On the field, blacks have been able to be super giants. But, once our playing days are over, this is the end of it and we go back to the back of the bus again.

I have always felt that although someone may defeat me, and I strike out in a ball game, the pitcher on the particular day was the best player. But I know when I see him...

I don’t feel right unless I have a sport to play or at least a way to work up a sweat.

This is wonderful, no doubt about it. You can tell by the fans that it’s catching on and is going to get better and better.

I never thought we’d ever have a black president. President Obama has done such a tremendous job… He just has been unable to get what he needs to be moved at the level it should...

I can’t recall a day this year or last when I did not hear the name of Babe Ruth.

I never doubted my ability, but when you hear all your life you’re inferior, it makes you wonder if the other guys have something you’ve never seen before. If they do, I’m still looking for...

I’m not thinking about Barry right now. I’ve answered those questions.

Didn’t come up here to read. Came up here to hit.

To this day, I don’t know how he withstood the things he did without lashing back. I’ve been through a lot in my time, and I consider myself to be a patient man, but I...

The pitcher has got only a ball. I’ve got a bat. So the percentage in weapons is in my favor and I let the fellow with the ball do the fretting.

I think what the commissioner is trying to do is trying to put an end to all of this. I know people have said, ‘Where is this investigation going, and what purpose?’ But I think...

I am very proud to be an American. This country has so much potential, I’d just like to see things better, or whatever, and I think it will be.

I don’t want them to forget Ruth, I just want them to remember me!

Guessing what the pitcher is going to throw is 80% of being a successful hitter. The other 20% is just execution.

You got to play a hundred and fifty games a year, so pick your spots. You can miss two games a month; so pick the days you’re gonna be hurt, or you’re gonna rest or...

I hope those players in Cuba will have a chance to compete in it. I hope politics don’t get involved in this thing like it does everything else.

We need to be concerned about young people . . . if we don’t protect them, how are we going to protect this country?

The triple is the most exciting play in baseball. Home runs win a lot of games, but I never understood why fans are so obsessed with them.

It took me seventeen years to get 3,000 hits in baseball. I did it in one afternoon on the golf course.

Can I smoke now without someone taking my picture?

That’s going to be left up to the commissioner and the rules committee.

I never smile when I have a bat in my hands. That’s when you’ve got to be serious. When I get out on the field, nothing’s a joke to me. I don’t feel like I...

[Not only will he break Hank Aaron ‘s record of 755 career home runs, he will blow it away. No less an authority than Aaron himself called him] the greatest ballplayer that has ever played...

I knew his father very well. And yes, I think I would owe it not only to Barry. I owe it to his father to respect everything that this young man has accomplished.

Leo, if I’m not calling you, everything’s fine. If I’m calling you all the time, something isn’t right.

I’m hoping someday that some kid, black or white, will hit more home runs than myself. Whoever it is, I’d be pulling for him.

I think of this award as being what we call ‘The Year of the Complete Ballplayer,’ … The player that has done the most not only for his team, but has done most to help...

Roger Maris lost his hair the season he hit sixty-one, I still have all my hair, but when it’s over, I’m going home to Mobile and fish for a long time.

My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging.

I want to applaud the commissioner, and I also just want to make sure that whatever we do, we make sure that we clean up baseball.

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.

Last year, I was sort of a kid and I was a little scared, I ain’t scared any more.

The thing I like about baseball is that it’s one-on-one. You stand up there alone, and if you make a mistake, it’s your mistake. If you hit a home run, it’s your home run.

I think it’s very much a distraction to the ball club, and that is a cancer, you just get done playing the best team in baseball, the team has been playing very well, despite everything...

You can only milk a cow so long, then you’re left holding the pail.

Discover Greatness: An Illustrated History of Negro Leagues Baseball,

It took me seventeen years to get three thousand hits in baseball. I did it in one afternoon on the golf course.

Whatever we do, make sure we clean up baseball.

I don’t see pitches down the middle anymore – not even in batting practice.

It makes me feel good to walk through there and know that some of the things that Negro League players played for has been preserved, and people can go in there, and look at it.

Failure is a part of success.

I’m here to support the commissioner and tougher drug penalties.