By: C.G. Morelli
Everybody loves a good sports quote. Ranging from witty insults to deep, sometimes spiritual, insights into life, a legendary line from our favorite athlete can serve as the inspiration that keeps you going, or as something that simply makes you laugh.
To me, no sport has contributed more generously to our supply of sports quotes than the game of baseball. You can easily spend endless hours reading through quotes relating to our nation’s pastime and trying to decide on a small list of favorites. Trust me. How do you think I came up with my list of The 20 Greatest Baseball Quotes of All-Time? Well, you didn’t think I’d keep them all to myself, did you?
So, grab yourself an ice-cold beer, some ballpark franks, and a few bags of peanuts and have a look for yourself. And don’t worry, you can toss the shells on the floor…we don’t mind.
Baseball’s 20 Greatest Quotes
20. Honus Wagner, Pittsburgh
“There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer.”
19. Lou Piniella, Cubs Manager
“Statistics are like bikinis. They show a lot, but never everything.”
18. Leo Durocher, Dodgers Manager
“I have never questioned the integrity of an umpire. Their eyesight, yes.”
17. Al Stump, Ty Cobb Biographer
“Was Ty Cobb psychotic throughout his playing career? The answer is yes.”
16. Richie Ashburn, Philadelphia
“A good lead-off hitter is a pain in the ass to pitchers.”
15. Rocky Bridges, Minor League Manager
“There are three things the average man thinks he can do better than anyone else: build a fire, run a hotel, and manage a baseball team.”
14. Cy Young, Boston
“A man who isn’t willing to work from dreary morn till weary eve shouldn’t think about becoming a pitcher.”
13. Hank Aaron, Atlanta
“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.”
12. Mike Schmidt, Philadelphia
“Anytime you think you have the game conquered, the game will turn around and punch you right in the nose.”
11. Durwood Merrill , AL
“Baseball is the only sport that lets the managers and coaches go out onto the field and rant and rave”
10. Willie Mays, New York
Interviewer: “Willie, how do you compare this catch with other catches you’ve made?”
Willie Mays: “I don’t compare ‘em, I catch ‘em.”
9. Johnny Bench, Cincinnati
“Slumps are like a soft bed…they’re easy to get into and hard to get out of.”
8. Casey Stengel, Mets Manager
“Come out and see my Amazin’ Mets. I been in the game a hundred years but I see new ways to lose I never knew existed.”
7. Stan Coveleski , Washington
“Lord, baseball is a worryin’ thing.”
6. Tug McGraw, Philadelphia
“Ninety percent of my salary I spent on booze and women…and the other ten percent I wasted.”
5. Yogi Berra, New York
“Slump? I ain’t in no slump. I just ain’t hittin’.”
4. Ted Williams, Boston
“All I want out of life is that when I walk down the street folks will say, ‘There goes the greatest hitter that ever lived.’”
3. Jim Bouton , New York
“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.”
2. Lou Gehrig , New York
“Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth…”
1. W.P. Kinsella, Author of Shoeless Joe (adapted to the screen as Field of Dreams)
“The one constant through all the years has been baseball. America
It goes without saying that subjectivity is not something you can really apply to a list such as this. Therefore, it’s inevitable that one or more of your favorite quotes went missing. Here’s your chance to tell us which ones would make your list:
