Where the ball went was up to heaven. Sometimes I threw the ball clean up into the stands.

Baseball in the Navy always was much more fun than it had been in the major leagues.

Ted Williams was the greatest hitter I ever saw, but DiMaggio was the greatest all around player.

I was only a gun captain on the battleship Alabama for 34 months. People have called me a hero for that, but I'll tell you this - heroes don't come home. Survivors come home.

I'm no hero. Heroes don't come back. Survivors return home. Heroes never come home. If anyone thinks I'm a hero, I'm not.

Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.

My father loved baseball and he cultivated my talent. I don't think he ever had any doubt in his mind that I would play professional baseball someday.