Walter Johnson's fastball looked about the size of a watermelon seed and it hissed at you as it passed.

I had to fight all my life to survive. They were all against me, but I beat the bastards and left them in the ditch.

When I began playing the game, baseball was about as gentlemanly as a kick in the crotch.

The best recommendation for an umpire in the old days was: "He licked somebody in the Three-I League. He ought to do.

A ball bat is a wondrous weapon.

The longer I live, the longer I realize that batting is more a mental matter than it is physical. The ability to grasp the bat, swing at the proper time, take a proper stance; all these are elemental. Batting is rather a study in psychology, a sizing up of a pitcher and catcher and observing little details that are of immense importance. It's like the study of crime, the work of a detective as he picks up clues.

I've got to be first. ALL the time.