Mickey Mantle Quotes

Billy copied Casey to a 'T.'

My views are just about the same as Casey's.

All I had was natural ability.

I've often wondered how a man who knew he was going to die could stand here and say he was the luckiest man on the face of the earth, but now I guess I know how he felt.

There are two kinds of people. There are leaders and there are followers. And I'm a follower.

This year I'd rather lead the league in home runs, runs batted in and hitting.

In 1961 somebody could've hit a home run to win the game and the next day the headline was about the M&M boys not hitting a home run. But everyone was real good about it. Instead of getting mad they joked about it.

Stay away from drugs and alcohol. Listen to your moms and dads. In this great country of ours you do whatever you set your mind to. Make us proud of you.

Thank God for baseball.

After I hit a home run I had a habit of running the bases with my head down. I figured the pitcher already felt bad enough without me showing him up rounding the bases.

I never saw him fight. I never saw Billy fight.

I had it all and blew it.

Roger Maris was as good a man and as good a ballplayer as there ever was.

You don't realize how easy this game is until you get up in that broadcasting booth.

Somebody once asked me if I ever went up to the plate trying to hit a home run. I said, 'Sure, every time.'

There were things that would irritate Casey, but trying too hard or getting mad at sitting on the bench weren't among them.

I've heard about you. I've heard about you, too.

The strain on Roger (Maris) was unbelievable. After I dropped out the reporters only had one guy to go to. They surrounded him everywhere he went. He had big clumps of hair falling out. That he went ahead and did it was unbelievable.

Hey man! Get away from me!

The only thing I can do is play baseball. I have to play ball. It's the only thing I know.

I thought I raised a ballplayer. You're nothing but a coward and a quitter.

Hey Mantle, you win. You're the worst.

He who have the fastest cart never have to play a bad lie.

Heroes are people who are all good with no bad in them. That's the way I always saw Joe DiMaggio. He was beyond question one of the greatest players of the century.

The hardest thing to do in sports, I think, is to hit a home run.

I wanted to throw my glass at the TV.

Billy (Martin) wasn't afraid of anything.

I think the best all-round baseball player ever was Joe DiMaggio.

A team is where a boy can prove his courage on his own. A gang is where a coward goes to hide.

Hey Yog, what time is it? You mean right now?

If I were playing today I'd do what Joe DiMaggio said. I'd go knock on the door at Yankee Stadium and when George Steinbrenner answered I'd say, 'Howdy, pardner.'

The thing I really liked about Mickey was the way he treated everyone the same.

They should have come out of the dugout on tippy-toes, holding hands and singing.

Watch the old man. Watch how the old man keeps the guys who aren't playing happy.

The best hitter I ever saw was Ted Williams.

Butcher boy, damn it, butcher boy.

It gave me a second chance. I'd like everybody to have a second chance if they need it, so I'm trying to let people know how important it is to become an organ donor.

When I'm hitting, I'd play for nothing. When I'm not, any kind of money I receive makes me feel as if I'm stealing.

When I hit a home run I usually didn't care where it went. So long as it was a home run was all that mattered.

I don't know why Roger (Maris) isn't in the hall of fame. To me, he was as good as there ever was.

A lot of people wrote that Roger (Maris) and I didn't like each other and that we didn't get along. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I always loved the game, but when my legs weren't hurting it was a lot easier to love.

I'll play baseball for the Army or fight for it, whatever they want me to do.

It's unbelievable how much you don't know about the game you've been playing all your life.

Not after all the time my dad spent teaching me to switch-hit.

I hated to bat against Drysdale. After he hit you he'd come around, look at the bruise on your arm and say, 'Do you want me to sign it?'

Hitting the ball was easy. Running around the bases was the tough part.

Don't do as I did. I'm living proof of how not to live.