“I’m a ballplayer, not an actor.”

A ball player has to be kept hungry to become a big leaguer. That’s why no boy from a rich family has ever made the big leagues.

The test of an outfielder’s skill comes when he has to go against the fence to make a catch.

You always get a special kick on opening day, no matter how many you go through. You look forward to it like a birthday party when you’re a kid. You think something wonderful is going to happen.

When baseball is no longer fun, it’s no longer a game.

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.

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.

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.

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

In that case Mr. Barrow, Mr. Gehrig is a very underpaid ballplayer.

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.

[Julie Marie Pacino]is a great ballplayer, which I wanted to be. She did make four films by the time she was 14 but we’re not going to talk about that.

I’m not saying that they were Einsteins; they were marginal students. But every ballplayer whoever touched me has moved up his station in life. And the players moved up my station.

I let ballplayers yell back at me because I wasn’t trying to prove I’m boss. I know I’m boss.