I'm a big sports fan even outside of baseball. I love watching guys that are supposed to be great, and are great, live up to the expectations. So I really appreciate consistency.

Customary though it may be to write about that institutionalized pastime as though it existed apart from the general environment, my story does not lend itself to such treatment.

Just hear Senator McCain speak. He may not give you the answer you are looking for, he may not be in agreement with you on a stance or an issue, but the man is honest to a fault.

Short of baseball and my family, it was gaming. And gaming is a $20-million to $200-million multi-year effort. It's an insane, stupid and utterly irresponsible act. But I did it.

Someone told me just recently that poets are eulogists. It's their job, to eulogize. I didn't know that, but it makes sense. Because in almost every poem of mine there is a loss.

I feel I let my team down today. My heart is bleeding for everybody else. I felt like I should have gotten it done today. That's how it is. Sometimes you do, sometimes you don't.

When you play for one run, that's usually all you get. I have nothing against the bunt in its place, but most of the time, that place is in the bottom of a long-forgotten closet.

I got snubbed about eight times for the Mid-Summer Classic, and I know what type of career I had, and I know that I'm a true All-Star. The selection process is not very accurate.

High school is what kind of grows you into the person you are. I have great memories, good and bad, some learning experiences and some that I'll take with me the rest of my life.

In baseball you hit your home run over the right-field fence, the left-field fence, the center-field fence. Nobody cares. In golf everything has got to be right over second base.

What he (Sammy Sosa) and I have been doing is fantastic. What we've done nobody in the game has done for thirty-seven years. I'm pretty happy with the way things have been going.

They try to say this era was a tainted era. But so many great players played in the last 15 to 20 years. This is going to be the best era in the history of the game in my opinion

I don't bat an eye at stuff like that. I've had my share of wins. If I worried about the games I should have won, it would probably drive me crazy. It was a fun game to pitch in.

I don't want to be Babe Ruth. He was a great ballplayer. I'm not trying to replace him. The record is there and damn right I want to break it, but that isn't replacing Babe Ruth.

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.

I think it's incredible because there were guys like (Willie) Mays and (Mickey) Mantle and Henry Aaron who were great players for ten years... I only had four or five good years.

To be perfectly honest, it isn't fair that people have used my personality, and the sacrifices I make because I want to, as an indication that I want to be in a political office.

I've been so fortunate in life to have worked for such great organizations, with great owners and general managers and all the great players, along with the support of my family.

I feel like I got a good jump on the ball. I turned my head and picked a spot out to run to. I was able to look back at the ball real quick again and it fell right into my glove.

The owner of the New York Yankees, Mr. George Steinbrenner who I had the greatest respect for, I want to thank him for giving me the opportunity to win that special ring in 1996.

Baseball is a game, yes. It is also a business. But what is most truly is is disguised combat. For all its gentility, its almost leisurely pace, baseball is violence under wraps.

I feel like myself and the city of Cleveland are in the same boat. We're made for each other. A few years ago, everybody had bad thoughts on Albert Belle. I feel that has changed.

There are times when your mind isn't ready to go but your body is, and times when your body is ready to go but your mind isn't. You try to get the two in sync as much as possible.

I cannot face my God much longer knowing that his black creatures are held separate and distinct from his white creatures in the game that has given me all that I can call my own.

Anytime you do something out of the ordinary, there will be skeptics. Everyone wants a reason why. That's fine. What's happened with me is just an accumulation of a lot of things.

Baseball players have such a bad rap of, like, 'We don't work out or we're not strong or this or that.' Guys work so hard in baseball, it's incredible. But people don't know that.

The Bible never says anything about dinosaurs. You can't say there were dinosaurs when you never saw them. Somebody actually saw Adam and Eve. No one ever saw a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Sneak out when things go good. It bothers me when people have good games and stand in front of their locker waiting for the media, then they have bad games and sneak out the back.

I don't know what my numbers are as a DH, but the fact that you're sitting basically for three hours and 38 minutes of a baseball game, you're hoping you get four or five at-bats.

If you're successful in what you do over a period of time, you'll start approaching records, but that's not what you're playing for. You're playing to challenge and be challenged.

Christ doesn't keep score. It's not about what you do here. It's about the person you are. It's about your faith. That's one thing that I'd like for young kids or anybody to know.

I'm a Baltimore guy. I've always loved Baltimore and always will love Baltimore, but baseball is baseball, and when you're playing on the opposing team, you're going to get booed.

There's really no secret to this; that everybody's - they are going to have a game plan against me and I'm going to have a game plan against them. It just comes down to execution.

Keep your head on the ball. You've got to hit it first, then look where it goes. People get in trouble when they look for where the ball's going, and they haven't even hit it yet.

A good catcher is the quarterback, the carburetor, the lead dog, the pulse taker, the traffic cop and sometimes a lot of unprintable things, but no team gets very far without one.

Sparky Anderson taught me this a long time ago: 'There's three ways you can treat a person. You can pat 'em on the butt, you can kick 'em in the butt, or you can leave 'em alone.'

They try to say this era was a tainted era. But so many great players played in the last 15 to 20 years. This is going to be the best era in the history of the game in my opinion.

People always ask me why I still want to play, but I want to know why no one will give me an opportunity. It's like they put a stamp on me: 'Hall of Fame. You're done. That's it.'

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.

Crime in the cities is very discouraging. Apartment house dwellers have locks, bolts, chains and bars on their doors. It takes a tenant longer to get out than a burglar to get in.

Baseball gives every American boy a chance to excel, not just to be as good as someone else but to be better than someone else. This is the nature of man and the name of the game.

I'm a great believer in the character of a club. To me, character has a lot to do with how you compete. That creates urgency and toughness. That elevates the talent that you have.

One of the reasons I wear No. 2 is because of him. Yeah, he was ultimate team guy. He was a winner. And just a good guy for a kid to look up to. And I always pretended to be Jeter.

I have to go with the approach I had in Triple-A. I need to take a lot of those fastballs I am seeing to left field. Also must gear up for the changeup and take them up the middle.

I would change policy, bring back natural grass and nickel beer. Baseball is the belly-button of our society. Straighten out baseball, and you straighten out the rest of the world.

Hey, I think it's easy for guys to hit .300 and stay in the big leagues. Hit .200 and try to stick around as long as I did; I think it's a much greater accomplishment. That's hard.

Work is not a drag for me. I like to get here early, hang out, catch up with the boys. I'll go in the cage and hit, do my exercises. I try to keep it fun and find ways to enjoy it.

Baseball is so hard as it is. For me, if you simplify it, it takes a little bit of the weight off, rather than trying to figure out all these other things. It's just peace of mind.

I've made mistakes, I've misspoke, I am sure I will again sometime, but that happens, that's part of being human in my book. I'm OK with that. I've never done it maliciously, ever.

I get the fantasy league comment a couple of times a series ... that's pretty cool. They might be rooting for the other team, but if I do well it helps them out. It's kind of cool.

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