It’s TODAY, and I almost missed it, but didn’t, thanks to Lefty.
“Any time you have an opportunity to make a difference in this world and you don’t, then you are wasting your time on Earth.”
“I am convinced that God wanted me to be a baseball player. I was born to play baseball.”
“I am more valuable to my team hitting .330 than swinging for home runs.”
“I dedicated the hit (his 3,000th) to the Pittsburgh fans and to the people in Puerto Rico and to one man (Roberto Marin) in particular. The one man who carried me around for weeks looking for a scout to sign me.”
“I felt kind of bashful (when the fans went crazy). I’m a very quiet, shy person, although you writers might not believe because I shout sometimes.”
“If I could sleep. I could hit .400.”
“I tell you, (Steve) Blass, you pitch me inside, they never, never find that ball.”
“I want to be remembered as a ballplayer who gave all he had to give.”
“I will hit .450 if you give me Ralph Garr’s legs, Johnny Bench’s age and cut the travel schedule.”
“Nobody does anything better than me in baseball (said before the 1971 World Series).”
“There’s no difference between me and you (Manny Sanguillen). You need something, a glove, a place to live, you let me know.”
“When I put on my uniform, I feel I am the proudest man on earth.”
“Why does everyone talk about the past? All that counts is tomorrow’s game.”
