to have no one to turn to, God is always there. I pick up the Bible and find direction and focus, and hope, when I thought there was none, or at least when I had lost sight of it.” Dante Bichette

“We are God’s children. He has a love so great for us that nothing could ever compare to it. With His love He has created a path for us embraced in righteousness. We cannot earn his righteousness, but we do not have to because our Father in heaven has given it to us. The Lord wants us to do our best to live and love for Him each day.” Todd Hollandsworth 

On April 3, 1999 I made my major league debut with the Chicago White Sox. It was an incredible feeling as I walked to home plate for my first at bat. That was a very special day in my life but really doesn’t compare with what happened to me on January 16, 1991. That was the day I came to understand that God loved me and had a plan for my life. He wanted to forgive me and cleanse me from a life of sin and make me into the man He created me to be. Since that day, I have been enjoying an intimate relationship with the One who hung the moon and the stars. With Christ my life is complete.” Chris Singleton

God doesn’t promise us that our lives will be without obstacles. God’s promise is that He will always be with us, strengthen us in His love, and help us to share that love with one another.” Sean Casey

In 1988 I recognized that I could never be good enough to earn my way into heaven and that Jesus paid the price for my sins when He died on the cross. The Bible says, “it is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man” (Psalm 188:8). Jesus came to make a way for us to be right with God because our sin separates us from Him. The decision I made to place my trust in Jesus Christ for the payment of my sins was greater than anything I could ever experience in baseball because with Christ I have the promise of eternal life.” Kevin Millwood

“You win a few, you lose a few. Some get rained out. But you got to dress for all of them.” Satchel Paige

“Easter is a time to rejoice, be thankful, be assured that all is forgiven so life extends beyond the soil of earth.” Byron Pulsifer

“And if any one takes part in an athletic contest, he gets no prize unless he obeys the rules.” 2 Timothy 2:5

“When we have an understanding that the Lord is all powerful, then we know that we need to trust Him each and every day. This understanding allows us to lay our worries in the Lord’s hands. In return, we can focus everything that we do into glorifying Jesus.” Tim Salmon

“The Lord’s love for us is never-ending. He wants us to be happy and to have the desires of our heart. When we surrender our wants to the Lord, He will provide us with everything we need. His desires will become our desires, and we will desire to please the Lord.” Brett Carroll 

Said about Albert Pujols – “He is a man of few words, but if you want to get him talking, just ask him about baseball or about his faith.”

 “Catching is a grueling position. My knees will tell you that. I’ve had nine knee surgeries. I’ve had a couple of broken thumbs, one on each hand. I can look back at it and say it’s worth it to be enshrined in Cooperstown. I don’t have any pain in my knees right now.” Gary Carter

 “It’s amazing how God works and how He weaves our lives together and, if we are patient and wait, how God keeps stringing His picture together.” Todd Worrell

 “The World and Satan want us to live in fear-fear of what this person says, fear of what that person says, fear of what might happen, fear of what if we are found out. We are constantly bombarded by fear, and we live in bondange to it.” Greg McMichael 

“Nothing is as important as serving God daily. When He puts something on your heart, you may want to say no but you’d better get to yes in a hurry.” Steve Foster 

 “I don’t live life for myself anymore. Everything I hopefully try to do has an eternal value to it. I am not thinking about myself anymore but thinking about others and how to impact the Kingdom.” Eddie Taubensee

 “God should be my treasure and my heart should be there. Everything I am doing should be for Him, not for self-righteousness.” Landon Powell

“The biggest blessing we can ever have is to know Jesus and to know this life is not for us even though we are here. We are here for God’s glory. I am thankful he chose me and I know my sins are forgiven.” Stephen Drew  

The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all people. Today in the town of Bethlehem, a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” Luke 2:10-12

 “When I was a boy growing up in Kansas, a friend of mine and I went fishing, and as we sat there in the warmth of a summer afternoon we talked what we wanted to do when we grew up. I told him I wanted to be a major league baseball player, a genuine professional like Honus Wagner. My friend said he’d like to be the President of the United States. Neither of us got our wish.” -President Dwight D. Eisenhower 

“My goal on Earth is not to win a World Series or be the best baseball player who ever lived. That simply is not up to me because I have to wait and see if it is part of the Lord’s plan. My goal is to follow the Lord and what he wants me to do so that someday I may enter His kingdom and receive everlasting life.” David Murphy

“The saddest day of the year is the day baseball season ends.” Connie Mack

 “We’re out here trying to be the best baseball players we can be, but at the same time, there are so many more ways we can reach out to people. We can touch them on different levels. Maybe it’s the way we carry ourselves and the way we go about our business off the field. God has given me the ability to go out and play the game of baseball, but anything that anybody does, anything that lets their talent shine, is through Him. You were given that ability for a reason. That’s one thing that helps me keep my head on my shoulders. It’s good to be respected on the baseball field, but when all is said and done, it’s really about who you are on inside, and what’s important to you.” Chris Davis

 “If anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules. The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.” Timothy 2:5-7

When I met my wife Julie and married her, I renewed my commitment to Christ. I got baptized during spring training in 2004. That was a big moment for me. I attend Baseball Chapel every Sunday. That was even before I got baptized. I made a lot of strides to better myself. The tough part in baseball is the cussing and watching your language. That was always a problem with me. That’s one of the reasons I didn’t get baptized for a while because I felt that was a contradiction with being a Christian.” Jack Wilson

 I came to find out that the less time I spend with God, the more struggles I have. When I’m playing baseball, away from my comfort zone, I find it easier to spend time with Him. As a player, I kind of let people see who I am, what I believe in, by the way I live and my actions. I live and play for Jesus Christ. Hopefully that will show.” Jake Westbrook

 Ultimately, our lives hinge on the ability to make right choices and decisions. By God’s grace, I made the most important decision a person can ever make. I invited Jesus Christ to be Lord of my life and made a commitment to follow Him. God offers each of us the free gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus by “confessing with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believing in your heart that God raised him from the dead” (Romans 10:9). It is a wonderful and peaceful feeling to serve a God who loves me and cares about every detail of my life.” R.A. Dickey

In 2003 while in Albuquerque I gave my life to Christ for the first time. My wife already a believer gave her life to Christ at the same time as well. Since that day my thoughts, and actions have taken a complete turnaround. In-turn, my life has been saved thanks to promises of love and salvation I’m promised by God. I now have a purpose and goal in life and that is to be next to my father, Lord and Savior when my day of judgement comes. I want to be a disciple of Christ and and follow his teachings as well as draw others to follow and dedicate their life to Jesus Christ. Everyday is a new challenge and opportunity to make a difference. Life, baseball and everything is God given and if not for him we wouldn’t be here.” Adrian Gonzalez

 “There are several things that keep me grounded and focused…When you can humble yourself to say ’I’m no more important than anyone else.  I just have a gift.’” Tim Tebow

I didn’t know how much of an advantage it was to make that change my junior year to love Jesus until that point in my life when I began my pro career. Being on my own was like a right hook to the face. The things I saw, the things that were expected of me, the things that it took to live in the world as a professional man. The challenges were too great for me to handle on my own, I needed someone to lean on, someone to give me the strength that I didn’t have. That was Jesus, that was my savior and that is who I love deeply.” Jeremy Affeldt

 We play a game where, if you do well 30 percent of the time, you’re really good. And through that, you certainly learn about yourself and handling failure, and hopefully you learn how to treat people respectfully even when things aren’t going your way.” Chris Burke

 On January 27, 2001, the focus of my career and the process of changing the desires of my heart all began. It was no longer about me but rather how I could impact others for the Kingdom. I officially was in the people business. That philosophy, combined with a warrior mentality, I believe, has endeared me to being labeled a positive clubhouse influence.” Tony Clark

In college, I got to a point where I started realizing that it wasn’t about me. I had been out there doing it for me, but it was supposed to be for God. At that point, I started praying before practice and saying, ‘Just make this practice the best practice You can and help me develop relationships with people. When you start going into sports with that attitude, you stop thinking about your personal gains. You really focus on your relationships, and, when it’s done, you can look back and say, ‘Wow, I was really blessed in that period of time because I did have the right mental attitude. Josh Fields

 I stand here not because I have fame or money or because I play on TV or hit a World Series home run. That doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter because I stand here as a humble person because I know He could have picked someone else. In His Word he says, ‘the least of us shall be first.’ When I look up, I realize I am blessed and I say thank you Jesus for all you have done for me because without you I would be nothing.” Joe Carter

 You can never completely get it — being a Christian — but I think I really got it when my first son was born in 2006. I just realized the love that God has for all of us. It was seeing my son born and knowing the unconditional love that I have for him.” Mark Teixeira 

I feel God has blessed us ballplayers with the ability to throw a ball, hit a ball, catch a ball and to play the game of baseball at a level that only a few can play in the world, He`s given us a wonderful platform so, with that, I want to use that to bring glory to God. My goal is that my legacy will be stronger off the field than on the field when I leave Kansas City, and leave this Earth.” Mike Sweeney 

 It doesn’t matter if I hit a home run. It doesn’t matter if we win a game. It doesn’t matter if I go four for four. Whatever happens at the end of the day, as long as I glorify His name, that’s what it’s all about.” Albert Pujols

In 2003, at the age of 60, a nephew of mine was battling cancer. I tried to talk with him about how he was feeling, and he told me not to worry about him. “You should be worrying about your own soul,” he said. His words hit me like a fastball to the ribs. I was stunned to receive a call a couple days later informing me that he had died of a heart attack. The day after attending his funeral, I received the news that another nephew had been tragically killed. At the church for his funeral, God’s message of love overwhelmed me. I knew it was time and I received Jesus Christ as my Savior.” Willie Horton

 Being able to play baseball has been great! It was what I had dedicated my entire life to; now, however, living for and serving Christ is the most important thing to me, and this has given real purpose to my baseball career and everything else I do. “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Colossians 3:17). Yes, I still love playing baseball, but now I seek to play – and live – so that I honor the LORD Jesus in all I do. Mike Pelfrey

I grew up in a Christian home, but was nearly 17 before I realized I had to make my own decision to place my trust in Christ. Salvation cannot be earned by doing good works or going to church, and can’t be automatically passed on from Christian parents. Salvation is a free gift from God, who sent His Son Jesus Christ to die in our place (Ephesians 2:8-9).” J.D. Drew

In college, I was like most young men, doing what pleased me and looking out mainly for my own interest. I had success in baseball and was very popular in school but all these things, which the world chases after, left me empty and unfulfilled. Through a series of trials and difficult times, the Lord opened my eyes to my sin and what would truly fulfill me. June 9, 2001, I received forgiveness and the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ.” Luke Scott

I went off to college at The University of South Carolina. When I set foot on campus for the first time, I had a huge empty feeling in my life. I began attending a Bible study for college athletes. As a result of hearing God’s Word, I rededicated my life to Jesus Christ. I felt a tremendous burden lift off my shoulders. Since then, I have found direction, purpose, and meaning for my life. Jeremiah 29:11-12 has become a reality in my life: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Adam Everett 

“The Baseball Hall of Fame is something every player dreams about, but being a member of God’s Hall of Fame is the greatest achievement of all. God offers each of us the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ. When we accept God’s gift of salvation, our name is written in the Book of Life, guaranteeing us a place in heaven forever. I made that decision during spring training in 1973, asking Jesus to come into my heart as Lord and Savior. Gary Carter 

 As a Christian, I’m certainly not perfect. I still make mistakes but I know that God’s love for me will not change depending on how “good” I am. My motivation now is not based on what other people think, but on what God wants. My greatest desire is to honor God in everything I do… as a father and husband and as a baseball player.” Jake Peavy

 When I was in Kansas City everything was going well for me. My marriage was good and I was very successful in baseball but something was missing in my life. That something was Christ. Every human being is born with a little defect in his heart. That defect is a hole in the heart that can only be filled by Jesus Christ. Carlos Beltran

 There are times I get frustrated and angry like everyone else and sometimes feel like cursing or arguing about a call that I don’t like. When that happens, though, I remember that there are a lot of kids watching me and because I want to be a good example, I control myself and don’t say anything. Jesus commanded us to “let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16). Jimmy Rollins 

The overriding thing has to be a love for people. If you don’t love people, you don’t care if we live in a morally degrading society. Christ is about love, and that’s what we want to be about as well. Lance Berkman 

I’ve never read a scripture where God delights in you not giving your all or you doing a poor job at work, it’s the exact opposite. He says you give everything you’ve got until you drop.” Paul Byrd 

I would love to leave a legacy with my children to know that God had a hand in my life, to know that He changed me from a decent person to a God-fearing, loving person, and that servant mind-set, humility, thinks of others before himself… I mean I can go on and on. That’s become the forefront of my thinking. It’s no longer John Smoltz and whatever else comes next. John Smoltz

When I broke my arm, I knew there was something a lot bigger than baseball (about to happen) … I had a sense that God had something for me, something bigger than baseball. Dave Dravecky

I glorify God by using the talent that He gave me and doing the best I can, even though it might not work out all the time. Josh Hamilton

The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur.” Vince Lombardi

 “I believe that the Lord has a plan for each of us that’s better than anything we can imagine, even if that plan isn’t obvious to us at every stage. He prepared me for this over a long period of time – in lower-profile locker rooms and the grocery store and in Europe, through all the personal tragedies and in spite of the people who doubted me along the way.” Kurt Warner

“Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you”. Deuteronomy 31:6

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Phillipians 4:13

“It’s only a hitch when you’re in a slump. When you’re hitting the ball it’s called rhythm.” Eddie Mathews

“After I hit a home run I had a habit of running the bases with my head down. I figured the pitcher already felt bad enough without me showing him up rounding the bases.” Mickey Mantle

There are only two seasons—Winter and Baseball.” Bill Veeck

“When I pick up the ball and it feels nice and light and small I know I’m going to have a good day. But if I picked it up and it’s big and heavy, I know I’m liable to get into a little trouble.” Bob Feller

“I think about baseball when I wake up in the morning. I think about it all day and I dream about it at night. The only time I don’t think about it is when I’m playing it.” Carl Yastrzemski

 “When you lose, talk little. When you win, talk less.” Tom Brady 

“There is a special sensation in getting good wood on the ball and driving a double down the left-field line as the crowd in the ballpark rises to its feet and cheers. But, I also remember how much fun I had as a skinny barefoot kid hitting a tennis ball with a broomstick on a quiet, dusty street in Panama.” Rod Carew

“There is no one correct way to bat, and so of course there is no one correct stance for it.” Stan Musial

 “God knows I gave my best in baseball at all times and no man on earth can truthfully judge me otherwise.” Shoeless Joe Jackson

There are three types of baseball players: those who make things happen, those who watch it happen, and those who wonder what happens.” Tommy Lasorda

“There’s no difference between me and you. You need something, a glove, a place to live, you let me know.” Roberto Clemente

“I never want to quit playing ball. They’ll have to cut this uniform off of me to get me out of it.” Roy Campanella

“A good professional athlete must have the love of a little boy and the good players feel the kind of love for the game that they did when they were little leaguers.” Tom Seaver

“I loved throwing a baseball. It is so important to find something in life you feel crazy about. Because you are so passionate you naturally practice. The hard work that it takes to do something well will come easily.” Jim Abbott

 “It’s no fun playing if you don’t make somebody else unhappy. I do everything hard.” Hank Bauer

“A pitching coach is a manager’s best friend. He’s handling 12 out of the 25 players on the team.” Lou Piniella

“I’d walk through hell in a gasoline suit to play baseball.” Pete Rose

The clock doesn’t matter in baseball. Time stands still or moves backwards. Theoretically, one game could go on forever. Some seem to.” Herb Caen

Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way. And don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines.” Satchel Paige

“What is life, after all, but a challenge? And what better challenge can there be than the one between the pitcher and the hitter.” Warren Spahn 

 A hot dog at the ballgame beats roast beef at the Ritz” Humphrey Bogart

 “My father didn’t tell me how to play, he just played, and let me watch him do it.” Ken Griffey Jr.

“If you’re not practicing, somebody else is, somewhere, and he’ll be ready to take your job.” Brooks Robinson 

“Baseball is a game where a curve is an optical illusion, a screwball can be a pitch or a person, stealing is legal and you can spit anywhere you like except in the umpire’s eye or on the ball.” Jim Murray

“I never realized that batting a little ball around could cause so much commotion.” Stan Musial

“A good catcher is the quarterback, the carburetor, the lead dog, the pulse taker, the traffic cop and sometimes a lot of unprintable things, but no team gets very far without one.” Miller Huggins

“A sore arm is like a headache or a toothache. It can make you feel bad, but if you just forget about it and do what you have to do, it will go away. If you really like to pitch and you want to pitch, that’s what you’ll do.” Warren Spahn

“Why does everyone talk about the past? All that counts is tomorrow’s game.” Roberto Clemente

“I’m just a ballplayer with one ambition, and that is to give all I’ve got to help my ball club win. I’ve never played any other way.” Joe DiMaggio

“Stubbornness is usually considered a negative, but I think that trait has been a positive for me.” Cal Ripken, Jr.

“A good base stealer should make the whole infield jumpy. Whether you steal or not, you’re changing the rhythm of the game. If the pitcher is concerned about you, he isn’t concentrating enough on the batter.” Joe Morgan

“I don’t think I can play any other way but all out. I enjoy the game so much because I’m putting so much into it.” George Brett

 “The day I become a good loser, I’m quitting baseball. I always had a temper. I think it’s nothing to be ashamed of. If you know how to use it, it can help. Temper is something the good Lord gave me and I can’t just throw it out the window.” Billy Martin

“I don’t care how long you’ve been around, you’ll never see it all.”
Bob Lemon

“A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into nine innings.” Earl Wilson

“Baseball is a red-blooded sport for red-blooded men. It’s no pink tea, and mollycoddles had better stay out. It’s a struggle for supremacy, a survival of the fittest.” Ty Cobb

“The greatest feeling in the world is to win a major league game. The second-greatest feeling is to lose a major league game.” Chuck Tanner

“Man may penetrate the outer reaches of the universe, he may solve the very secret of eternity itself but for me, the ultimate human experience is to witness the flawless execution of the hit-and-run.” Branch Rickey

Think. Don’t just swing. Think about the pitcher, what he threw you last time up, his best pitch, who’s up next. Think.” Ted Williams

In order to excel, you must be completely dedicated to your chosen sport. You must also be prepared to work hard and be willing to accept destructive criticism. Without 100% dedication, you won’t be able to do this.” Willie Mays

“It is dangerous for an athlete to believe his own publicity, good or bad.” Bob Uecker

“The sport to which I owe so much has undergone profound changes, but it’s still baseball. Kids still imitate their heroes on playgrounds. Fans still ruin expensive suits going after foul balls that cost five dollars. Hitting streaks still make the network news and hot dogs still taste better at the ballpark than at home.” Duke Snider

The best umpired game is the game in which the fans cannot recall the umpires who worked it.” Bill Klem

“I think about baseball when I wake up in the morning. I think about it all day and I dream about it at night. The only time I don’t think about it is when I’m playing it.” Carl Yastrzemski

“One of the beautiful things about baseball is that every once in a while you come into a situation where you want to, and where you have to, reach down and prove something.” Nolan Ryan

“I never slept when I lost. I’d see the sun come up without ever having closed my eyes. I’d see those base hits over and over and they would drive me crazy.” Robin Roberts

“I’m so secure in myself I couldn’t care less what people think of me.” Barry Zito

“I’m always amazed when a pitcher becomes angry at a hitter for hitting a home run off him. When I strike out, I don’t get angry at the pitcher, I get angry at myself. I would think that if a pitcher threw up a home run ball, he should be angry at himself.” Willie Stargell

“I get the ball, I throw the ball, and then I take a shower.” Mariano Rivera

“I try to do two things: locate my fastball and change speeds. That’s it. I try to keep as simple as possible. I just throw my fastball to both sides of the plate and change speeds every now and then. There is no special food or anything like that, I just try to make quality pitches and try to be prepared each time I go out there.” Greg Maddux

“It’s a mere moment in a man’s life between the All-Star Game and an old timer’s game.” Vin Scully

“Whatever I do, I love to win. I don’t care if it’s tennis or ping pong, I’ll kill myself to win it.” Andy Pettitte

 “Baseball is Heaven’s gift to mortals.” George Will

 “A sore arm is like a headache or a toothache. It can make you feel bad, but if you just forget about it and do what you have to do, it will go away. If you really like to pitch and you want to pitch, that’s what you’ll do.” Warren Spahn

“Do you know what we get to do today Brooks? We get to play baseball!” Jim Morris in The Rookie

“I want everybody to feel he has a chance to get into a game when he comes to the ballpark. I play guys when I want to so they’ll be ready when I have to. I don’t consider myself a motivator of players. I think it’s an insult to a ballplayer to have to be motivated.” Gene Mauch

 “Cool Papa Bell was so fast he could get out of bed, turn out the lights across the room and be back in bed under the covers before the lights went out.” Josh Gibson

“If my uniform doesn’t get dirty, I haven’t done anything in the baseball game.” Rickey Henderson

A manager’s address to his team following a poor performance – “Tomorrow the early bus will leave the hotel at 2:00, the empty bus will leave at 3:30.” Dave Bristol 

“I’m a really smart player. If you tell me something, I get it quickly. If there is something wrong with my hitting, tell me what’s wrong and I’ll pick it up right away. That’s the best thing I have going for me, my ability to listen to a coach and fix what I’m doing wrong.” Albert Pujols

 “In order to excel, you must be completely dedicated to your chosen sport. You must also be prepared to work hard and be willing to accept constructive criticism. Without one-hundred percent dedication, you won’t be able to do this.” Willie Mays

“My dad had been a shortstop when he was in college, and you know, when you’re a kid, you want to be just like your dad.” Derek Jeter

“It is a grueling position (catching). My knees will tell you that. I’ve had nine knee surgeries. I’ve had a couple of broken thumbs, one on each hand. I can look back at it and say it’s worth it to be enshrined in Cooperstown. I don’t have any pain in my knees right now.” Gary Carter

“I always thought that record would stand until it was broken.” Yogi Berra

“I have an Alka Seltzer bat. You know, plop plop fizz fizz. When the pitcher sees me walking up there they say, ‘Oh what a relief it is.'” Andy Van Slyke

 “There is a special sensation in getting good wood on the ball and driving a double down the leftfield line as the crowd in the ballpark rises to its feet and cheers. But, I also remember how much fun I had as a skinny barefoot kid hitting a tennis ball with a broomstick on a quiet, dusty street in Panama.” Rod Carew

“I’m big into having routines. I’m almost a little anal about it, but you have to be—especially at this level.” Barry Zito

“Good hitters don’t just go up and swing. They always have a plan. Call it an educated deduction. You visualize. You’re like a good negotiator. You know what you have, you know what he has, then you try to work it out.” Dave Winfield 

“My job is to give my team a chance to win.” Nolan Ryan

 “I’m a really smart player. If you tell me something, I get it quickly. If there is something wrong with my hitting, tell me what’s wrong and I’ll pick it up right away. That’s the best thing I have going for me, my ability to listen to a coach and fix what I’m doing wrong.” Albert Pujols

“I never smile when I have a bat in my hands. That’s when you’ve got to be serious. When I get out on the field, nothing’s a joke to me. I don’t feel like I should walk around with a smile on my face.” Hank Aaron

“If my uniform doesn’t get dirty, I haven’t done anything in the baseball game.” Rickey Henderson

“I’m not concerned with your liking or disliking me… All I ask is that you respect me as a human being.” Jackie Robinson

“I don’t want to play golf. When I hit a ball, I want someone else to go chase it.” Rogers Hornsby

“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday’s success or put its failures behind and start over again. That’s the way life is, with a new game every day, and that’s the way baseball is.” Bob Feller

Any time you think you have the game conquered, the game will turn around and punch you right in the nose.” Mike Schmidt

“If I knew I’d live this long, I would have taken better care of myself.” Mickey Mantle

I’m just trying to work hard every day, trying to be a better player and one day, to be right there with them, one of those special hitters.” David Ortiz

“A good professional athlete must have the love of a little boy and the good players feel the kind of love for the game that they did when they were little leaguers.” Tom Seaver

“The way to catch a knuckleball is to wait until it stops rolling and then pick it up.” Bob Uecker

“I’m a guy who just wanted to see his name in the lineup everyday. To me, baseball was a passion to the point of obsession.” Brooks Robinson

“I don’t think I can play any other way but all out. I enjoy the game so much because I’m putting so much into it.” George Brett

“I’m not a big guy and hopefully kids could look at me and see that I’m not muscular and not physically imposing, that I’m just a regular guy. So if somebody with a regular body can get into the record books, kids can look at that. That would make me happy.” Ichiro Suzuki

“I’m hoping someday that some kid, black or white, will hit more home runs than myself. Whoever it is, I’d be pulling for him.” Hank Aaron 

“If you’ve ever been around a group of actors, you’ve noticed, no doubt, that they can talk of nothing else under the sun but acting. It’s exactly the same way with baseball players. Your heart must be in your work.” Christy Matthewson 

“I’ve got a job to do, and you’ve got a job to do. I’m paid to manage, and you’re paid to play.” Hank Baur

“Guys ask me, don’t I get burned out? How can you get burned out doing something you love? I ask you, have you ever got tired of kissing a pretty girl?” Tommy LaSorda

“After I hit a home run I had a habit of running the bases with my head down. I figured the pitcher already felt bad enough without me showing him up rounding the bases.” Mickey Mantle

“The ballplayer who loses his head, who can’t keep his cool, is worse than no ballplayer at all.” Lou Gehrig

 “I could have played another year, but I would have been playing for the money, and baseball deserves better than that.” George Brett

“Consistency is something you can always improve on. You can be more consistent with your mental approach, the things you do physically on the mound. Instead of doing 5 good pitches an inning, try to make six. You can always do more of what you are doing well and try to be as consistent as you can be.” Greg Maddux

“Life is precious and time is a key element. Let’s make every moment count and help those who have a greater need than our own.” Harmon Killebrew 

“When I began playing the game, baseball was about as gentlemanly as a kick in the crotch.” Ty Cobb

“Baseball gives every American boy a chance to excel, not just to be as good as someone else but to be better than someone else. This is the nature of man and the name of the game.” Ted Williams

“I’m not thinking home run, I just want to put a good swing on the ball. When you go looking for home runs, you get off of your swing. So you don’t think of homers when you go up to the plate.” David Ortiz

“One of the beautiful things about baseball is that every once in a while you come into a situation where you want to, and where you have to, reach down and prove something.” Nolan Ryan

“A sore arm is like a headache or a toothache. It can make you feel bad, but if you just forget about it and do what you have to do, it will go away. If you really like to pitch and you want to pitch, that’s what you’ll do.” Warren Spahn

“Somebody’s gotta win and somebody’s gotta lose and I believe in letting the other guy lose.” Pete Rose

“There are millions of people out there ignoring disabilities and accomplishing incredible feats. I learned you can learn to do things differently, but do them just as well. I’ve learned that it’s not the disability that defines you, it’s how you deal with the challenges the disability presents you with. And I’ve learned that we have an obligation to the abilities we DO have, not the disability.” Jim Abbott 

“I can’t believe they pay us to play baseball – something we did for free as kids.” Sparky Anderson

The largest thing I’ve learned is the enormous grip that this game has on people, the extent to which it really is very important. It goes way down deep. It really does bind together. It’s a cliche and sounds sentimental, but I have now seen it from the inside.” A. Bartlett Giamatti

“Show me a good loser in professional sports, and I’ll show you an idiot.” Leo Durocher

“There are three types of baseball players: those who make it happen, those who watch it happen, and those who wonder what happens.” Tommy Lasorda 

“We won the pennant because we’ve got a superior ballclub. Not many stars perhaps, but the kind of team that always plays well together.” Nellie Fox 

“I guess I was never much in awe of anybody. I think you have to have that attitude if you’re going to go far in this game.” Bob Gibson

“I’m not thinking home run, I just want to put a good swing on the ball. When you go looking for home runs, you get off of your swing. So you don’t think of homers when you go up to the plate.” David Ortiz

“A no-hitter is a well-pitched game with some luck.” Ken Holtzman 

“I don’t like them fellas who drive in two runs and let in three.” Casey Stengal 

“I never want to quit playing ball. They’ll have to cut this uniform off of me to get me out of it.” Roy Campanella

“If you don’t think baseball is a big deal, don’t do it. But if you do, do it right.” Tom Seaver

“If I have a day off during the baseball season, where do you think I`ll spend it? The ballpark. I still love it. Always have, always will.” Harry Caray

“God knows I gave my best in baseball at all times and no man on earth can truthfully judge me otherwise.” Shoeless Joe Jackson

“If you rush in and out of the clubhouse, you rush in and out of baseball.” Pee Wee Reese

“I never smile when I have a bat in my hands. That’s when you’ve got to be serious. When I get out on the field, nothing’s a joke to me. I don’t feel like I should walk around with a smile on my face.” Hank Aaron 

“How you played in yesterday’s game is all that counts.” Jackie Robinson

“The best hitting advice I ever got was: Keep your eye clear and hit ’em where they ain’t; that’s all.” Wee Willie Keeler 

“I have no trouble with the twelve inches between my elbow and my palm. It’s the seven inches between my ears that’s bent.” Tug McGraw 

“Consistency is something you can always improve on. You can be more consistent with your mental approach, the things you do physically on the mound. Instead of making five good pitches an inning, try to make six. You can always do more of what you are doing well and try to be as consistent as you can be.” Greg Maddux 

“Baseball’s future? Bigger and bigger, better and better! No question about it, it’s the greatest game there is!” Ted Williams

“The ballplayer who loses his head, who can’t keep his cool, is worse than no ballplayer at all.” Lou Gehrig 

“You can’t sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You’ve got to throw the ball over the darn plate and give the other man his chance. That’s why baseball is the greatest game of them all.” Earl Weaver

“To cure a batting slump, I took my bat to bed with me. I wanted to know my bat a little better.” Richie Ashburn

“I never wanted all this hoopla. All I wanted is to be a good ball player and hit twenty-five or thirty homers, drive in a hundred runs, hit .280 and help my club win pennants. I just wanted to be one of the guys, an average player having a good season.” Roger Maris

“I don’t think I can play any other way but all out. I enjoy the game so much because I’m putting so much into it.” George Brett

 “A catcher and his body are like the outlaw and his horse. He’s got to ride that nag till it drops.” Johnny Bench

“I love to play this game of baseball – I love putting on this uniform.” Stan Musial

“I’m just a ballplayer with one ambition, and that is to give all I’ve got to help my ball club win. I’ve never played any other way.” Joe DiMaggio

“During my 18 years I came to bat almost 10,000 times. I struck out about 1,700 times and walked maybe 1,800 times. You figure a ballplayer will average about 500 at bats a season. That means I played seven years without ever hitting the ball.” Mickey Mantle

“If I need to help my team and play a different position for that game because somebody is hurt or they want to give a day off to somebody, I’ll do it.” Albert Pujols

“I guess I was never much in awe of anybody. I think you have to have that attitude if you’re going to go far in this game.” Bob Gibson

“All us Young’s could throw. I used to kill squirrels with a stone when I was a kid, and my granddad once killed a turkey buzzard on the fly with a rock.” Cy Young

“The great trouble with baseball today is that most of the players are in the game for the money and that’s it, not for the love of it, the excitement of it, the thrill of it.” Ty Cobb

“The one constant through all the years has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It’s been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past. It reminds us of all that once was good, and what could be again.” Field of Dreams

“The riches of the game are in the thrills, not the money.” Ernie Banks

“Early in my career, I decided I never wanted to get out of shape.” Cal Ripken, Jr.

“I could have played another year, but I would have been playing for the money, and baseball deserves better than that.” George Brett

“It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.” Earl Weaver

“I’m convinced that every boy, in his heart, would rather steal second base than an automobile.” Tom Clark

“About the only problem with success is that it does not teach you how to deal with failure.” Tommy LaSorda

“When you walk by Gaylord Perry, he smells like a drugstore.” Billy Martin

“Practice, work hard and give it everything you’ve got.” Dizzy Dean

“If it dosen’t matter who wins or loses, then why do we keep score?” Vince Lombardi

“If you work hard everyday and bust your tail on every play, eventually people will notice and word will get around.” Tommy John

“I don’t know…nor do I intend to find out.” Yankee manager Joe McCarthy when asked if Joe DiMaggio could bunt

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“The best thing about baseball is that you can always do something about yesterday, tomorrow.” Manny Trillo

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“Look at him. He know’s he going to hit me, I know he’s going to hit me and so do you. Let’s walk him.” Harvey Haddix to his catcher during a mound visit

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“I’ve got the right to knock down anybody holding a bat.” Early Wynn after dusting his own son

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“A life is not important except in the impact that it has on other lives.” Jackie Robinson

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“X-rays of Dizzy Dean’s head found nothing.” A line from a teammate following a thrown ball to the head

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“Computers and videotape drive me crazy, I just go hit it. I realize there are all kinds of things available on those things but I just try to keep it simple.” Larry Walker

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“You can always take what you have and make it better.” Ted Williams

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“There ain’t a left-hander in the world that can run a straight line. It’s the gratitational pull on the axis of the earth that gets ’em.” Ray Miller

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“Just take the ball and throw it where you want to. Throw strikes, homeplate don’t move.” Satchel Paige

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“Gaylord Perry is a very honorable man. He only throws the spitter when he needs it.” Gabe Paul

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“I didn’t know if I’d ever get an opportunity or not, but I knew if I wasn’t prepared, another chance may never roll around again. Fortunately, I made the most of it when my name was called.” Tiki Barber

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“You can’t let any team awe you.” Luke Appling

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“Decades after a person has stopped collecting bubble gum cards, he can still discover himself collecting ballparks…their smells, their history.” Thomas Boswell

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“If the people don’t want to come to the park, nobody is going to stop ’em.” Yogi Berra

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“I play for the poor man. I try to give a thrill to the lunch bucket fan, I know their plight. I worked in a factory in high school. The poor, that’s where my heart lies. The rich don’t need heroes.” Leon Wagner

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“Cut that pizza into six slices instead of eight, I ain’t that hungry.” Yogi Berra

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“I felt what I almost always feel when I am watching a ballgame: Just for those two or three hours, there is really no place I’d rather be.” Roger Angell

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“The greatest thrill in the world was to end a game with a homerun and watch everyone else walk off the field while you’re running around the bases on air.” Al Rosen

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“The only people I ever felt intimidated by in my whole life was Bob Gibson and my daddy.” Dusty Baker

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“Thank God for baseball.” Mickey Mantle

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“There were times last year when people looked at the scoreboard and thought my batting average was the temperature.” Buck Martinez

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“I remember the last season I played. I went home after a ballgame and one day, layed down on my bed and tears came to my eyes. How can you explain that? It’s like crying for your mother after she’s gone. You cry because you love her. I cried, I guess, because I loved baseball so much and I knew I had to leave it.” Willie Mays

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“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.” Joe McCarthy

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“They x-rayed my head and didn’t find anything.” Dizzy Dean, after being struck by a line drive

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“You should always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise, they won’t come to yours.” Yogi Berra

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“I was never nervous when I had the ball, but when I let it go I was scared to death.” Lefty Gomez

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“I have observed that baseball is a whole lot like war, and when you get right down to it, we batters are the heavy artillery.” Ty Cobb

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“With the money I’m making, I should be playing two positions.” Pete Rose

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“I don’t know. I’m not in shape yet.” Yogi Berra, when asked for his cap size

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“Momentum is only as good as tomorrow’s starting pitcher.” Earl Weaver

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“Pitchers, like poets, are born not made.” Cy Young

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“Baseball has been good to me since I stopped trying to play it.” Whitey Herzog

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“Man, it was tough out there today. The wind was blowing about 100 degrees.” Mickey Rivers, on the weather during a game

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“If you don’t win you’re going to get fired. If you do win, you’ve put off the day you’re going to be fired.” Leo Durocher on managing in the Big Leagues

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“One of the duties of a baseball fan is to engage in arguments with the man behind him.” Sharon Olds

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“Baseball is a ballet without music, a drama without words.” Ernie Harwell

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“It never ceases to amaze me how many baseball wounds are self-inflicted.” Bill Veeck

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“Having Willie Stargell on your ballclub is like having a diamond ring on your finger.” Chuck Tanner

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“There are two places in this league, first place and no place.” Tom Seaver

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“I like those special afternoons in the summer when you go to Yankee Stadium at two o’clock in the afternoon for an eight o’clock game. It’s so big, so empty and so silent that you can almost hear the sounds that aren’t there.” Ray Miller

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“Attaway way to hit George.” Jim Frey on the way he coached George Brett

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“My idea of a ‘super bowl’ is when the catcher is standing in front of the plate with the ball, waiting for me as I round third…and I make him drop it. That’s a quality Super Bowl.” Kirk Gibson

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“He’d give you the shirt off of his back. Of course he’d call a press conference to announce it.” Catfish Hunter on Reggie Jackson

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“He could hit any pitch to any field. The only way to pitch him was to throw the ball low and way behind him.” Chet Brewer on Josh Gibson

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“There ain’t much to being a ballplayer…if you’re a ballplayer.” Honus Wagner

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“It was a low fastball, it just happened to be right where I was swinging.” Allan Ashby on a homerun he had hit

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“Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and sometimes it rains.” Anonymous

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“The baseball season has all kinds of ups and downs, just like life. The tough times make you stronger.” Bill Doran

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“The basepaths belonged to me, the runner. The rules gave me the right to steal. I always went into a bag full speed, feet first. I had sharp spikes, sure, but if a guy got hurt, it was his fault for being in the way.” Ty Cobb

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“He can’t run and his arm is no good, but he’s the best shortstop in the league.” Rud Rennie on Lou Boudreau

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“Things could be worse. Suppose your errors were counted and published everyday, like those of a baseball player.” Bill Alexander

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“He’s even-tempered. He comes to the ballpark mad and stays that way.” Joe Garagiola on Rick Burleson

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“I swing big with everything I’ve got. I either hit big or miss big. I like to live as big as I can.” Babe Ruth

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“That kid has a Hall of Fame career awaiting him.” Davey Johnson on Dwight Gooden in 1985 before drug abuse derailed his career

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“He was so fast he could flip the switch and be in bed under the covers before the lights would go out.” Satchel Paige on speedster Cool Papa Bell

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“Defensively the Red Sox are a lot like Stonehenge. They are old, they don’t move and no one is really certain why they are positioned the way they are.” Dan Shaughnessy in the 1990’s

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“Any time you think you have the game conquered, the game will turn around and punch you right in the nose.” Mike Schmidt

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“George Brett batting was a brilliant, repeated exhibition of precision and style and success.” Roger Angell

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“I had a better year than he did.” Babe Ruth, when told his new salary would be higher than President Herbert Hoover’s

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“The best thing about the New Year is your 4.90 ERA disappears and starts back at zero.” Bert Blyleven

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“The Good Lord was good to me. He gave me a good body, a strong right arm and a weak mind.”

Dizzy Dean

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“I owe my baseball success to a clean living and a fast outfield.” Lefty Gomez

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“It’s no fun throwing fastballs past guys who can’t hit them. The real challenge is getting them out on stuff they can hit.” Sam McDowell

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“Any person claiming to be a baseball fan who does not also claim to have invented the quickest, simplest and most complete method of keeping score is a fraud.” Thomas Boswell

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“I like Christmas better than Thanksgiving ’cause it’s closer to Spring Training.” Lew Burdette

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“When Babe Ruth hit that ball, it made a sound I’d never heard before.” Buck O’Neil

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“I’m the most loyal player money can buy.” Don Sutton

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“The only reason I don’t like playing in the World Series is I can’t watch myself play.” Reggie Jackson

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“I don’t care if the guy is yellow or black or if he has stripes like a zebra. I’m the manager of this team and I say he plays.” Leo Durocher on Jackie Robinson

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“Our country is the only one in the world with a national anthem where the last two words are Play Ball!” Bill Lee

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“The clock doesn’t matter in baseball. Time stands still or moves backwards. Theoretically, one game could go forever. Some seem to.” Herb Caen

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“What makes Jay Johnstone unusual is that he thinks he’s normal and everyone else is nuts.” Danny Ozark

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“I remember one time going out to the mound to talk with Bob Gibson. He told me to get back behind the batter, that the only thing I knew about pitching was that it was hard to hit.” Tim McCarver

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“Sure, I screwed up that sacrifice bunt, but look at it this way. I’m a better bunter than a billion Chinese. Those suckers can’t bunt at all.” John Lowenstein

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“I believe in the Rip Van Winkle theory: that a man from 1910 must be able to wake up after being alseep all those years, walk into a ballpark and understand everything perfectly.” Bowie Kuhn

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“The great trouble with baseball today is that most of the players are in the game for the money and that’s all. Not for the love of it, the excitement of it, the thrill of it.” Ty Cobb

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“Putting lights in Wrigley Field is like putting aluminum siding on the Sistine Chapel.” Woodie Held

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“I know Yogi said it ain’t over till it’s over, but the fat lady, she’s been spending a lot of time at Shea Stadium lately.” Met fan in the mid-60’s

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“A baseball park is the only place where a man’s wife doesn’t mind his getting excited over somebody else’s curves.” Brendan Francis

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“Baseball is drama with an endless run and ever-changing cast.” Joe Garagiola

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“Baseball is the only place in life where a sacrifice is really appreciated.” Cal Smith

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“Baseball? It’s just a game-as simple as a ball and a bat. Yet, as complex as the American spirit it symbolizes. It’s a sport, business and sometimes even a religion.” Ernie Harwell

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“My dad taught me to switch-hit. He and my grandfather, who was left-handed, pitched to me everyday after school in the back yard. I batted lefty against my dad and righty against my granddad.” Mickey Mantle

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“More men fail through lack of purpose than lack of talent.” Billy Sunday

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“I was once asked what it takes to be a great manager…my response? Great players.” Casey Stengal

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“I’ll tell you what I’m thankful for…I’m thankful for baseball and the opportunity I’ve been given to play it.” Ted Williams

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“A critic once characterized baseball as six minutes of action crammed into two-and-a half hours.” Ray Fitzgerald

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“This is a game to be savored, not gulped. There’s time to discuss everything between pitches or between innings.” Bill Veeck

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“Baseball is a game where a curve is an optical illusion, a screwball can be a pitch or a person, stealing is legal and you can spit anywhere you like except in the umpire’s eye or on the ball.” Jim Murray

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“It ain’t like football. You can’t make up no trick plays in baseball.” Yogi Berra

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“No matter how good you are, you’re going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are, you’re going to win one-third of your games. It’s what you do with the other third that determine what kind of a season you have.” Tommy LaSorda

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“Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good too.” Greg Davis

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“Why does everybody stand up and sing ‘Take Me Out to the Ballgame’ when they are already there?” Larry Andersen

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“You can’t sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You’ve got to throw the ball over the plate and give the other man his chance. That’s why baseball is the greatest game of them all.” Earl Weaver

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“A ball player’s got to be kept hungry to become a big-leaguer. That’s why no boy from a rich family ever made the big leagues.” Joe DiMaggio

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“The other sports are just sports. Baseball is a love.” Bryant Gumbel

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“It’s a funny kind of month, November. For the really keen baseball fan, it’s when you discover that your wife left you in May.” Denis Norden

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“Baseball is the only game left for regular people. To play basketball you have to be 7 feet tall. To play football you have to be the same width.” Bill Veeck

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“You don’t save a pitcher for tomorrow. Tomorrow it may rain.” Leo Durocher

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“Trying to sneak a fastball by Hank Aaron is like trying to sneak the sunrise past a rooster.” Joe Adcock

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“When Carlton and I are gone, we are going to be buried 60 feet, 6 inches apart.” Tim McCarver, who was Steve Carlton’s personal catcher

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“What are we are the park for except to win? I’d trip my own mother. I’d help her up, brush her off and tell her I’m sorry. But mother don’t make it to third.” Leo Durocher

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“If a horse can’t eat it, I don’t want to play on it.” Dick Allen, on artificial turf

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“I don’t care how long you’ve been around, you’ll never see it all.” Bob Lemon

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“The pitcher has to find out if the hitter is timid. And if the hitter is timid, he has to remind the hitter that he’s timid.” Don Drysdale

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“I’m often asked what I do during the winter, well, I’ll tell you what I do. I look out the window and wait for baseball season to roll around again.” Rogers Hornsby

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“I finally realized that to have success in this game, random day dreams had to become conscience thoughts.” Charlie Lisk

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“Sandy’s fastball was so fast, some batters would start their swing on his way to the mound.” Jim Murray on Sandy Koufax

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“Baseball is a fun game. It sure beats working for a living.” Phil Linz

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“I was such a dangerous hitter, I even got intentional walks in batting practice.” Casey Stengal

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“You’d be surprised how many shortcomings can be overcome by hustle.” Pete Rose

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“You’ve gotta be a man to play baseball for a living, but you gotta have a lot of little boy in you too.” Roy Campanella

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“When you are in a slump, it’s almost like you look out at the field and it’s one big glove.” Vance Law

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“Every hitter likes fastballs, just like everybody likes ice cream. But you don’t like it when someone’s stuffing it into you by the gallon. That’s what it feels like when Nolan Ryan is throwing fastballs by you.” Reggie Jackson

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“The greatest feeling in the world is to win a major league baseball game. The second-greatest feeling in the world is to lose a major league baseball game.” Chuck Tanner

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“Ninety percent of the game is half mental.” Yogi Berra

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“There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball. Unfortunately, neither of them work.” Charlie Lau

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“A baseball game is twice as much fun if you are seeing it on the company’s time.” William Feather

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“The designated hitter rule is like allowing someone else take Wilt Chamberlain’s free throws.” Rick Wise

“Baseball, that’s my game. Y’know, you take your worries to the park and leave ’em there. You yell like crazy for your guys. It’s good for your lungs, gives you a lift and nobody calls the cops. Pretty girls, lots of ’em.” Humphrey Bogart

“Baseball players are smarter than football players. How often do you see a baseball team penalized for having too many men on the field?” Jim Bouton

“A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided up into nine innings.” Earl Wilson

“I’m convinced that every boy, in his heart, would rather steal second base than an automobile.” Tom Clark

“Baseball was made for kids and grown-ups only screw it up.” Bob Lemon

“Baseball is the only major sport that appears backwards in a mirror.” George Carlin

“If it weren’t for baseball, people wouldn’t know what a millionaire looked like.” Phyllis Dillar

“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday’s success or put its failures behind and start over. That’s the way life is, with a new game everyday, and that’s the way baseball is.” Bob Feller

“Don’t be afraid to take advice. There’s always something new to learn.” Babe Ruth

“Worry is simply thinking the same thing over and over again and not doing anything about it.” Branch Rickey

“You can’t let any team awe you.” Luke Appling

“There’ll be two buses leaving the hotel for the park tomorrow. The 2:00 bus will be for those of you who need a little extra work. The empty bus will leave at 5:00.” Dave Bristol

“Momentum is tomorrow’s starting pitcher.” Earl Weaver

“The thing you learn as a Cubs fan when you bought your ticket, you could bank on seeing the bottom of the ninth inning.” Joe Garagiola

“I heard that Bill Buckner tried to commit suicide over the winter. He stepped in front of a car, but it went through his legs.” Billy Gardner

“When we lost, I couldn’t sleep at night. When we win, I can’t sleep at night. But when we win, I wake up feeling better.” Joe Torre

“Show me a guy who is afraid to look bad and I’ll show you a guy who can be beaten.” Lou Brock

“100% Natural Baseball: No fake grass, metal bats, steroids, human growth hormones, creatine, or other artificial ingredients.” A sign recently seen outside an MLB stadium

“Baseball is a diversion. It is therapy. It takes peoples minds off of everything that has happened, if just for a while.” George Pataki, governor of New York following 9/11

“The game has a cleanness. If you do a good job, the numbers say so. You don’t have to ask anyone or play politics. You don’t have to wait for the reviews.” Sandy Koufax

“When I walk down the street, I want to people to look at me and say ‘there goes Ted Williams, the best hitter there ever was’.” Ted Williams, when asked how he wanted to be remembered

“I’m throwing twice as hard as I ever did. It’s just not getting there as fast.” Lefty Gomez

“It’s no fun throwing fastballs to guys who can’t hit them. The real challenge is getting them out on stuff they can hit.” Sam McDowell

“The two most important things in life are good friends and a strong bullpen.” Bob Lemon

“A baseball club is part of the chemistry of the city. A game isn’t just an athletic contest. It’s a picnic. A kind of town meeting.” Michael Burke

“Baseball is a lot like life. The line drives are caught, the squibbers go for base hits. It’s an unfair game.” Rod Kanehl

“You gotta be a man to play baseball for a living. But you gotta have a lot of little boy in you too.” Roy Campanella

“I think a baseball field must be the most beautiful thing in the world. It’s so honest and precise. And we play on it. Every star gets humbled. Every mediocre player has a great moment.” Lowell Cohn

“You spend your whole life gripping a baseball, in the end you realize it’s the other way around.” Anonymous

“Kids today are looking for idols, but sometimes they look too far…They don’t have to look any farther than their home because those are the people that love you. They are the real heroes.” Bobby Bonilla

“Cool Papa Bell was so fast, he could turn off the light switch and be under the covers before the lights actually went out.” Satchel Paige

“Starting pitching will either lead you to the White House or the out house.” Don Cooper

“Tell a ballplayer something a thousand times. Then tell him again. Because that might be the time he’ll understand something.” Paul Richards

“I took the two most expensive asprins in history.” Wally Pipp, on sitting out a game with a headache allowing Lou Gehrig’s consecutive game streak to begin

“Nobody ever goes there anymore, it’s too crowded.” Yogi Berra

“When we win, I’m so happy that I eat a lot. When we lose, I’m so depressed that I eat a lot. When we’re rained out, I’m so disappointed that I eat a lot.” Tommy LaSorda

“Any minute, any day, some players may break a long-standing record. That’s one of the fascinations about the game–the unexpected surprises.” Connie Mack

“A pitcher needs two pitches-one they’re looking for and one to cross ’em up.” Warren Spahn

“You’re only as smart as your ERA.” Jim Bouton 

“Catching a fly ball is a pleasure. But knowing what to with it after you catch it is a business.” Tommy Henrich

“If Ben Franklin played shortstop here and made an error, they’d probably boo him for a week too.” Russ Hodges on Philadelphia fans

“Each strikeout brings me closer to my next homerun.” Babe Ruth

“It helps if the hitter thinks you are a little crazy.” Nolan Ryan

“The game shouldn’t be called baseball. It should be called adjustments.” Orel Hershiser

“The two most important things in life are good friends and a strong bullpen.” Bob Lemon

“Baseball can build you up to the sky one day and the next day you have to climb a stepladder to look up at a snake.” Johnny Pesky

“In football the object is to march into enemy territory and cross his goal. In baseball the object is to go home.” George Carlin

“It’s a mere moment in a man’s life between the All-Star Game and an Old-Timer’s Game.” Vin Scully

“Your bat is your life. It’s your weapon. You don’t want to go into battle with anything that feels less than perfect.”

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“How hard is hitting? You ever walk into a pitch-black room full of furniture that you’ve never been in before and try to walk through it without bumping into anything? Well, it’s harder than that.”

Ted Kluszewski

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“There should be new way to record standings in this league: one column for wins, one for losses and one for gifts.”

Gene Mauch“Baseball is like church. Many attend. Few understand.” Leo Durocher

“I couldn’t see well enough when I was a boy, so they gave me a special job-they made me the umpire.” Harry S. Truman

“There are only two places in this league. First place and no place.” Tom Seaver

“Cobb lived off the field as though he wished to live forever. He lived on the field as though it was his last day.” Branch Rickey

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“What is the difference between astroturf and grass? I don’t know, I never smoked astroturf.” Tug McGraw

“Why pitch nine innings when you can get just as famous pitching two.” Sparky Lyle

“Baseball must be a great game to survive all the fools who run it.” Bill Terry

“My mother was a better ballplayer than me, she taught me everything.” Casey Candaele

“Trying to hit him is like trying to eat Jello with chopsticks.” Bobby Murcer on knuckeballer Phil Niekro

“Base stealing for me is another sport all by itself. It’s a game within a game. I’m the mouse and the cats are trying to trap me.” Maury Wills

“Our team earned run average looks like the national debt.” Charlie Fox

“He had such a good swing, he even looked good striking out.” Mark Koenig on Babe Ruth

“A pitcher needs two pitches-one they’re looking for and one to cross ’em up.” Warren Spahn

“Don’t ever look back, something may be gaining on you.” Satchel Paige

“The game is supposed to be fun. If you had a bad day, don’t worry. You can’t expect to get a hit every game.” Yogi Berra

“I put my whole heart into baseball, then, one day, it was all over. When you leave baseball you leave part of your childhood behind.” Sandy Vance

“Pitching is the art of instilling fear.” Sandy Koufax

“Baseball is continuous, like nothing else among American things, an endless game of repeated summers, joining the long generations of all the fathers and all the sons.” Donald Hall

“The last time Willie Mays dropped a pop fly he had a rattle in one hand and a bonnet on his head.” Jim Murray

“Vasaline is not a foreign substance at all, it’s manufactured right here in the United States.” Don Sutton

“If Satch and I were pitching on the same team, we’d clinch the pennant by July 4th and go fishin’ until the World Series.” Dizzy Dean

“September is pantyhose month. No nonsense.” Dave Parker

“Baseball is dull only to dull minds.” Red Smith

“Every day and in every way, baseball gets fancier. A few more years and they’ll be playing on oriental rugs.” Russell Baker

“When you’re winning the grass is greener, the cigars are sweeter and the girls are better looking!” Mark Grace

“When you are 21 you are a prospect. When you are 30, you are a suspect.” Jim McGlothlin

“It’s designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring when everything else begins again and it blossoms into the summer filling the afternoons and evenings. And then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone.” Bart Giamatti

“Though it is a team game by definition, it is actually a series of loosely connected individual efforts.” Bill Veeck 

“Baseball is the only sport I know that when you’re on the offense, the other team has the ball.” Ken Harrelson

“On any given day…come out to the ballpark and you’ll see something different.” Fred Borsch

“The new definition of a heathen is a man who has never played baseball.” Elbert Hubbard

“Baseball was one hundred percent my life.” Ty Cobb

“You don’t save a pitcher for tomorrow. Tomorrow it may rain.” Leo Durocher

“Baseball must be a great game to survive the fools who run it.” Bill Terry

“Good pitching will always stop good hitting and vise-versa.” Casey Stengal

“You can’t tell how much spirit a team has until it starts losing.” Rocky Colavito

“I ain’t never had a job. I just always played baseball.” Satchel Paige

“When you are in a slump it’s almost as if you look out at the field and it’s one big glove.” Vance Law

“You spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball and in the end, it turns out that it was the other way around.” Jim Bouton

“Those that work the hardest surrender last.” Anonymous

“The majority of American males put themselves to sleep by striking out the batting order of the New York Yankees.” James Thurber

“Jump on my back today, boys, I’m gonna carry us!” Kirby Puckett

“The strongest thing baseball has going for it today is it’s yesterday’s.” Lawrence Ritter

“Swing at the strikes.” Yogi Berra

“A team is where a boy can prove his courage on his own. A gang is where a coward goes to hide.” Mickey Mantle

“The greatest thrill in the world is to end the game with a homerun and watch everyone else walk off the field while you’re running the bases on air.” Al Rosen

“Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball.” Jacques Barzun

“Baseball is like a poker game. Nobody wants to quit when he’s losing, nobody wants to quit while he’s ahead.” Jackie Robinson

“If a tie is like kissing your sister, losing is like kissing your grandmother with her teeth out.” George Brett

“The guy with the biggest stomach will be the first to take off his shirt at a baseball game.” Glenn Dickey

“Ninety feet between the bases is the nearest thing to perfection that man has yet achieved.” Red Smith

“No one has ever drowned in sweat.” Clete Boyer

“A man once told me to walk with the Lord. I’d rather walk with the bases loaded.” Ken Singleton

“Ballplayers who are first to the dining room are usually last in batting averages.” Jimmy Cannon

“I’m glad I don’t play anymore. I could never learn all those handshakes.” Phil Rizzuto

“Every season has its peaks and valleys. What you have to try to do is eliminate the Grand Canyon.” Andy Van Slyke

“There are only two places in this league. First place and no place.” Tom Seaver

“I played my best everyday. You never know when someone may be seeing you play for the first time.” Joe DiMaggio

When asked why he got married in a ballpark: “My wife said she wanted a big diamond.” Mookie Wilson

“Baseball is a game of inches.” Branch Rickey

“When I began playing the game, baseball was as gentlemanly as a kick in the crotch.” Ty Cobb

“There’ll be two buses leaving the hotel for the park tomorrow. The 2:00 bus will be for those of you who need a little extra work. The empty bus will leave at 5:00.” Dave Bristol

“Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterward.” Vernon Law

“The space between the white lines-that’s my office. That’s where I conduct my business.” Early Wynn

“What a great day for baseball, let’s play two.” Ernie Banks

“It takes pitching, hitting and defense. Any two can win, all three make you unbeatable.” Joe Garagiola

“I don’t want to play golf. When I hit a ball, I want someone else to go chase it.” Rogers Hornsby

“Fans don’t boo nobodies.” Reggie Jackson

“Natural grass is a wonderful thing for little bugs and sinkerball pitchers.” Dan Quisenberry

“Losing streaks are funny. If you lose at the beginning, you got off to a bad start. If you lose in the middle of the season, you are in a slump. If you lose at the end, you’re choking.” Gene Mauch

“The way to catch a knuckleball is to wait until it stops rolling and then pick it up” Bob Uecker

“I don’t want to get to know the other guys too well. I might like them, and then I might not want to throw at them.” Sal Maglie

“I would be lost without baseball. I don’t think I could stand being away from it as long as I was alive.” Roberto Clemente

“An umpire’s heaven is a place where he works third base every game. Home is where the heartache is.”  Ron Luciano

“I was one of the guys that did all they could to win.” Joe Morgan

“Everybody kind of perceives me as being angry. It’s not anger, it’s motivation.” Roger Clemens

“One of the beautiful things about baseball is that every once in a while you come into a situation where you want to, and where you have to, reach down and prove something.” Nolan Ryan

“People always asked what it was like to room with Babe Ruth. I roomed with Babe Ruth’s suitcase!”  Tony Lazzeri

“I’d run through hell in a gasoline suit to play this game.”  Pete Rose

“A hot dog at the ballpark is better than a steak at the Ritz.”  Humphrey Bogart

“You can’t do anything about yesterday tomorrow”  Manny Trillo

“The secret to managing is to keep the guys who hate you away from the guys who are undecided”  Casey Stengel

“Other sports play once a week…but this sport is with us everyday. Peter Ueberroth

“I’m working on a new pitch. It’s called a strike.” Jim Kern

“A ballplayer has two repuations. One with the other players and one with the fans. The first is based on ability. The second, the newspapers give him.” Johnny Evers

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“If I had to name the number one asset you could have for any sport, I’d say speed. In baseball, all a guy with speed has to do is make contact.”

Ron Fairly

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“All I remember about my wedding day in 1967 is that the Cubs lost a double-header.”

George Will

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“Every player, in his secret heart, wants to manage one day. Every fan, in the privacy of his mind, already does.”

Leonard Koppett

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“Two events are supremely beautiful: the strikeout and the home run. Each is a difficult and unlikely thing flawlessly achieved before your eyes.”

William Saroyan

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“One of my goals in life was to be surrounded by unpretentious, rich young men. Then I bought the Atlanta Braves and was surrounded by twenty-five of them.”

Ted Turner

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“Above anything else, I hate to lose.”

Jackie Robinson

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“I’m just a ballplayer with one ambition, and that is to give all I’ve got to help my ball club win. I’ve never played any other way.”

Joe DiMaggio

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“If I had my career to do over again, I’d have swung the bat more. Those 1,200 walks-nobody remembers them.”

Pee Wee Reese

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“The game is full of peaks and valleys, the key is to avoid the Grand Canyon.”

Andy Van Slyke

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“You gotta hit ’em where they ain’t.”

Wee Willie Keeler

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“It is a game that has to be savored, not taken in gumps.”

Bill Veeck

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“I swing big, with everything I’ve got. I hit big or I miss big. I like to live as big as I can.”

Babe Ruth

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“Been in this game a hundred years, but I see new ways to lose ’em I never knew existed before.”

Casey Stengal

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“Hitting off of him was like trying to drink coffee with a fork.”

Reggie Jackson of Nolan Ryan 

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“This winter I’m working out every day throwing at a wall. I’m 11-0 against the wall.”

Jim Bouton

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“You argue with the umpire because there’s nothing else you can do about it.”

Leo Durocher

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“If what you did yesterday still looks big to you, you haven’t done anything today.”

Manny Trillo

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“The beauty and joy of baseball is not having to explain it.”

Chuck Shriver

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“Baseball is the only game in America for normal people. To play basketball, you have to be seven-feet-six. To play football, you have to have the same width.”

Bill Veeck

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“There isn’t enough mustard in the world to cover that hot dog.”

Darold Knowles on Reggie Jackson

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“Baseball was one hundred percent of my life.”

Ty Cobb

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“A good groundskeeper can help you win a dozen games a year. He is the tenth man in the line-up.”

Lou Boudreau

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“This game is beautiful. I don’t think there’s anything in the world that can produce so many emotional highs and lows day in and day out.”

Bill Freehan

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“He has a weakness for doubles.”

Bobo Newsom on Joe DiMaggio

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“I don’t want to get to know the other guys too well. I might like them, and then I might not want to throw at them.”

Sal Maglie

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“A critic once characterized baseball as six minutes of action crammed into two-and-one-half hours.”

Ray Fitzgerald

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“The good Lord was kind to me. He gave me a strong body, a good right arm and a weak mind.”

Dizzy Dean

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