"And my father didn't have money for me to go to college. And at that particular time they didn't have black quarterbacks, and I don't think I could have made it in basketball, because I was only 5′ 11". So I just picked baseball."

That's how easy baseball was for me. I'm not trying to brag or anything, but I had the knowledge before I became a professional baseball player to do all these things and know what each guy would hit.

I remember the last season I played. I went home after a ballgame one day, lay down on my bed, and tears came to my eyes. How can you explain that? It's like crying for your mother after she's gone. You cry because you love her. I cried, I guess, because I loved baseball, and I knew I had to leave it.

I think I was the best baseball player I ever saw.

When I got to professional ball I used to play 150 games every year. It depends on how many games there was.

When I'm not hitting, I don't hit nobody. But, when I'm hitting, I hit anybody.

One of the hardest parts of practice is the criticism a player takes from his coaches. Some players think a coach has it in for them when a flaw in style is pointed out ... I know that when things start going wrong, for one, I get the coach to keep his eye on me to see what I'm suddenly doing wrong. I can't see it or I wouldn't be doing it in the first place.