Some memorable quotes from the game
By COREY NOLES
Last night as I was perusing the Internet looking at various baseball goodies, I came across an old column of mine that gave me the idea to share some memorable baseball quotes.
As a young boy I loved old television shows, more specifically, Mr. Ed. At one point during the series, I'm unsure of the year, Mr. Ed was phoning in baseball tips to Leo Durocher as the Dodgers were in the heat of a pennant race.
Because I enjoyed the show so much, I've always had a fondness for the players tied to those episodes.
At one point, Ed goes to Dodger Stadium to share some tips with the team and gets the opportunity to take a pitch or two. He drives a ball into the left field gap and rounds the bases faster than any man would dream of before sliding into home. When he slides, Durocher tells Wilbur he thinks that's "the smartest horse he ever saw." Wilbur responds by saying, "He's not so smart. He forgot to touch second base."
That's why I was so excited last night when I found an absolute steal on a Moose Skowron autographed baseball. I know it's a silly story, but sometimes our baseball stories are a little silly. In turn, here are a few of my favorite baseball quotes of all time. This first one, from Durocher, is one of my all time favorites.
"What are we at the park for except to win? I'd trip my mother. I'd help her up, brush her off, tell her I'm sorry. But mother don't make it to third." ~Leo Durocher
"Baseball is like a poker game. Nobody wants to quit when he's losing; nobody wants you to quit when you're ahead." ~Jackie Robinson
"Baseball was, is and always will be to me the best game in the world." ~Babe Ruth
"These old ballparks are like cathedrals in America. We don't have big old Gothic cathedrals like they do in Europe. But we got baseball parks." ~Jimmy Buffett
"There are three types of baseball players: those who make it happen, those who watch it happen, and those who wonder what happens." ~Tommy Lasorda
"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." ~Hank Aaron
"I think I was the best baseball player I ever saw." ~Willie Mays
"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
"People don't know this, but I helped the Cardinals win the pennant. I came down with hepatitis. The trainer injected me with it." ~Bob Uecker
"The way to catch a knuckleball is to wait until it stops rolling and then pick it up." ~ Bob Uecker
"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." ~Rogers Hornsby
"If Satch (Paige) and I were pitching on the same team, we would clinch the pennant by July fourth and go fishing until World Series time." ~Dizzy Dean
"When a pitcher's throwing a spitball, don't worry and don't complain, just hit the dry side like I do." ~Stan Musial
"Every great batter works on the theory that the pitcher is more afraid of him than he is of the pitcher." ~Ty Cobb
"There is always some kid who may be seeing me for the first time. I owe him my best." ~Joe Dimaggio
I hope you enjoyed reading these quotes as much as I enjoyed locating them. There are so many great ones out there, and this is only the tip of the iceberg.
Thanks for reading.
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To submit a question for the Balls & Strikes Mailbag, either e-mail cnoles@dailystatesman.com, call (573)624-4545, or fill out the form at dailystatesman.com/blogs/coreynoles/
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