Quotes from Reggie Jackson

Babe Ruth was great. I'm just lucky.

I know I never saw Casey Stengel when I was being scouted. And how could you be in a ballpark and not know if Casey Stengel was there?

I probably hit 35 balls into the right-field bleachers.

I am not merely a baseball player. I am a black man who has done what he wants, gotten what he wanted, and will continue to get it.

I know how hard it is to shoot the basketball, so I've got great appreciation for it.

The pitcher has the ball, and nothing happens until he lets go of it. So as the batter, I felt I had to fight for any bit of control I could get. I expected the umpire, the catcher, and the pitcher to wait on me. I wanted to get ready on my time.

I am the best in baseball.

Do you have any idea what Ali meant to black people? He was the leader of a nation, the leader of Black America. As a young black, at times I was ashamed of my color; I was ashamed of my hair. And Ali made me proud.

This is what happens when you get old and have a couple of bucks. You go back and try to be young again.

I didn't see Kirby Puckett as a Hall of Famer. I didn't see Gary Carter as a Hall of Famer. I didn't see Don Sutton as a Hall of Famer. I didn't see Phil Niekro as a Hall of Famer. As much as I like Jim Rice, I'm not so sure he's a Hall of Famer.

Blind people come to the park just to hear him pitch.

October: that's when they pay off for playing ball.

Please God, let me hit one. I'll tell everybody you did it.

When I hit, I felt I was in control of the home-plate area, and it was important that I felt that way. If I let the pitcher control it, it would give him an advantage.

No. No, no, no, no, Blyleven wasn't even the dominant pitcher of his era - it was Jack Morris.

When I went to home plate in a game-tied situation or with a chance to do something and help the ballclub win one, I'd try to make eye contact with the pitcher.

You can play football and be the next Jim Brown or play baseball and be the next Reggie Jackson.

If I played today, I'd stay in trouble. I'd be in the commissioner's office all the time, I guess. I'd be everywhere - including where I wasn't supposed to be.

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's thrown balls by you.

Fans don't boo nobodies.

Once you relize how good you really are, you never settle for playing less than your best

Home run hitters strike out a lot.

Everybody in the league knew I had trouble with the inside pitch. I got away with it only because the great majority of pitchers were afraid of making a mistake in that spot. The threat of power is one of the best weapons you have in the batter's box.

If you can't see the rotation and tell if it's a sink - a fastball, then you have to be able to tell whether that fastball is a two-seamer or a four-seamer. You have to be able to recognize if it's a slider or a curveball. You have to be able to recognize if it's a changeup or a split-finger.