Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
When I was a minor league player, my goal was to be a major leaguer. It's no different as a minor league manager.
When I'm arguing, I'm competing. I'm trying to win a game. And if that's what's called for, it's just a reaction.
There were a lot of players who worked just as hard as I did, and if you didn't, you didn't stay in the big leagues.
I just appreciated so much the contract they gave me, and I wanted to give something back to the Cubs' organization.
There's not too many guys that spend their whole career with one team and I think it's very fortunate and a blessing for me
No player in baseball history worked harder, suffered more, or did it better than Andre Dawson. Hes the best Ive ever seen.
There's not too many guys that spend their whole career with one team and I think it's very fortunate and a blessing for me.
No player in baseball history worked harder, suffered more, or did it better than Andre Dawson. He's the best I've ever seen.
I don't expect any red carpet to the big leagues. If the opportunity comes, then it comes. But I don't think I'm owed anything.
I do my homework. I come to the ballpark, and I relay any message that I need to relay to the players. I get that off my chest.
I love to play baseball. I'm a baseball player. I've always been a baseball player. I'm still a baseball player. That's who I am.
It didn't happen, but I feel fortunate for the two chances we had and it's just a shame we didn't go to a World Series for Cub fans.
Football, I thought, would be a tough sport to make a living in. There is no minor league. You either make it to the NFL or you don't.
I never forgot the four years I spent with the Phillies, my September call-ups and my big league Spring Trainings. I never forgot that.
I think sometimes Hall of Famers might get labeled as guys who aren't suited for a coaching job or to be back at the Major League level.
The reason I am here, they tell me, is that I played the game a certain way, that I played the game the way it was supposed to be played.
Get your work in. Work hard at it. Give it your best effort. And if you get an opportunity, be ready for it. That's respect for the game.
I am not the type of person who can leave my game at the ballpark and feel comfortable that my future is set regardless of my performance.
I was taught you never, ever disrespect your opponent or your teammates or your organization or your manager and never, ever your uniform.
I was taught you never, ever disrespect your opponent or your teammates or your organization or your manager, and never, ever your uniform.
In my day, if a guy came to spring training 20 pounds heavier than what he left, he was considered out of shape and was probably in trouble.
I've been proud to be a lifelong Chicago Cub and still be with the Cubs. That's always been important to me and I think it's always been special
I've been proud to be a lifelong Chicago Cub and still be with the Cubs. That's always been important to me and I think it's always been special.
I've spent 34 years associated with the Cubs, and part of the reason I've stayed in baseball is because I want to be part of a World Series winner.
I talk to the players, either individually or as a group, what I'm feeling, and I think the players appreciate that. And I think they respond to that.
Hit a home run - put your head down, drop the bat, run around the bases, because the name on the front is more - a lot more important than the name on the back.
Any time you're in the coaching business or managing in the minor leagues, when you see a player who has made it to the major leagues, you get a thrill out of that.
It was everyone going up there to swing for the fences, because the home runs were what would get them on 'SportsCenter.' That really changed the mindset of the players.
I'd rather play a double-header than speak at a banquet, and if I went to Wrigley Field knowing I had to be somewhere two hours after the game, it would bother me all day.
You want to see energy, and you want to see guys on the same page. You want guys to work together and have that energy come out onto the field. That's a good place to start.
They use the word 'integrity' in describing a Hall of Famer in the logo of the Hall of Fame, and I think there are gonna be quite a few players that are not going to get in.
I learned a lot in the Minor Leagues, spending six years there. I honed my skills, as far as coaching goes. I was able to work with the players in a lot of facets of the game.
If this validates anything, it's that learning how to bunt and hit-and-run and turning two is more important than knowing where to find the little red light on the dugout camera.
If this validates anything, it's that learning how to bunt and hit and run and turning two is more important than knowing where to find the little red light at the dug out camera.
I came up under the wing of Larry Bowa, and one thing I did not do was ever take a day off from taking pregame groundballs or batting practice. Then the games were just having fun.
When we went home every winter, they warned us not to lift heavy weights because they didn't want us to lose flexibility. They wanted us to be baseball players, not only home run hitters.
I was taught coming up in the Phillies organization to be seen and not heard by people like Pete Rose, my hero growing up, and players like Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton and Manny Trillo.
I was a baseball player at North Central High School in Spokane, Washington even though I was all-city in basketball, even when I signed a letter of intent to play quarterback at Washington State.
Time and time again, I see former teammates, and we talk about it. It feels like we are all on the same page: We enjoyed the regular season, but we were disappointed in not making the World Series.
Your first responsibility is to the organization, to teach and prepare players to get to the big leagues and have them ready when they get there, but everyone in the minors wants to be in the majors.
It's an elite group. And once you're in the Hall, you're in the Hall. Up until now, I think the voting system has handled things very well. And like I said before, there are no suspicions in the Hall of Fame.
I played high school football at a hundred and eighty-five pounds and played big league baseball at a hundred and eighty-two. I'd get up to maybe 188 in the off-season because every summer I'd lose eight to ten pounds.
Typically, a position change is more for instructional league and winter time. It's just a more relaxed situation. A player can make some mistakes and learn from them. That's the proper way to go about a position change, for me.
I'm not a sportswriter. I don't get to vote. I don't get the ballot in the mail, so it's out of my hands either way. I can say that in the history of the Hall of Fame, there are no suspicions about guys who are in the Hall of Fame.
The Phillies liked the work I had done with the Cubs, and really wanted me there. They were on the phone as soon as my contract was up in Chicago, and it was just a great feeling to be wanted, to be appreciated for the work you do.
I let the players use their abilities and what they're capable of doing. If they're capable of stealing bases, I'm going to give them the green light. I'm going to teach them to pick their spots and to get a base when they can get a base.
I know I'm appreciated by how fans treat me, and the best way to treat them is play every day, hard. I sign autographs, but if I'm with someone I don't know who doesn't start the conversation, there won't be a conversation. That's just me, living my life. But I'll loosen up after baseball.
As great a public speaker as I am, I don't know have - I don't - I don't have the words to describe Cub fans who welcomed me as a rookie, were patient through my 1-for-32 start, and took me into their homes and into their hearts and treated me like a member of their family. You picked me up when I was down.
'The Sandberg Game' comes up all the time. Fans tell me where they were. They were driving down the highway, they were in the bleachers, they were downtown listening on the radio, they were on the farm on a tractor. I've heard all the stories where people have been. They're just amazed by the ending of the game and the thrill of it.