When I played ball, I didn't play for fun. . . . It's no pink tea, and mollycoddles had better stay out. It's a contest and everything that implies, a struggle for supremacy, a survival of the fittest.

The crowd makes the ballgame.

I'm coming down on the next pitch, Krauthead.

I regret to this day that I never went to college. I feel I should have been a doctor.

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.

To get along with me, don't increase my tension.

Speed is a great asset; but it's greater when it's combined with quickness - and there's a big difference.