Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I grew up in Southern California so I was always at the beach and outdoors. I remember my dad laying around the pool baking; he was practically George Hamilton.
Now that I feel 100 percent, I'm looking forward to playing my game the way I want to-getting on base, stealing bases and trying to help the team any way I can.
No matter what you do, people are gonna try to emulate you. Whether it's a dunk by Michael Jordan or a swing by Ken Griffey Jr., kids are doing the same things.
I looked for the same pitch my whole career, a breaking ball. All of the time. I never worried about the fastball. They couldn't throw it past me, none of them.
Baseball needs me because it needs somebody to stir the pot, and I need it because it's my life. It's the means I have to make a little difference in the world.
I believe that, as an athlete, how you got to the age of 42 makes a big difference. I have learned about my body; I haven't gone off only talent until I was 42.
There's only one cure for what's wrong with all of us pitchers, and that's to take a year off. Then, after you've gone a year without throwing, quit altogether.
My family has loved Minnesota and that was one of the big reasons we decided to come back. For me, family decisions were a big part to coming back to the Twins.
If I signed it that is the way it really happened. I don't know of any individuals who are saying anything different. I have no idea what is going on with that.
Father and son games - that was the best day. We'd be dressed at 6 o'clock in the morning. The game would be at 7 o'clock at night... And we'd play at, like, 5.
I have faced many different obstacles in my life, and have always maintained a strong belief that no matter the circumstances, I could overcome those obstacles.
The fans may be surprised to know that during my freshman year at Oglethorpe, I waited on tables and never made an error, never dropped a tray nor broke a dish.
A pitcher never gets me out. I get myself out. That's no disrespect to the pitcher, but there should be no excuse for failure. You can't have an excuse to fail.
The only book I ever read cover to cover was The Pete Rose Story. I read half of The Lou Gehrig Story and then made a book report on it for four straight years.
There are maybe one or two hours a day when I think I can play, but I get over that real quick once I realize the risk and my wife tells me, "Just take a seat."
When I was younger and inexperienced, I was a very animated pitcher. I pitched with a lot of adrenaline. I was my own worst enemy when things weren't gong well.
I've refined my mechanics, refined my pitches. I've gotten more confidence, and I've gotten more determination. I've got a better idea what I'm doing out there.
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.
At one point, we were all fearful. But as you get older, it's the things you don't do that you regret, more so than the things you do. When fear knocks, answer.
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.
I think it's incredible because there were guys like Mays and Mantle and Henry Aaron who were great players for ten years... I only had four or five good years.
Caltech honored me -- they named an asteroid after me. There's only two of them up there with names. One of them is Walter Cronkite. The other is Tommy Lasorda.
It's like most anything. If you want to be a loser, there's always a way to dwell on the negative. If you want to win, there's always a way to think positively.
My grandmother was the type of woman who always smiled and said, 'Treat people like you want to be treated, and life is so much easier.' My mom is the same way.
To me playing third base and left field and moving all over the place, it doesn't bother me because I still have to grab that bat and hit no matter where I play.
When I entered the pros, I was a young kid in the major leagues. I was 18 years old, right out of high school. I thought I knew everything, and I clearly didn't.
Who wants to get really granular with sabermetrics when you're going to see a two-and-a-half-hour Brad Pitt movie? You don't go to the cinema for a maths lesson.
The Capone era. That was my time. Capone was a big baseball fan. He'd walk into the ballpark like the president walking in today, with bodyguards all around him.
Anybody with ability can play in the big leagues. To last as long as I did with the skills I had, with the numbers I produced, was a triumph of the human spirit.
The thing about Reggie (Jackson) is that you know he's going to produce. And if he doesn't, he's going to talk enough to make people think he's going to produce.
If I don't make the team out of spring training, I'll keep a good attitude. I'll just go polish up the parts of my game that made me not stay in the big leagues.
When I came over here (the National League), I always heard it was a stronger league, with amphetamines all over the clubhouse, but all I found was Michelob Dry.
I lull them into a false sense of security by watching me pitch... If overconfidence can cause the Roman Empire to fall, I ought to be able to get a ground ball.
I can't remember a major league game where I could make eye contact with my dad. I kept wondering if he was going to yell at me for hanging a pitch or something.
I've never been one to look at numbers or think about stuff like that. The only numbers I worry about are wins and losses-that's always been my biggest priority.
There's responsibility, but there's also accountability. You have to be accountable for your actions. You have to stand at your locker when things are going bad.
I like to dance and sing when there's no one around, but, if I'm out, I'm really shy about it. So it takes a lot to get me going, but I enjoy being around music.
I could've played basketball, but my mind was on baseball. I didn't know what I was in for. In high school it was a matter of talent. No one told you what to do.
I tell young people - including my granddaughter - there is no shortcut in life. You have to take it one step at a time and work hard. And you have to give back.
I didn't know I hit that way (.625 with runners in scoring position). Maybe not knowing is my secret. If I chased numbers, maybe I wouldn't have as good results.
I heard that in the United States the level of baseball was the highest in the world. So it was only natural that I would want to go there, as a baseball player.
It's tough to strike out. Believe me. I hate striking out. It's no fun. It's embarrassing. But there really isn't anything I can do. It's just a part of my game.
I have a group of close personal friends that are all my world. My family is my world. And as long as those people are happy with me, then I'm happy with myself.
I'm not used to seeing the ball go wherever she wants. As a pitcher, I like to be - I don't want to say perfect, but I want to know what the ball is going to do.
I came into the game when I broke into the major leagues, the minimum salary was seven thousand dollars, and I'd have to go home in the wintertime and get a job.
We saw very little of the real Jack Buck behind the microphone. He would touch people in ways that we will never know. Jack was much more than just an announcer.
I'm a businessman. I bring my bat and glove and attache case to the office and go to work. I don't give a damn if the other workers at the office like me or not.
My mother has the same kind of an arm, even today at 74. She could throw a ball from second base to home plate with something on it. I got my arm from my mother.
The reality is that my stepfather was like a father to me and watching him die from a sudden heart attack was one of the hardest things I have ever gone through.
All I can tell them is pick a good one and sock it. I get back to the dugout and they ask me what it was I hit and I tell them I don't know except it looked good.