The curve and the fast one are important; the change of pace and the other trick deliveries are great but they're not worth a plugged nickel unless you have control to go along with them. And by control I don't mean the ability to put the ball over the plate somewhere between the shoulders and knees. I mean the ability to hit a three-inch target nine times out of ten, the sort of control that lets you put the ball in the exact spot you want it, and to play a corner to the split fraction of an inch.

I don't need to know where the green is. Where is the golf course?

Let me show you how it's done... Loser!

What the hell difference does it make?

Wealth is always attracted, never pursued.

Reading isn't good for a ballplayer. Not good for his eyes. If my eyes went bad even a little bit I couldn't hit home runs. So I gave up reading.

I learned early to drink beer, wine and whiskey. And I think I was about 5 when I first chewed tobacco.