Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
God watches over drunks and third baseman.
I think the Angels could use me the most. The Angels don't have a day-to-day first baseman.
I played baseball as a left-handed first baseman, though never as well as I did quarterbacking.
Pop flies, in a sense, are just a diversion for a second baseman. Grounders are his stock trade.
When I throw a softball, there's no time to think about the motion of my arm. I just look at the first baseman's glove and react.
I took a huge risk leaving baseball, because I was predicted to play in the big leagues. I'm kind of a prototypical second baseman.
I wanted to be a second baseman for the Chicago Cubs. Problem is that my athletic abilities in my mind are greater than what my body can accomplish.
Obviously, being a first baseman, you're kind of expected to hit some home runs. Obviously, that goes into your head; it gets into my head a little bit.
I made the varsity team as a freshman at 15. Then, I tore a tendon and never fully recovered. I was a shortstop, then third baseman, then second baseman.
I got Neil Walker now as my new second baseman. He's great. He looks comfortable there. He knows what he's doing. That's the second baseman you want to play with.
I have a vivid memory of loving Keith Hernandez, the first baseman for the '86 Mets. I grew up in Queens, so when the Mets won the World Series that year, it was a big deal.
Your goal as a hitter is to get on. And if the third baseman is playing back and letting you lay down a bunt, I don't have a problem with that, even if it's late in a no-hitter.
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.
The base paths belonged to me, the runner. The rules gave me the right. I always went into a bag full speed, feet first. I had sharp spikes on my shoes. If the baseman stood where he had no business to be and got hurt, that was his fault.
I used to soak my mitts in a bucket of water for about two days. Then I'd put a couple of baseballs in the pocket and wrap it up with a rubber band. Today you don't have to do that, because catchers' mitts are more like first baseman's gloves.
Back when I first came up with the Twins as a second baseman, Billy worked with me on my fielding, on playing the game, on being heads-up, hustling, always doing my best, not alibiing. And when he was the Twins' manager, I enjoyed playing for him.
I was trying to land an 18-year-old strapping first baseman from Blanco, Texas, population 200. His name was Willie Upshaw. It turned out there were only three scouts who knew about Willie - Dave Yocum and I working for the Yankees, and Al LaMacchia from the Atlanta Braves.
There was a time when rival teams used a shift against me. They would put the second baseman on the shortstop's side of the bag, move the shortstop into the hole to his right, and have the third baseman hug the foul line. The idea was to build an infield wall against a known right-handed pull hitter.
For several years, I have had my eye on second baseman Del Pratt of St. Louis. I cannot say that he is a better player than our own Joe Gedeon, but he has played better ball, and we wanted him. Well, how did I get him? I paid $15,000 in cash and gave away a number of good players for him. But what can you do?
