“I had chances to do that stuff, but I like baseball, I really do.”

In 1962 I was named Minor League Player of the Year. It was my second season in the bigs.

I used to soak my mitts in a bucket of water for about two days. Then I’d put a couple of baseballs in the pocket and wrap it up with a rubber band.

The way to catch a knuckleball is to wait until it stops rolling and then pick it up.

I knew when my career was over. In 1965 my baseball card came out with no picture.

I hit a grand slam off Ron Herbel and when his manager Herman Franks came out to get him, he was bringing Herbel’s suitcase.

People have asked me a lot of times, because I didn’t hit a lot, how long a dozen bats would last me.

Today you don’t have to do that, because catchers’ mitts are more like first baseman’s gloves.

Phil Niekro and his brother were pitching against each other in Atlanta. Their parents were sitting right behind home plate.

I saw their folks more that day than they did the whole weekend.

I don’t like losing. But I don’t think I ever go to the park where I have a bad day. I don’t think once.

I always tried to stay around .190, with three or four RBI. And I tried to get them all in September. That way I always had something to talk about during the winter.

Depending on the weight and model I was using at that time – I would say eight to 10 cookouts.

I was acting when I was playing baseball.

You know, I was once named Minor League Player of the Year… unfortunately, I had been in the majors for two years at the time.

He really showed me something. Struck out three times. Made an error that lost the game. Parents were throwing things at our car and swearing at us as we drove off. Gosh, I was proud.

The biggest thrill a ballplayer can have is when your son takes after you. That happened when my Bobby was in his championship Little League game.

Baseball is almost the only orderly thing in a very unorderly world. If you get three strikes, even the best lawyer in the world can’t get you off.

When I knocked a guy down, there was no second part to the story.

You don’t have to know anything about baseball to respond to Babe Ruth because he’s just this magnificent human being.

Baseball is only a game, a game of inches and a lot of luck. During a time of all-out war, sports are very insignificant.

It never ceases to amaze me how many of baseball’s wounds are self-inflicted.

Fix your eye on the ball from the moment the pitcher holds it in his glove. Follow it as he throws to the plate and stay with it until the play is completed. Action takes place only where the ball goes.

You have to face reality some time. But there’s no sense in facing it until somebody forces you to.

I was always active – I went from baseball to football. I didn’t have time to work out.