I've heard people say that the trouble with the world is that we haven't enough great leaders. I think we haven't enough great followers. I have stood side by side with great thinkers - surgeons, engineers, economists; people who deserve a great following - and have heard the crowd cheer me instead.

Well, the good Lord and good luck must have been with me because I did exactly what I said I was going to do.

What the hell has (Herbert) Hoover got to do with it? Anyway, I had a better year than he did.

Hotter 'n hell, ain't it, Prez?

Don't let the fear of striking out hold you back.

I swing big, with everything I've got. I hit big or I miss big. I like to live as big as I can.

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.