We really had baseball in the family. Even that little habit I've got of chewing tobacco on the ball field sort of comes from my dad.

On Hanukkah, the first dark night, Light yourself a candle bright. I'll you, if you will me invite To dance within that gentle light.

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.

I think what motivated me was just hope. Something inside of me, deep down in my guts, always felt like there was something in there.

The only thing I wish I could figure out is how I got misunderstood regarding the type of person I really am and what I accomplished.

Rickey got a big ranch. Rickey got a big bull. Rickey got horses. Rickey got chickens and everything. And Rickey got a 20-gallon hat.

People recognize me - but if you've been in the public eye as long as I have and people don't recognize you, I feel bad about myself.

After I failed to win the Most Valuable Player Award in 1960, I made up my mind I'd win the batting title in 1961 for the first time.

The first day that I get to Fort Myers, there was a newspaper down there. The newspaper said, 'Puerto Rican hot dog arrives in town.'

When I wasn't lying awake thinking and planning and fighting over that furious pennant race, I was dreaming restless dreams about it.

My father played baseball. That's what I know to do. That's my gift. God has given me the greatest gift. And that's what I love to do.

Whenever someone has the ability to impact people's lives, I think that's one of the greatest things that God gives us as individuals.

"I'm going over the valley." (Dying from throat cancer, his doctor found him wandering around his room, asked him where was he going?)

If you want to be on top, you've got to have broad shoulders, because as fast as you get there, the faster they try to knock you down.

I want to stay with the Orioles. I'd like to play here for the rest of my career. I don't want to go through this again in four years.

My changeup needs to be better. Until I feel comfortable throwing that pitch - or any pitch - in any count, I've got stuff to work on.

The playoffs is ‑ I think I took it for granted a little bit. My first two years I kind of just thought that always happened, I guess.

Then you figure out that if you don't throw it as hard as you can, you can put it where you want. It's more important where you put it

During the offseason, I go to the movies almost every day. You hear about women buying shoes? I buy DVDs. I definitely have a problem.

The thing that means the most to me is being remembered as a Yankee, because that's what I've always wanted to be, was to be a Yankee.

My past is my wisdom to use today. . . my future is my wisdom yet to experience. Be in the present because that is where life resides.

There are many kids in and out of baseball who think that just because they have some natural talent, they have the world by the tail.

People have the right to say what they want, but as long as I can go to bed at night and look myself in the mirror, I'll be all right.

All the publicity, the attention, the interviews, the photographs, were too much for me (after throwing his second no-hitter in 1938).

Sometimes you have to look at a start and say, 'Nothing is wrong.' Even when you get lit up, you still have to say 'Nothing is wrong.'

You don't have to be big to be a big leaguer. Look at Phil Rizzuto. He's really small and he's been one of the greatest that ever was.

I would think every organization has pitchers who have good talent but just don't have what it takes to make it with what they've got.

I know I never saw Casey Stengel when I was being scouted. And how could you be in a ballpark and not know if Casey Stengel was there?

I sure don't think of myself as a fat person, just someone who carries extra weight. I've never seen anyone on the DL with pulled fat.

If you're going to cook a fresh chicken, it's not a big concern. But if you're going to ship a chicken, there's a change in structure.

Other than playing the game I love, my passion is investing in innovative companies and helping the entrepreneurs behind them succeed.

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.

The government deficit is the difference between the amount of money the government spends and the amount it has the nerve to collect.

My mind is just a product of 50 years of being taught. I'm no smarter than anyone else, but I've been taught by some wonderful people.

I was so engrossed in my sport, I wasn't thinking about the future from God's standpoint. I was thinking about just my sporting future.

I'm not going to be a guy who does dances after he strikes somebody out. I'm not like that. I just want to secure a win. That's my job.

There's nobody as sexy as Robinson Cano in the box. I had a coach, Chris Sheff, who always told me to be as sexy as you can in the box.

He's not anybody's clone. He's Ken Griffey, Jr. As long as he continues to remind himself of that, he's going to be a very good player.

Many baseball fans look upon an umpire as a sort of necessary evil to the luxury of baseball, like the odor that follows an automobile.

If you live your life the right way, you work hard, you go about things the right way, eventually something good's going to come of it.

Then you figure out that if you don't throw it as hard as you can, you can put it where you want. It's more important where you put it.

Women's liberation will not be achieved until a woman can become paunchy and bald and still think she's attractive to the opposite sex.

When you mail Ichiro something from the States, you only have to use that name on the address and he gets it (in Japan). He's that big.

You can't worry if it's cold; you can't worry if it's hot; you only worry if you get sick. Because then if you don't get well, you die.

The most validating thing was when my picture was on my first bubble gum card. That was in '68 for me. I was finally on the Topps card.

I'm the leadoff hitter, it's my job to lead this team. I know people say the way I go is how the Mets go, so I'll do whatever it takes.

I feel like, looking back, if I didn't have so many injuries, who knows where my numbers could be right now. But only God can judge me.

If you can stay back, you can wait an extra split-second longer, and then you become more relaxed, and that's when you gain confidence.

I define ministry as what you've went through. I believe it takes somebody to go through something to be able to minister to something.

I know the prettiest word in the world is ‘money.’ But I believe that words like ‘loyalty’ and ‘patriotism’ are very beautiful as well.

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