I used to love to come to the ballpark. Now I hate it. Every day becomes a little tougher because of all this. Writers, tape recorders, microphones, cameras,
questions and more questions. Roger Maris lost his hair the season he hit sixty-one. I still have all my hair, but when it's over, I'm going home to Mobile and fish for a
long time. 
- Hank Aaron, as he closed in on Babe Ruth's career home run record 

Mickey (Mantle) meant an awful lot to me. He was a tremendous athlete. People didn't understand him the way they should have. He played 10 years on one leg.
But more than that, he was a tremendous person. 
- Hank Aaron

Looking at the ball going over the fence isn't going to help.
- Hank Aaron 

I had just turned 20, and Jackie (Robinson) told me the only way to be successful at anything was to go out and do it. He said baseball was a game you played every
day, not once a week.
- Hank Aaron 

The pitcher has got only a ball. I've got a bat. So the percentage of weapons is in my favor and I let the fellow with the ball do the fretting.
- Hank Aaron 

He's been very talkative. But it is usually under oath.
- Sandy Alderson, Oakland A's GM, on Albert Belle 

Some plays just come out of me, just on instincts. I'll make a play and wonder, How did I do that?
-Roberto Alomar 

You're only young once, but you can be immature forever
- Larry Andersen

How come we drive on parkways and park on driveways?
- Larry Anderson 

I sent Kruk one of those fruit and nut baskets at the hospital. I don't know if he likes fruit, but I know he'll appreciate the nuts.
- Larry Anderson, on John Kruk, after John Kruk had surgery 

Since baseball time is measured only in outs, all you have to do is succeed utterly; keep hitting, keep the rally alive, and you have defeated time. You remain forever
young.
- Roger Angell 

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

I'm beginning to see Brooks [Robinson] in my sleep. If I dropped a paper plate, he'd pick it up on one hop and throw me out at first.
- Sparky Anderson 

He's got power enough to hit home runs in any park, including Yellowstone.
- Sparky Anderson, on Willie Stargell 

The great thing about baseball is when you are done, you'll only tell your grandchildren the good things. If they ask me about 1989 I'll tell them I had amnesia.
- Sparky Anderson 

That's why I don't talk. Because I talk too much.
- Joquin Andujar

There's one word that describes baseball -- 'You never know.'
- Joquin Andujar 

Grantland Rice, the great sportswriter once said, 'It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game." Well Grantland Rice can go to hell as far as I'm
concerned.
- Gene Autry, owner of the Anaheim Angels 

He's like an amusement-park ride - Even for guys who play.
- Ruben Amaro, on Mark McGwire
 
 

It's hard to win when you can't keep the ball in the ballpark. I don't think they could hit more home runs if you told them what was coming. I don't think they could hit
any more if it was batting practice. 
-Dusty Baker on the Giants giving up 24 home runs in one seven game stretch. 

The only people I ever felt intimidated by in my whole life were Bob Gibson and my Daddy. 
-Dusty Baker 

For five years in the minor leagues, I wore the same underwear and still hit .250, so no, I don't believe in that stuff. 
-Dusty Baker, on stuperstitions 

There have been only two geniuses in the world: Willie Mays and Willie Shakespeare. 
-Tallulah Bankhead, Actress (1903-1968) 

Let's play two! 
-Ernie Banks 

Baseball is dull only to dull minds. 
-Red Barber 

If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant's life, she will choose to save the infant's life without even considering if there are men on
base. 
-Dave Barry 

I get tired of hearing my ballplayers bellyache all the time. They should sit in the press box sometime and watch themselves play. 
-San Diego Padres president Buzzie Bavasi, 1973 

I remember one game I got five hits and stole five bases, but none of it was written down because they forgot to bring the scorebook to the game that day. 
-James "Cool Papa" Bell, Homestead Grays OF 

They say I was born too soon. I say the doors were opened too late. 
-James "Cool Papa" Bell 

How can a guy win a game if you don't give him any runs? 
-Robert "Bo" Belinsky, after losing a game 15-0 

Jimmy Connors plays two tennis matches and winds up with $850,000, and Muhammad Ali fights for one bout and winds up with five million bucks. Me, I play 190
games--if you count exhibitions -- and I'm overpaid! 
-Johnny Bench 

I was thinking of making a comeback until I pulled a muscle - vacuuming. 
-Johnny Bench, on how he felt about Charlton Fisk breaking his record for career home runs by a catcher. 

An ardent supporter of the home town team should go to a game prepared to take offense, no matter what happens. 
-Robert Benchley 

The wind always seems to blow against catchers when they are running. 
-Yogi Berra 

A good ball club. 
-Yogi Berra on what makes a good manager 

Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical. 
-Yogi Berra 

You can observe a lot by watching. 
-Yogi Berra 

In baseball, you don't know nothing. 
-Yogi Berra 

A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore. 
-Yogi Berra 

It's like deja vu all over again. 
-Yogi Berra 

If the people don't want to come out to the park, nobody's going to stop them. 
-Yogi Berra 

Why buy good luggage? You only use it when you travel. 
-Yogi Berra 

Think! How the hell are you gonna think and hit at the same time? 
-Yogi Berra 

I didn't really say everthing I said. 
-Yogi Berra 

Nobody goes there anymore because it's too crowded. 
-Yogi Berra 

I'm not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did. 
-Yogi Berra 

I think Little League is wonderful. It keeps the kids out of the house. 
-Yogi Berra 

Little League Baseball is a very good thing because it keeps the parents off the streets. 
-Yogi Berra 

It gets late early out there. 
-Yogi Berra 

He hits from both sides of the plate. He's amphibious. 
-Yogi Berra 

I don't know. They had bags over their heads. 
-Yogi Berra when asked if the fans that ran naked on the field were men or women 

I want to thank you for making this day necessary. 
-Yogi Berra on Yogi Berra Appreciation Day in St. Louis in 1947 

It was hard to have a conversation with anyone, there were so many people talking. 
-Yogi Berra On a fancy White House dinner he attended 

I don't see how he lost five games during the season. 
-Yogi Berra on Sandy Koufax during the 1963 World Series. Koufax's record during the regular season was 25-5. 

So I'm ugly. So what? I never saw anyone hit with his face. 
-Yogi Berra 

You give 100 percent in the first half of the game, and if that isn't enough in the second half you give what's left. 
-Yogi Berra 

The game isn't over until it's over. 
-Yogi Berra 

You should always go to other people's funerals, otherwise, they won't come to yours. 
-Yogi Berra 

It ain't the heat, it's the humility. 
-Yogi Berra 

I never blame myself when I'm not hitting. I just blame the bat and if it keeps up, I change bats. After all, if I know it isn't my fault that I'm not hitting, how can I get
mad at myself? 
-Yogi Berra 

The towels were so thick there I could hardly close my suitcase. 
-Yogi Berra 

I was hoping we'd be opening at Joe Robbie Stadium against Elmer Milktoast and the Gigiville nine. But unfortunately, it's Bobby Cox and the world champion
Atlanta Braves in Atlanta. 
-Florida Marlins manager John Boles on his managerial debut 

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 

This is a tough park for a hitter when the air conditioning is blowing in. 
-Bob Boone on the Astrodome in Houston 

The best place to catch a baseball hit by (Mark) McGwire is definitely not within the confines of the playing field, or sometimes even the ballpark. Other players dial
'1' for long distance. McGwire has to ask for an international operator. 
-Thomas Boswell, writing in the Washington Post 

Last year [1986], in 415 at bats, he had 27 homers and 80 steals. That's 40 home runs and 120 steals for a full year. [...] This year [1987], in 93 at bats, he's hitting
.409 with those 12 homers, 27 RBI, 28 runs and 13 steals. For a full year, that projects to ... well, it doesn't project to anything. It's nonsense. More than 70 home
runs, 170 RBI, 180 runs, 80 steals. Wayne Gretzky stats for baseball. 
-Thomas Boswell on Eric Davis 

Baseball is religion without the mischief. 
-Thomas Boswell 

A lot of long relievers are ashamed to tell their parents what they do. The only nice thing about it is that you get to wear a uniform like everbody else. 
-Jim Bouton, NY Yankees pitcher 

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

A ballplayer spends a good piece of his life gripping a baseball, and in the end it turns out that it was the other way around all the time. 
-Jim Bouton, NY Yankees 

Everybody in the park knows he is going to run, and he makes it anyway. 
-Larry Bowa, on Lou Brock 

I can sit in a ballpark after a game and love looking at the field. Everybody's gone, and the ballpark is empty, and I'll sit there. I sit there and think, 'Is this as close to
heaven as I'm going to get?' Or, 'If I get to heaven, will there be baseball? 
-Kim Braatz-Voisard, Silver Bullets' center fielder, 1997

Every member of our baseball team at West Point became a general: this proves the value of team sports. 
-Gen. Omar Bradley 

Jackie (Robinson) was the greatest competitor I ever saw. He didn't win. He triumphed. 
-Ralph Branca Dodger pitcher 

If I stay healthy, I have a chance to collect three thousand hits and one thousand errors. 
-George Brett 

You mix two jiggers of scotch to one jigger of Metrecal. So far I've lost five pounds and my driver's license. 
- Rocky Bridges, on his new diet drink 

It's a good thing I stayed in Cincinnati for four years -- It took me that long to learn how to spell it. 
-Rocky Bridges 

Coaching third with a pitcher on base is like being a member of a bomb disposal squad. The thing could blow up in your face at any moment. 
-Rocky Bridges 

You know when you've got it made? When you get your name in the crossword puzzles. 
-Rocky Bridges 

I prefer fast food. 
-Rocky Bridges, on why he won't eat snails 

No little boy in the hospital asked me to hit one, I didn't promise it to my kid for his birthday, and my wife will be too shocked to appreciate it. I hit it for me. 
-Rocky Bridges, after hitting his first home run in two seasons 

The more I played with them, the more I found that no one could take a joke - my batting average. 
-Rocky Bridges, on his two seasons with the Dodgers and his .237 batting average 

The trouble with having a wired jaw is that you can never tell when you're sleepy. You can't yawn. 
-Rocky Bridges 

Why Mr. Summers, don't you know that the spitter has been outlawed for years? How would I ever learn to throw one? 
-Thomas Jefferson Davis Bridges, to plate umpire Bill Summers, after being accused of throwing the spitter 

They can hollar at the uniform all they want, but when they hollar at the man wearing the uniform, they're in trouble. 
-Umpire Joe Brinkman 

There'll be two buses leaving the hotel for the park tomorrow. The two o'clock bus will be for those of you who need a little extra work. The empty bus will leave at
five o'clock. 
-David Bristol, Milwaukee Brewers manager 

Show me a guy who's afraid to look bad and I'll show you a guy you can beat every time. 
-Lou Brock 

No one wants to hear about the labor pains, they just want to see the baby. 
-Lou Brock 

He seemed to have an obligation to hit. 
-Lou Brock, on Pete Rose 

There were only two Bash Brothers (Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco), and one's in Boston now. Maybe I can be a Bash Stepchild. 
-Oakland's Scott Brosius after suggestions he's ready to become a Bash Brother. 

To know for sure, I'd have to throw with a normal hand, and I've never tried it. 
-Mordecai "Three-Finger" Brown When asked if his curve was helped by the absence of an index finger 

I'm tired of it. I don't want to hear about it anymore. 
-Bill Buckner 

I exploit the greed of all hitters. 
-Lew Burdette 

Let them think I throw it. That gives me an edge because it is another pitch they have to worry about. 
-Lew Burdette, on throwing the spitball 

They were starting to hit the dry side of the ball. 
-Lew Burdette, on when he knew it was time to retire 

I threw about 90% fastballs and sliders, 50% fastballs and 50 % sliders...I'm starting to sound like Mickey Rivers. 
-John Butcher 

Pro sports are a tough business--whether you're in baseball, football, or something else. But when you're running around the bases after hitting a home run or jumping
up and down after a touchdown, a little boy comes to the surface. 
-Roy Campanella 

I thought I had it. I was twisting around like this. It grazed my glove, hit me on the head, and bounced over. I'll be on ESPN for about a month. 
-Jose Canseco 

This boy throws so fast you can't see 'em and he knows where he is throwing, because if he didn't there would be dead bodies all over Idaho. 
-Joe Cantillion, on Walter Johnson before joining the Washington Senators 

I'll tell you what's helped me my entire life. I look at baseball as a game. It's something where people can go out, enjoy and have fun. Nothing more. 
- Harry Caray

Booze, broads and bullshit. If you got all that, what else do you need? 
- Harry Caray

I've only been doing this 54 years. With a little experience, I might get better. 
- Harry Caray, on his mis-pronouncations

Now, you tell me, 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, on his reason not to retire

There's no person alive who got his money's worth better than my old man. 
-Skip Caray 

I get a kick out of watching a team defense me. A player moves two steps in one direction and I hit it two steps in the other direction. It goes right by his glove and I
laugh. 
-Rod Carew 

How do you say, "Adios" in Spanish? 
-Clay Carrol, former Reds reliever 

Pro-rated at 500 at-bats per year, my 1,081 strike-outs would mean that for 2 years out of the 14 I played, I never touched the ball. 
-Norm Cash 

I owe my success to expansion pitching, a short right field fence, and my hollow bats. 
-Norm Cash, First Baseman for the White Sox and Tigers 1958-74 

If you're not having fun in baseball, you miss the point of everything. 
-Chris Chambliss 

Raise the urinals. 
-Darrel Chaney on how management could keep the Braves on their toes 

I refuse to call a 52 year old man Sparky. 
-Al Clark, umpire, on Sparky Anderson 

I wasn't scared. I just told them to give me all that hockey equipment. 
-Roger Clemens, who wore Mo Vaughn's forearm pad and Kevin Mitchell's shinguard to get his first major-league hit 

If a Latin player or even an American Negro is sick, they say it is all in the head. Felipe Alou once went to his team doctor and the doctor said, 'You don't have
anything.' So he went to a private doctor and the doctor said, 'You have a broken foot.' 
-Roberto Clemente, Pittsburgh Pirates OF 

I want to be remembered as a ballplayer who gave all he had to give. 
-Roberto Clemente 

I think a baseball field must be the most beatiful 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 in "The Temple of Baseball" 

I think being able to play the infield, especially shortstop, is something you are born with. You can't learn it. 
-David Concepcion 

He's part of Americana, part of the folklore of this country: a guy who grew up in Oklahoma and became arguably the greatest power-hitting switch-hitter ever. 
-Ron Darling, Oakland A's pitcher, on Mickey Mantle 

I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter. 
-Crash Davis, In Bull Durham

Your shower shoes have fungus on 'em. You'll never make it to the Bigs with fungus on your shower shoes. Think classy, you'll be classy. If you win 20 in the Show,
you can let the fungus grow back on your shower shoes and the press will think you're colorful. Until you win 20 in the Show however, it means you're a slob. 
- Crash Davis, In Bull Durham

Relax. Alright, don't try to strike everybody out. Strike outs are boring, besides that, they're facist. Throw some ground balls - it's more democratic. So relax, let's
have fun OK? It's fun goddamnit! 
- Crash Davis, In Bull Durham

You just got lesson number one. Don't think, it can only hurt the ball club. 
- Crash Davis, In Bull Durham

1) We gotta play 'em one day at a time.
2) I'm just happy to be here. Hope I can help the ballclub.
3) I just want to give it my best shot, and the good Lord willing, things will work out.
- Crash Davis, In Bull Durham, listing "your friends, the cliche's"

A player on a streak has to respect the streak. You know why? Because they don't happen very often. If you believe you're playing well because your getting laid or
because you're not getting laid or because you're wearing women's underwear, then you are! 
- Crash Davis, In Bull Durham

How come in former lifetimes, everybody is somebody famous? 
- Crash Davis, in Bull Durham

Know what the difference between hitting .250 and .300 is? It's 25 hits. 25 hits in 500 at bats is 50 points, okay? There's 6 months in a season, that's about 25
weeks. That means if you get just one extra flare a week - just one - a gorp... you get a groundball, you get a groundball with eyes... you get a dying quail, just one
more dying quail a week... and you're in Yankee Stadium. 
- Crash Davis, In Bull Durham

When you get in a fight with a drunk, you don't hit 'em with your pitching hand. 
- Crash Davis, In Bull Durham

You be cocky and arrogant, even when you're getting beat. That's the secret. You gotta play this game with fear and arrogance. 
- Crash Davis, In Bull Durham

I knew I was in trouble when they had to call a proctologist to set my thumb. 
-Rick Dempsey, Baltimore Orioles, after blocking home plate against Bo Jackson 

A ball players'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 

You look forward to it like a birthday party when you're a kid. You think something wonderful is going to happen. 
-Joe DiMaggio, on Opening Day 

The phrase 'off with the crack of the bat', while romantic, is really meaningless, since the outfielder should be in motion long before he hears the sound of the ball
meeting the bat. 
-Joe DiMaggio 

This guy don't come to the ballpark to beat you. He comes to beat you bad. This Robinson, he plays a ton. 
-Leo Durocher, Dodger Manager 1947, on Jackie Robinson 

I never questioned the integrity of an umpire. Their eyesite...yes. 
-Leo Durocher 

Some guys are admired for coming to play, as the saying goes. I prefer those who come to kill. 
-Leo Durocher 

Nice guys finish last. 
-Leo Durocher 

If I were playing third base and my mother were rounding third with the run that was going to beat us, I'd trip her. Oh, I'd pick her up and brush her off and say,
'Sorry, Mom,' but nobody beats me. 
-Leo Durocher 

I don't like the record. You can have it. 
- Andres Galarraga, after being hit by pitch an Atlanta team record 21 times.

It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in 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. 
- A. Bartlett Giamatti

One good night does not a hitter make. 
- Tom Glavine after Smoltz's two-hit, three-RBI performance

I loved the game. I'd have played for food money. I'd have played for free and worked for food. 
-Joe Jackson, in W.P.Kinsella's Shoeless Joe Jackson

(Nolan) Ryan's the only guy to put fear in me. You just hoped to mix in a walk so you could have a good night and go 0-for-3. 
- Reggie Jackson 

It feels out there. I'm... It's a major rush. I mean it doesn't just feel out there, I mean it feels out there. You know? Um, kinda radical in a kinda tubular way. You
know? But most of all it's out there. 
-"Nuke" LaLoosh,in Bull Durham,on "How does it feels to get your first professional win?"

Sometimes, everyone in the bullpen would like to know if there is Plan B. We're apparently not going to get that information. 
- Kerry Ligtenberg

It's a beautiful shade of mauve. 
- Greg Maddux, on the shade of his left leg after taking a liner in the thigh and a hard grounder in the shin

Nolan (Ryan) knows he has perfect mechanics. It makes no difference that he doesn't understand the mechanics. He lucked into throwing the ball right. It came
naturally to him. If he had been taught, he probably wouldn't do it right. 
--Dr. Mike Marshall, former Major League pitcher 

He looked like a monster. You see the guy on TV, you can tell he's a big guy. When he stands up at the plate, he makes (catcher) Javy (Lopez) look small standing
there. You try not to look at him while you pitch to him. 
- Kevin Millwood on Mark McGwire

How should I put this? I was receptive to getting that many runs today. 
- Denny Neagle after the Braves trounced the Mets 12-1.

I believe Tony Gwynn sleeps with his bat. 
- Nike Ad 1995

I believe the squeeze play should be taught in public schools. 
- Nike Ad 1995

No one is bigger than the game except maybe Boog Powell. 
- Nike Ad 1995

I believe somebody, somewhere, understands the infield fly rule. 
- Nike Ad 1995

I believe it's time to sing "Take me out to the ballgame.." 
- Nike Ad 1995

And I believe every player should have a day off after two thousand, one hundred and thirty games. 
- Nike Ad 1995

I believe domed stadiums are great for tractor pulls. 
- Nike Ad 1995

And I believe the two greatest words in the English language are Play Ball! 
- Nike Ad 1995

I believe hitting a round ball with a round bat is the hardest thing to do in all of sports. 
- Nike Ad 1995

I believe that Roberto Clemente is the patron saint of baseball. 
- Nike Ad 1995

I believe that pitchers should buy catchers lunch. 
- Nike Ad 1995

I believe Lou Gehrig's birthday should be a national holiday. 
- Nike Ad 1995

I can remember my years with the Mets, just hoping that I'd get four years in so I'd qualify for my pension. That was my goal. Then, after I did that, I thought maybe I
could hang on long enough to get ten years in. 
- Nolan Ryan 

Going to the California Angels was a fresh start for me, and my experience there would totally turn around my career. The encouraging thing about it all was that I
was made to feel wanted right from the beginning. 
- Nolan Ryan, on his years with the California Angels 

Put the right pitching mechanics together with good health, and there's nothing surprising about lasting a long time. 
- Nolan Ryan 

I was concerned with my back problems and I said, "Well, I'll just go seven innings. Then I got through seven and decided I'm not going to give in to it because I just
needed six more outs. This no-hitter comes so late in my career that it makes it very special." 
- Nolan Ryan, on his sixth no-hitter 

I believe in the Church of Baseball. I've tried all the major religions and most of the minor ones. And the only church that truly feeds the soul, day-in day-out, is the
Church of Baseball. 
-Annie Savoy, in Bull Durham 

There are 108 beads in a catholic rosary and 108 stitches in a baseball. When I heard that, I gave Jesus a chance. 
- Annie Savoy, in Bull Durham

The world is made for people who aren't cursed with self-awareness. 
- Annie Savoy, In Bull Durham

Baseball may be a religion full of magic, cosmic truth and the fundamental ontological riddles of our time, but its also a job. 
- Annie Savoy, in Bull Durham

This is a simple game: You throw the ball, you hit the ball, you catch the ball. You got it! 
- Skip, In Bull Durham

Why do people sing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" when they are already there? 
- Unknown

He has been doing well in Triple-A. He has spent nine years in Triple-A, he should be doing well there. 
--Bobby Valentine on Mike Mimbs

What I like about him is he is a regular guy," Valentine said. "But he is not a regular baseball player, and he is going to demand a salary that's irregular. 
--Bobby Valentine On Mike Piazza

That's the true harbinger of spring, not crocuses or swallows returning to Capistrano, but the sound of a bat on the ball. 
-Bill Veeck, 1976