“I always thought there was at least one person in the stands who had never seen me play, and I didn’t want to let him down.”

I feel like I have reached the stage where I can no longer produce for my club, my manager, and my teammates. I had a poor year, but even if I had hit .350, this would have been my last year. I was full of aches an pains and it had become a chore for me to play. When baseball is no longer fun, it’s no longer a game.

Now I’ve had everything except for the thrill of watching Babe Ruth play.

Just two words: a masterpiece.

You ought to run the hardest when you feel the worst. Never let the other guy know you’re down.

A person always doing his or her best becomes a natural leader, just by example.

The reason I play so hard is that somewhere out there is some kid who has never seen me play before, and I don’t want to disappoint him.

If I were sitting down with George Steinbrenner (to discuss a salary) and based on what Dave Winfield got for his statistics, I’d have to say, ‘George, you and I are about to become partners.’

It’s great to be young and be a Yankee!

If anyone wants to know why three kids in one family made it to the big leagues they just had to know how we helped each other and how much we practiced back then. We did it every minute we could.

Too many kids today are playing major league ball and don’t belong there.

I’m a ballplayer, not an actor.

There is always some kid who may be seeing me for the first time. I owe him my best.

The phrase ‘off with the crack of the bat’, while romantic, is really meaningless, since the outfielder should be in motion long before he hears the sound of the ball meeting the bat.

Motivation is something nobody else can give you. Others can help motivate you, but basically it must come from you and it must be a constant desire to do your very best at all times and under any circumstances.

All pitchers are born pitchers.

There’s always some youngster coming up- they’ll find somebody.

There’s a lot of music that sounds like it’s literally computer-generated, totally divorced from a guy sitting down at an instrument.

I almost believe that Harriet Tubman asked God for a leave like, “I’m gonna need to go back down there and take care of some things. They’re in trouble.”

I had to bring myself back down to being a normal person again.

I think there’s a down-to-earthness with Midwesterners and with people from the Midlands – which is where my family is from – in Ireland.

What’s swinging in words? If a guy makes you pat your foot and if you feel it down your back, you don’t have to ask anybody if that’s good music or not. You can always feel it.

Ups and downs are a constant in life, and I’ve been belted into that roller coaster a thousand times.

If you’re gonna live for what people say, you might as well lay down and forget it. Because it doesn’t work that way.

I had flops, I had success.