Pete's Baseball Quotes

Axioms & Advice



George F. Will:
A wise old catcher once said of baseball, "It's like church. Many attend but few understand."

Branch Rickey:
Luck is the residue of design.

Babe Ruth, advice to teammates:
All I can tell 'em is pick a good one and sock it.

Wee Willie Keeler, asked his rules for hitting:
Keep your eye clear and hit 'em where they ain't.

Leo Durocher, on Mel Ott:
Nice guys finish last.

Casey Stengel:
There comes a time in every man's life, and I've had plenty of 'em.

Casey Stengel, upon being fired as Yankees manager for being too old:
I'll never make the mistake of being seventy again.

Casey Stengel:
You gotta have a catcher. If you don't have a catcher you'll have all passed balls.

Mickey Mantle, on golf:
He who have the fastest cart never have to play a bad lie.

Ken Singleton, after forcing in a run with a walk in the 1983 World Series:
A man once told me to walk with the Lord. I'd rather walk with the bases loaded.

Earl Weaver:
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.

Harmon Killebrew's father, when his wife complained about playing baseball in the yard ruining the lawn:
We're not raising grass, we're raising boys.

Chief Bender, American Indian, to jeering fans (c. 1910):
You ignorant, ill-bred foreigners! If you don't like the way I'm doing things out there, why don't you just pack up and go back to your own countries!

Bob Uecker:
The way to catch a knuckleball is to wait until the ball stops rolling and then to pick it up.

Charles O. Finley:
Good stockbrokers are a dime a dozen, but good shortstops are hard to find.

Casey Stengel:
Old-timers weekends and airplane landings are alike. If you can walk away from them, they're successful.

Casey Stengel:
Being with a woman all night never hurt no professional baseball player. It's staying up all night looking for a woman that does him in.

Casey Stengel:
Good pitching will always stop good hitting and vice-versa.

Yogi Berra:
Baseball is ninety percent mental. The other half is physical.

Yogi Berra:
The game isn't over 'til it's over.

Yogi Berra:
You've got to be careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there.

Red Smith:
Baseball becomes dull only to those with dull minds. Today's game is always different from yesterday's game.

Bill Lee:
In baseball, you're supposed to sit on your ass, spit tobacco, and nod at stupid things.

Bob Swift, Detroit Tigers catcher, advising his pitcher how to pitch to midget Eddie Gaedel:
Pitch him low.

Robert Benchley:
One of the chief duties of the fan is to engage in arguments with the man behind him. This department of the game has been allowed to run down fearfully.

Roy Campanella, catcher, to Don Newcombe, his pitcher:
Newk, you better do somethin', because when I signal for the express you throws me the local.

John F. Kennedy:
Last year, more Americans went to symphonies than went to baseball games. This may be viewed as an alarming statistic, but I think that both baseball and the country will survive.

Annie, in "Bull Durham":
I'd never sleep with a player hitting under .250 unless he had a lot of RBIs or was a great glove man up the middle. A woman's got to have her standards. (mw 326)

Joe Garagiola:
Never trust a baserunner who's limping. Comes a base hit and you'll think he just got back from Lourdes.

Dizzy Dean, on the Cold War:
I'd get me a bunch of bats and balls and sneak me a couple of umpires and learn them kids behind the Iron Curtain how to tote a bat and play baseball.

Kin Hubbard:
Knowin' all about baseball is just as profitable as bein' a good whittler. (mw 321)

Pete's Baseball Quotes