” I see great things in baseball. It’s our game — the American game. It will take our people out-of-doors, fill them with oxygen, give them a larger physical stoicism. Tend to relieve us from being a nervous, dyspeptic set. Repair these losses, and be a blessing to us.”
~Walt Whitman
Back in 24 hours by popular request. Thanks for your active leading interest and support, Jim Ball and Greg Lucas!
1) A good cigar is like a beautiful chick with a great body who also knows the American League box scores. ~M*A*S*H, Klinger, “Bug-Out,” 1976
2) Swing hard, in case they throw the ball where you’re swinging. ~Duke Snider
3) You see, you spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball, and in the end it turns out that it was the other way around all the time. ~Jim Bouton, Ball Four, 1970
4) I’m going to write a book. This won’t be one of those tell-all-deals like Jim Bouton’s “Ball Four.” It’s going to be a family book. I’m just writing down a lot of things that go through my head, so there probably will be a lot of blank pages. (Quoted from it’s use by Greg Lucas in his wonderful new book, “Baseball: It’s More Than Just a Game.”)
5) I’m convinced that every boy, in his heart, would rather steal second base than an automobile. ~Tom Clark
6) Baseball was made for kids, and grown-ups only screw it up. ~Bob Lemon
7) Baseball players are smarter than football players. How often do you see a baseball team penalized for too many men on the field? ~Jim Bouton, 1988
8) When they start the game, they don’t yell, “Work ball.” They say, “Play ball.” ~Willie Stargell, 1981
9) Baseball is the only major sport that appears backwards in a mirror. ~George Carlin, Brain Droppings, 1997
10) When you’re in a slump, it’s almost as if you look out at the field and it’s one big glove. ~Vance Law
11) That’s baseball, and it’s my game. Y’ know, you take your worries to the game, and you leave ’em there. You yell like crazy for your guys. It’s good for your lungs, gives you a lift, and nobody calls the cops. Pretty girls, lots of ’em. ~Humphrey Bogart
12) When we played softball, I’d steal second base, feel guilty and go back. ~Woody Allen
13) Baseball is a game where a curve is an optical illusion, a screwball can be a pitch or a person, stealing is legal and you can spit anywhere you like except in the umpire’s eye or on the ball. ~Jim Murray
14) Every hitter likes fastballs, just like everybody likes ice cream. But you don’t like it when someone’s stuffing it into you by the gallon. That’s what it feels like when Nolan Ryan’s thrown balls by you. ~Reggie Jackson
15) Baseball is the only place in life where a sacrifice is really appreciated. ~Author Unknown
16) Ideally, the umpire should combine the integrity of a Supreme Court judge, the physical agility of an acrobat, the endurance of Job and the imperturbability of Buddha. ~”The Villains in Blue,” Time magazine, 25 August 1961
17) I’ve come to the conclusion that the two most important things in life are good friends and a good bullpen. ~Bob Lemon, 1981
18) No matter how good you are, you’re going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you’re going to win one-third of your games. It’s the other third that makes the difference. ~Tommy Lasorda
19) You don’t save a pitcher for tomorrow. Tomorrow it may rain. ~Leo Durocher, in New York Times, 16 May 1965
20) You can’t sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You’ve got to throw the ball over the goddamn plate and give the other man his chance. That’s why baseball is the greatest game of them all. ~Earl Weaver
21) The strongest thing that baseball has going for it today are its yesterdays. ~Lawrence Ritter
22) That’s the true harbinger of spring, not crocuses or swallows returning to Capistrano, but the sound of a bat on a ball. ~Bill Veeck, 1976
23) Baseball statistics are like a girl in a bikini. They show a lot, but not everything. ~Toby Harrah, 1983
24) It actually giggles at you as it goes by. ~Rick Monday, on Phil Niekro’s knuckleball, quoted in Sports Illustrated, 1 August 1983
25) What does a mama bear on the pill have in common with the World Series? No cubs. ~Harry Caray
Tags: baseball quotes
The Pecan Park Eagle 
October 17, 2014 at 2:55 pm |
Here’s one I’ve always like from the Season 8 episode of Magnum P.I. titled “Tigers Fan”:
I’ve always loved baseball. I think it has more of the American character than any other sport. It’s competitive without being cutthroat. It’s basically simple, but capable of incredible complexity. Baseball is played in parks. It has no clock except for the eternal rhythm of each individual game. This gives it thrilling bursts of action and moments of leisurely tranquility. All-in-all, I’m convinced that baseball represents one of man’s noblest endeavors. – Thomas Magnum (Tom Selleck)
October 17, 2014 at 3:01 pm |
Rick, Very nice! – Thanks for adding this one to our mix. – Bill