Quotes About Baseball

I didn't know if pro ball was in the plans for me. I didn't know it was going to happen right away.

Is it in the best interest of baseball to sell beer in the ninth inning? Probably not. The rule has got to be more clearly defined. And then some process should be set up where the judge is not also the appeals judge.

I hate it, but a popout is the same as a strikeout. It's a matter of productive at-bats, a matter of how you do it.

I've pitched in a lot of different roles in my career. I've been the middle-inning guy. I've been a lefty matchup guy. I've closed. I've kind of done a little bit of everything.

There is a definite loneliness in the game. Most people stay away from you since they think they're intruding upon your time. And after the ball game, when it's 11 o'clock and you want to eat dinner some place, the restaurants are closed.

I get a lot of kids distracted. Sometimes they got to go cover left field, but they're over here talking to me, getting an autograph.

More so than any other major American sport, baseball has the most diversity of culture and personality, and is the least marketable. Why? It doesn't make any sense.

It's like, baseball is a very good game, but it's very difficult to explain to somebody, if you stop and think about it. I just feel my life is like that.

When I was a kid, I remember my parents would say, 'Baseball is what you do, but that's not who you are' - like that might be my job, but that's not the end-all, be-all. I feel like I might even be able to use it to help other people or open some doors or explore more opportunities.

I've faced more than 35 major leaguers, and only two have ever made contact against me.

You don't play 162 games without facing some adversity during the course of the year.

Only facing right-handers and not left-handers is hard for me.

If I wanted to be a professional baseball player at some point, I knew I would have to do the jump ASAP because unfortunately age is a huge factor.

In baseball you have individual responsibility, and if you fail it, you get an error. But at the same time, your focus is on the common goal of the team to win. This is part of what resonates with people about baseball. This is how they would like society to work.

This is a crazy game we play. You're going to have those times you can't get out, and those times where you can do everything right, and the ball does not fall.

I think the biggest thing that I learned, and why I've fallen in love with baseball, is how mental of a game it is. It's such a mental sport, and it's beautiful. I think definitely the mental aspect, the stats, and the mathematics, that, to me, really blew me away.

I love talking baseball. I think it's an interesting subject, I think it's something I'm familiar with. It's something I can constantly learn about, I do like talking with the fans and I do like talking with everyman. I really enjoy it.

When you hit a player in the head, you're more apt to get some fisticuffs or, you know, bring both teams out on the field, but it was more accepted that - in the '50s, '60s and '70s. I think nowadays it's a little over-policed because I will always believe that knocking a hitter down, even hitting a hitter at, sometimes, is part of baseball.

There were a lot of places, including Los Angeles, that didn't have major league baseball. There were other really large cities that had no major league teams, but at least they had college football.

One reason outfielders don't have stronger arms might be they don't practice as much as we did. Most teams today don't take outfield practice. Another reason is baseball has to compete with other sports now - basketball, football, soccer - for the better athletes that might have more skills and stronger arms.

This illuminates not only fans' interest in major league teams but also the minors and even Little League.

Basketball's eras are defined by teams - Celtics, Lakers, Bulls - and baseball's epochs are defined by players - Ruth, Robinson, Mantle - but with football, it's the sideline strategists, the nutty professors and top coated Lears.

I played from the time I was seven years old. My father was my first baseman coach. I had opportunities that I never really pursued - with some Miami teams and a few larger colleges, and then I ended up bailing and began cooking.

American League teams don't bunt very often. National League teams bunt a lot.