Quotes About Baseball

Major League Baseball is a national institution and we take our responsibilities seriously when it comes to how the game affects the lives of American youth.

I had the pleasure, as Robin said, to live a childhood dream as many young Americans and Puerto Rican children live that play youth baseball. And I feel honored and very thankful for that opportunity.

I was all-state in four sports in New Jersey, but sometimes I couldn't get served at a restaurant two blocks from my high school. There were no job opportunities then... the only thing a black youth could aspire to be was a bellboy or a pullman or an elevator operator, or, maybe, a teacher. There was a time when all we had was black baseball.

First of all, Marty Foster is a really good fellow. No. 2, Google or YouTube the time he called Ben Zobrist out on a strike three against Joe Nathan couple years ago that gave Joe Nathan his 300th save.

If I'd just tried for them dinky singles I could've batted around .600.

I always tried to hit the ball back through the box because that is the largest unprotected area.

I think when I first started, I tried to make believe I was in the ballpark, sitting next to somebody and just talking. And if you go to a ballgame, and you sit there, you're not going to talk pitches for three hours.

I was very, very shocked about Cooperstown. I thought my chances were fairly good, but I tried to stay low key about it, not too high and not too low. That was the way I played, too.

Any pitcher who throws at a batter and deliberately tries to hit him is a communist.

There is no doubt that someone who tries to throw a curve or pitch at any early age before he's developed, before his hand is big enough to grip the ball correctly, will damage his arm.

I liked Jackie Robinson because he was cool to watch, not because he was black. Every time you turned around, he was hitting a triple or making a great play in the field or, best of all, stealing home.

I started in the lowest league in baseball, and I worked my way all the way up to Triple A and then to the big leagues. I never reached the level that I thought I would reach as a player. But that's the way it goes. So then I started from the bottom as a manager, and I worked my way up to managing the Dodgers for 20 years.

In the spring of 1957, Mickey Mantle was the king of New York. He had the Triple Crown to prove it, having become only the 12th player in history to earn baseball's gaudiest jewel. In 1956, he had finally fulfilled the promise of his promise, batting .353, with 52 homers and 130 RBIs. Everybody loved Mickey.

When you hit a three-run triple, do you really need to get on third base, or do you need to stand on the double? You gotta be as smart as you can.

I went to my first game May 30, 1956, and Mantle was in the beginnings of his Triple Crown season. And he was drop-dead handsome.

All America is familiar with the Yankee-Dodger-Giant trivia, but so many other teams had great moments.

Historically, baseball has used the 60-yard dash to measure speed. In the most trivial way, this makes sense. This measurement, however, doesn't tell us much about baseball speed.

Dominicans, Nicaraguans, and even the already highly skilled Cubans greatly improved their baseball skills when occupied by U.S. troops. The only acceptable resistance to a hated American presence was to try to beat them in baseball games.

I won an MVP trophy with the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Association. I didn't even start. I was a sub on this team. This was, like, an All-Star game where we had athletes from different teams, different mixtures. We had, like, the only black team in the league, basically. We had four players go to the All-Star game.

I had trouble with my temper all the way through the minor leagues.

The pitcher is in trouble, not me. He has to throw it over the plate and I have to put a good swing on it.

The trouble with baseball is that it is not played the year round.

It's nice to have a catcher who knows my mechanics, too. That way if I get into trouble he can stop it before I get out of control.

I want to be 'a dude,' a guy that can help the team win. Mike Trout is a guy, Adam Jones, Clayton Kershaw, those are dudes, the big dogs.