The pitcher has got only a ball. I've got a bat. So the percentage in weapons is in my favor and I let the fellow with the ball do the fretting.

I think about how a guy mentally prepared himself to do battle, to go out and face the pitcher. I think so many hitters do not know how to get themselves prepared to play or hit against a pitcher. You have to mentally be prepared to hit against all pitchers.

There is no such thing as a bed of roses all your life.

I never smile when I have a bat in my hands. That's when you've got to be serious. When I get out on the field, nothing's a joke to me. I don't feel like I should walk around with a smile on my face.

Can I smoke now without someone taking my picture?

In baseball, there is something electrifying about the big leagues. I had read so much about Stan Musial, Ted Williams and Jackie Robinson. I had put those guys on a pedestal. They were something special. I really thought they put their pants on different, rather than one leg at a time.

It took me seventeen years to get three thousand hits in baseball. I did it in one afternoon on the golf course.