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.

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.

Baseball is only a game, a game of inches and a lot of luck. During a time of all-out war, sports are very insignificant.

I try to be a good human being and keep up with what's going on in the world by reading and staying in touch with the current events.

There was great leadership in this country at the time of World War II. There was also unrelenting resolve at home, in America's factories and on the farms, in the cities and the country.

Trying to sneak a fastball by Ted Williams was like trying to sneak a sunbeam by a rooster in the morning.

Cooperstown is the greatest place on Earth.